Although furriers coverage is no longer available under standard forms, most companies writing furriers customers and furriers block coverage do so using forms developed from the once standard ISO policies. The following is a generic discussion of furriers customers coverage, using the now withdrawn ISO furriers customers coverage form. The coverage as written by individual insurers may differ in one or several respects. This discussion is meant to impart general information on furriers customers coverage and may be used as a standard for comparing the furriers customers coverage forms available today.

Need for Insurance

A furrier, calling for, delivering, storing, cleaning, or altering furs of customers has the legal status of a bailee for hire. The furrier can, of course, be held liable for loss of these goods if it can be shown that the firm was guilty of any negligence. However, due to the principles of bailor/ bailee law, since the furrier and its customer are in a mutually beneficial relationship, the furrier is held only to the exercise of reasonable diligence in caring for the property of its customers. Thus, though the possibility of legal liability cannot be overlooked, the furrier's need for insurance is related more directly to the customs of the fur trade.

Customers expect that their garments will be returned to them in as good or better condition as when they left them. If furs in the care, custody or control of a furrier are damaged or lost, the furrier is expected to bear the responsibility (at least up to the amount previously agreed on by the furrier and the customer). And the opportunities for loss are great.

Inside the premises, even the strongest vault may be burglarized, fire may damage its contents, sprinklers may leak, employees may be careless, and a variety of other hazards threaten the goods. Furriers are also favorite targets of thieves. Outside the premises or vault, furs are exposed to many hazards, including transportation, sneak-theft, carelessness, or confusion of storage receipts. Especially in the summer months, storage of furs involves heavy concentration of values, with the possibility of a catastrophic loss.