Some say that in the life of a claims adjuster thereis never a dull moment. As evident from thisseries, contents claims professionals in particularencounter cases often as varied and intricateas the covered objects themselves, froma stolen gorilla mount to a water-damaged Persian rug or a prized painting.

One recent case involving a tarnished art piece presented aunique vaulation challenge to the insurer, who turned to contentsspecialists for further assessment. The art claim involved a glassstatue by artist Paul Manner entitled “Suruculus.” This statuedates back to 1990, when it originally sold for $11,000. Thedescription of damage indicated the statue had “turned yellow.”

So how was this statue “damaged” and how much should the carriercompensate its policyholder?

Case Background

This statue is comprised of multiple pieces of glass assembledin the shape of a crystal monolith. Some of the glass piecesare metal oxide coated. The use of metal oxides is the waydifferent colors of glass are produced. Iron oxide, for example,produces a blue green glass while gold produces ruby red glass, andnickel results in a violet glass. The artist used the crystalshape of the statue as a prism to refract light, producing lightingeffects such as rainbows. The internal reflections and colorsfrom the different metal oxide glass components of various sizesand shapes also produce changing and unexpected color effects asthe piece is viewed from different angles.

Research conducted by the contents specialists determined thisartist was an early user of adhesives that “cure” when exposed toultraviolet light. The adhesive cured clear in 1990 and was used toassemble the multiple pieces of glass when making the statue. Thisprocess was used with great success to achieve the desired effectwhen the statue was created, but the artist either did notanticipate or was not concerned about the yellowing of the adhesivethat would occur over time as the statue aged.

The Result

The insurance policy covers sudden and accidental damage to anobject, but it doesn't act as a warranty that an object willforever remain in its original condition, nor does it insure for“inherent vice.” Inherent vice is when the very nature of anobject itself is the cause of its deterioration or damage, which isthe case with this particular glass statue.

As a result, the recommended payment in this claim waszero.

The widespread use of newly developed materials, which haveunknown aging characteristic, whether used in contemporary art orbuilding construction, can often lead to similar types ofclaims that without the proper expertise, could have an inaccurateand costly outcome for both carriers and the insured. This case isa perfect example of the important role contents claims experts canplay in not only analyzing the damage to unique and highly valuableitems, but also in getting to the bottom of why the damageoccurred.