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Paris theft highlights need for proper artwork coverage     (Copyright Thompson’s World Insurance News     Not to be redistributed by individual recipients.)     Insured and held for hostage. Stolen to order. Or maybe a form of currency for criminal gangs.     These are possible explanations offered up after a lone thief stole five masterpieces worth more than CAD$130m from the Musee d’Art Moderne this past spring in Paris.     They were by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani and Leger.     The first possibility is one of several suggested by Alastair Sooke, author of a BBC TV series on modern art and quoted in London’s Daily Telegraph. He heard that this rumour is swirling around London art galleries. It is believed the paintings will likely be held hostage and returned once their insurers have released an eye-watering ransom.     The other two possibilities come from Peter Kinloch, a fine art & specialist broker at BMS Group, quoted on the Lloyd’s website.     Mr. Kinloch is part of a new team which will focus on fine art, jeweller’s block, cash in transit and other associated risks.     He said the theft is significant in that it shows that institutional security — if there is any — is perhaps not what it should be or what it has been advised by insurers.     “The Parisian items do not appear to have been insured in the commercial market,” he added.     “There have been other heists from other locations elsewhere in the world that have not been insured. Frequently national and local institutions do not buy commercial insurance coverage.”     National museums in the UK can apply for coverage under the Government Indemnity Scheme where the government carries the risk. In the event of loss or damage, compensation is paid to the owner by the government.     This illustrated, full page feature on the fascinating world of art theft and insurance is in our July 12, 2010 edition        Thompson’s World Insurance News P.O. Box 1027,  Waterloo, Ontario,  Canada  N2J 4S1 Tel: 519-579-2500 Fax: 519-745-7321 mpub@sympatico.ca THOMPSON’S WORLD INSURANCE NEWS , Canada’s only independent weekly for p&c insurance professionals, has been the industry’s most trusted news source since 1988.