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Jewellery Insurance – 5 Tips to avoid heartache

Jewellery insurance is an area I give my clients a lot of advice on! Mostly to get some..

It's amazing how many new clients I meet in jewellery remodelling, who have some stunning diamonds they assume are covered on the £200 a year household policy. And sadly I can recount several stories where people have lost treasured items, and either forgot to add it to their policy, or assumed it would be covered, and it wasn’t.  It often feels like rubbing a big piece of salt into what is already a painful wound.

I work with some fantastic insurers, and asked Josh Robinson from specialist broker Insurance Tailors what it is most important to get right, to ensure your jewellery is protected if the unthinkable should happen.

how do i get jewellery insurance
Image courtesy of Insurance Tailors

.Josh Says :

“However romantic the gift of giving jewellery might be, I believe the gift of a good insurance policy is priceless! Well I would say that being an insurance broker… however all too often I hear ‘I don’t’ rather than ‘I do’ when it comes to people insuring their jewellery. If you have invested time and money in finding that special piece of jewellery, it is worth making sure you protect it properly."

It can be tricky to find the right insurance policy at the right price point, so here are my 5 top tips on insuring your jewellery:

1. Start with finding a good home insurance policy

It’s cheaper and easier to insure your jewellery through a comprehensive home policy rather than stand-alone. Also, should you need to claim, a high-end insurer will give you more options such as repair at the original jewellers and replacement of the set if the item is part of a pair.  Just remember to check with the insurance broker what they are offering.  You don’t want to be given a £500 voucher for for your £1,000 earrings where you can’t even have them replaced at the store you purchased them from.  So make sure you are clear what the replacement policy is, and what it covers.

2. If you travel, make sure you have "All Risks Worldwide"

Ensures you’re covered wherever you are in the world against all risks, which includes Accidental Damage, Loss and Theft.  If you are planning on proposing overseas, this is particularly important.  Not all policies offer this, so again, check and ask.

3. Make sure your jewellery receives a valuation

Sterling value influences material costs, as everything from platinum to diamonds is traded in dollars. That means jewellery prices can go up as well as down. With this in mind, make sure your jewellery is valued every 2-3 years and notify your insurers as prices can fluctuate quite considerably.

Read more about valuations here

4. Check your jewellery clasps and settings for wear and tear

The two main reasons to claim for jewellery are total loss, or loss of a jewel from a setting, so make sure the clasps and settings are checked every 2-3 years by a qualified jeweller. This is sometimes made a requirement by insurers for particularly valuable stones.  If you are wearing the piece every day, this is really important as precious metals are still not indestructible.  Regular checks will ensure your pieces are secure.

5. Make sure you have good household security in place

For large collections of jewellery, or a particularly valuable piece, insurers will require the home to be secured with a burglar alarm and/or for a cash rated safe installed in the property. Some Insurers apply discounts for better physical security measures, therefore it is good practise for all homeowners to invest in appropriate household security.  Even if you aren’t housing the Crown Jewels, it does pay to keep your jewellery in a secure place, and not necessarily one that a burglar would immediately find (hint : they will check the bedroom and study first!).  And get used to putting your pieces away when you aren’t wearing them.

When it comes down to it, if you’re insuring an important, expensive piece of jewellery you really need to get the best advice possible. An insurance broker will have exclusive access to comprehensive insurers that include cover for valuable items such as jewellery and watches, along with engagement rings and diamonds under the valuables section, unlike standard market policies such as those found on comparison sites. “

Ruth Says

The challenge with insurance, is that it sometimes feels like an awful lot of money to spend, for something which may never happen.  Hence the preference for cheaper policies.  The risk you take is what these cover you for.  It is only when something goes dreadfully wrong that you find out just how limited the small print makes a lot of these bargain policies. A key annoyance for some of my clients who have lost pieces, has been when the insurer has said that the jewellery is only covered on the hand, or in a safe - not much use if you've left your wedding rings on the side for half an hour while you popped out and somebody broke in..

The only way to be certain is to ask a real person a lot of questions, and ensure the you have a definite answer about what happens if something is damaged, lost or stolen including replacement value and options, so you can take an informed decision.  Make sure you have it all in writing too.  I would stress, do not leave your jewellery insurance cover until something has happened, it becomes much more expensive at this point and emotionally far more painful!

For more information about Insurance Tailors visit their site www.insurancetailors.co.uk.

What about when the worst happens? Have a look at our advice on when if jewellery has been stolen (it's still worth a read even if it hasn't).

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