Skip to content
←Back to glossarySpecial risks

Auctioneer's professional liability

Liability of the auction house to seller and buyer for a faulty description, a wrong attribution or a deficient appraisal.

Definition

An auction catalog is a legal document: "attributed to", "workshop of", "school of" each carry a precise meaning, and one word can change the price tenfold. In France, the law of July 10, 2000 opened the market to voluntary sales operators, who must carry professional liability insurance and a financial guarantee. The house gets sued from both sides: the seller says the lot was cataloged too low, the buyer too high. The action against the operator is time-barred five years after the hammer falls. Claimants often learn of the deadline too late, since the error surfaces only at resale or after a second appraisal. The auctioneer frequently names an expert in the catalog, and the dispute then has two defendants. The professional policy answers for fault, not for a disappointing sale.

Its 6 cross-references, woven across the glossary's 18 categories
Auctioneer's professional liability: Special risks glossary illustration, AlgoPolis
Example

Textbook case: a painting cataloged as "French school, 17th century" is hammered at €6,000 in 2022. A cleaning three years later reveals a master's hand, and it resells for €210,000. The seller sues the house and the expert for loss of chance; the dispute turns on how much research was done before the sale.

Read next
Special risksAuthenticity risk (artworks)The risk that an artwork proves fake or wrongly attributed, which wipes out its value; it is excluded from fine art policies and is handled through due diligence, sellers' contractual guarantees and sometimes specific insurance.Read the entry →Special risksArt dealer's policyA policy covering a gallery's or dealer's stock, works consigned for sale, transport and art fairs, with per-location limits. What sets it apart from a collector's policy is the turnover of objects.Read the entry →Special risksAuction house price guaranteeCommitment by an auction house to pay the consignor a minimum price, sometimes backed by a third party placing an irrevocable bid.Read the entry →
Related terms
Also known as

auctioneer liability, auction house professional indemnity, misattribution at auction, auctioneer errors and omissions

Stay informed

Follow the research

One letter a week. First, the week's underwriting note, when one is published: a dated, argued decision, signed by Paul Bernardski. Then what the observatory published on cyber risk, political risk and insurance. No account, no tracking.

No spam, one-click unsubscribe, no data ever sold.