General Insurance Article - JLT comments on Sotheby's £8.4m painting forgery


Commenting on the news today that an £8.4m painting sold by Sotheby’s as the work of Dutch artist Frans Hals been assessed as fake, Daniel Smith from JLT’s Fine Art, Jewellery and Specie team, said ‘I think it will come as a surprise to collectors that in many cases they won’t be able to claim against their insurance if they discover their piece of art is a forgery. However there are certain policies that can cover this, and although the take-up of this sort of policy is relatively low, I think we’ll start to see a significant increase as the possibility of more forged Old Masters are uncovered.

 • Auction house reassesses painting worth nearly £9m as forgery

 ‘We think dealers and galleries would be wise to be on the front-foot by looking at ways of protecting themselves against this kind of activity in the future. Although dealers can purchase professional indemnity insurance to cover them for being sued by a customer as a result of a forgery, the costly nature of this policy means that most don’t bother with it. In light of this recent issue as well as a number of similar high-profile forgery cases this year, I would urge dealers to consider safeguarding themselves against the impact – both in terms of money and reputation – that cases such as these can have on their business.’

  

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