This topic does come up periodically, and, as noted, there are a
variety of ways to skin this cat.

The $1.00 per box figure is relatively "standard", although I've seen
up to $2.50 as a base amount.

In terms of value of a box in and of itself, no one will touch that
because you simply don't know. As the oft-referenced attorneys who
handled the Diversified fire have said, their recovery was essentially
the cost to recreate those records, plus the cost to create the records
in the first place, where that was known. Critical to that, clearly, is
knowing what was in the box and what effort it took to create that
information.

For my part, the approach that I've taken is to understand maximum
potential loss at a given site -- in other words, how many boxes are
exposed at each physical location of your records center. If you use a
large provider in a large metro area, your records may be scattered
among 5 or 10 buildings (actually, a very good thing) so you're only
worried about the loss of a fraction of your total collection. The Risk
Management people can then obtain coverage to provide restorative
services to a maximum loss (say $100 - $150 per box, assuming they are
all wet or smoke damaged). If the place burns to the ground, well, then
you're into the Diversified scenario and that is litigation rather than
insurance. The Risk Management people know their jobs and I have
educated them about this issue, so I feel comfortable that we have the
appropriate coverage.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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