Just like any other insurance policy, a jewelry insurance promises to cover your loss. As it is specifically for jewelries, it usually covers the whole value of your jewelry may it be from an accidental loss, damaged, stolen or mysterious disappearance. Insurance companies will offer you various options in insuring your jewelry, such as fund reimbursement or item replacement.
You’re staring at your new necklace and admiring as it glimmer down on your neck, but then all these cloudy feels and blissful thoughts comes to a halt when you start getting paranoid of unfortunate “what if” on your jewelry, of course with great value comes with a greater risk.
However, worry not for numerous jewelry insurance companies are there for you. Now how does a jewelry insurance work?
How to know if you have a Good Jewelry Insurance?
… and What does Jewelry Insurance cover?
There are tons of insurance policies such as a homeowner insurance, now you might be thinking this covers your jewelries, well you’re right – partially. It’s because this insurance has a limited coverage for these valuables they often just offer around $1,500 – $2,000 for these.
If you lose a jewelry outside of your house then it’s not covered in the homeowner insurance and imagine if you lose a jewelry whose worth is more than the indicated amount above, obviously you’re at the losing end because they won’t reimburse you for its full value.
That is why it’s essential to go through your insurance policy and check what are included in it. You can expand the coverage limit, but take note there are still restrictions as to what you can claim.
In selecting a jewelry insurance you can have it as an add-on to your other insurance if you already have one and if the insurance company offers or better yet buy a stand-alone coverage from an insurer that are specifically for jewelries.
There are home insurance policies with floaters, a floater insurance is an insurance that covers properties or assets that are portable. This policy also provides a wider coverage compared to an average insurance policy. This
However, this policy only provides coverage on a single item so if you have quite a lot to be insured you need to get a floater for each. This may also still have a limit on how much it can insure you.
It may sound enough, but a floater only covers some incidents like theft. So if the jewelry is damaged it is likely not covered. A stand-alone insurance is your best choice if you have a really valuable jewelry or a collection of it.
Good Jewelry Insurance even includes Mysterious Disappearance
A situation in which your jewelry was lost could be because it was stolen or you just misplaced it – an unsure reason. For an instance, you own several sets of earrings and you wear each set only for specific events, now it would be a bit difficult keeping count on all of them.
Lets say you’re going to a dinner party and you want to wear your pearl earrings, but upon going through your jewelry box you couldn’t find it and it dawned on you – it was lost or could be stolen! But there were no signs of robbery.
So when a policy holder claims for a lost item to the insurance provider, but doesn’t have a clear explanation as to how, then it is mysterious disappearance.
In an Accidental Loss
How much does a jewelry insurance cost?
Like all insurance the rate will depend on factors, such as the place where you live, or your area’s theft rate, or your insurance plan’s deductible, sometimes even how often you wear your jewelry (just a quick thesaurus checks the deductible is the amount you pay before the insurance company pay any expenses). Commonly it’s about 1-2% of the jewelry’s value therefore it is dependent on how much the jewelry’s monetary value is.
Getting an Appraisal
As mentioned previously on how much the jewelries are insured depends on its value then most likely you need to get your jewelries appraised some insurance provider may even require you to have some.
An appraisal is a property valuation to determine and assess the current market value of your valuables. Through this both parties can be assured that the right amount of money is given fairly. Remember to get a copy for you and your insurer, because it would be convenient if you have to file a claim.
Remember to do your research on the appraisal firm that you would hire to better make sure that you get your jewelries appraised in a trusted and reliable firm.
It’s also advisable for you to get your jewelry appraised every 3 years, it’s because jewelry’s worth may change considering a dynamic economy and as the market fluctuates. In this way your property is insured properly.
Reimbursement Insurance VS. Repair or Replacement Insurance
In reimbursement insurance there are two ways as to how the insurance company will compensate for your loss either by actual cash value or replacement cost. In Actual Cash Value also known as market value is the amount equal to the replacement cost minus the depreciation, basically the monetary value of your jewelry if you sold it in the market.
The depreciation is determined by the insurer through a set of criteria, they could use a formula that would take consideration of the age and state of the jewelry. While in Replacement Cost the insurance provider will compensate you for the actual cost of your jewelry and won’t mind any other factor.
Basically, in reimbursement insurance this would be most favorable for you since you would have a larger payout once you make the claim because most things depreciate and remember that even a tiny scratch or tear on a jewelry will greatly affect its market value.
On the other hand a Repair or Replacement Policy you won’t have to think how much money you would get from the insurance company since you would be getting the same kind and quality of jewelry as the one you own.
Now if it needs to be repaired most insurance providers would require you to take your jewelry to a specified jewelry repair service or a designated jeweler that they have selected.
In this case you would possibly need to provide a photo, receipts or document of appraisal to assess them for the newly made jewelry.
Claim Insurance and Work Process
As I’ve mentioned already, jewelry insurance is similar in ways to any other insurance. Now of course, obviously first you need to go to the insurance company, there you will be asked to present various documents regarding your stolen jewelry (if it’s stolen) such as police reports, photos and a value appraisal of your stolen piece.
Now there are situations where you found your jewelry in which you thought would never be able to come back in your possession and you happen to already file a claim on it. Here’s what’s gonna happen, if such event would occur you need first to contact your insurer.
Probably you would have to pay the money back to the insurance company or you need to return the jewelry that the insurance gave in place of your “lost” one. You definitely must need to inform your agent if not doing so would get you end up in jail for insurance fraud which obviously is a crime.
Now that you have learned the ropes of jewelry insurance, you are now ready on how to protect your precious assets! Always keep in mind, paying for a good insurance is a great investment.
Do I need Jewelry Insurance if My Jewelry has Warranty?
Now you might be thinking “I have a warranty, do I still need insurance?”
Keep in mind, warranties is not an insurance policy. Warranties has a lot of restrictions and limitations. It will not replace any lost or stolen jewelry. And it may not compensate the full amount of repairing. In normal condition, it will only cover any manufacturing defects and definitely has an expiration time frame. It is best to review the jewelry insurance policy if the criteria meet your needs. Especially, check if the insurance will cover if the jewelry is lost outside of your home area.