DISPUTE COVER FOR ANTIQUE AND FINE ART DEALERS LAUNCHED

A recent court ruling on misrepresentation, and the sale pair of supposedly Louis XV gilt-bronze vases sold in auction for £1.9million, has increased awareness of the problems of buying unauthenticated antiques and fine art.

Arc Legal Assistance (Arc), the bespoke legal costs insurance provider has launched a specialist commercial legal costs insurance package for international brokers, Besso Limited (Besso) which includes cover for disputes with Trading Standards over alleged misrepresentation of the goods sold.

Commenting on the launch Frank O’Malley, Director of Arc said: “Misrepresentation is as much of a problem for antique and fine art dealers as it is for antique buyers. Our ability to identify and develop such bespoke cover enables us to offer solutions that meet the very specific needs of clients such as those supported by Besso.”

The cover offered by Arc relates to the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 which requires dealers to ensure goods are at “the place or date of manufacture, production, processing or re-conditioning and other history must be accurate and not misleading.”

Provided automatically to clients of Besso’s specialist division handling UK antique and fine art dealers business, the package includes legal costs in respect of contractual disputes with suppliers. Cover can also be extended to include domestic legal expenses where the insured lives in and trades from the same premises.