Most of us love to collect. We invest time, money and space in our collections. Indeed, many of us think of our collections as investments, objects with intrinsic value in addition to any sentimental worth we view them as having. Some of us carry insurance, which we hope would provide at least some comfort if an act of nature, or vandalism or theft took all or parts of our collections from us.

But would it? If you have household insurance, would it replace the collection of Silver Age comic books you have stored in your basement, if your basement floods? If you mail a quilt you spent hundreds of hours working on to a quilt show and it's lost in transit, would you be able to file a claim with your insurance company for the amount of money you feel it would require to replace it? If you got an appraisal twenty years ago on your collection of Roseville pottery, would your insurance cover what it would cost to replace that collection with equivalent items, if they were taken during a robbery?

Chubb Insurance, underwriters of PBS's Antiques Roadshow, surveyed over 8000 attendees at tapings of the popular series, to find out more about people's perceptions of their insurance coverage. "Last year's survey of Roadshow attendees in six cities showed that many people do not know the limitations of their coverage," said Mary Ann Avnet, a vice president of Chubb & Son and marketing manager for Chubb Personal Insurance. "They are not aware that their insurance policy may pay to replace an antique with a new version of the same item. For example, if an antique rocking chair worth thousands of dollars is lost or damaged, it may be replaced with a new replica antique rocker worth a fraction of the cost of the antique. Furthermore, if they lose a piece of jewelry or accidentally break a rare glass vase, they may find that their policy does not cover mysterious disappearance or accidental breakage claims."

Avnet advises owners of valuable possessions to ask their insurance agents to explain the full scope of their coverage. "Just calling your agent and asking if the item is covered under the policy is not going far enough," she said. "You need to ask whether there are limitations and on what basis a claim will be paid."

Of those surveyed, 77 percent said they would make sure an item was properly insured, once they knew it was valuable, while 5 percent said they'd decline insurance and 18 percent said they weren't sure.

And in case you've ever wondered, the survey of Roadshow participants also revealed 32 percent would keep their item if they learned it was worth thousands of dollars while 26 percent would sell it; 42 percent just weren't sure.