It’s difficult to envision losing our most beloved jewelry, yet we all know that “life happens” and that unexpected events might occur. Perhaps your wedding band falls off your hand and into the water when you’re on vacation, or the antique locket you’ve owned since childhood mysteriously vanishes from your hotel room. In any event, the jewelry you like is no longer with you, yet it is not forgotten.
Though engagement rings can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, it’s a good idea to buy insurance as one of the first things you do. Here’s everything you need to know about insuring your engagement diamond.
What Is Jewelry Insurance?
Jewelry insurance protects you if your ring is lost, damaged, stolen, or inexplicably disappears. Jewelry insurance firms provide extensive coverage that extends beyond the scope of your conventional homeowner’s or renter’s policy. With jewelry insurance, you may cover the full value of your engagement ring, get worldwide coverage, select the jeweler who will make repairs or replacements, and receive a new ring of the same sort and quality as the original in the event of loss or theft, but the question is how to insure an engagement ring?
Can I Just Add My Jewelry To My Homeowner’s Policy?
You can, but a homeowner’s policy has limitations. Your jewelry is only insured against particular types of loss and up to a certain cash amount. If you decide to include jewelry in your homeowner’s policy, choose a jewelry-specific rider that covers the full replacement value against most sources of loss.
In the case of a loss, homeowner’s insurance will send you a cheque for the amount covered for your jewels. It is up to you to try to find something similar to what you had previously. A jewelry-specific insurance provider will work with your preferred jeweler to find a comparable and high-quality replacement for your jewelry. That implies that someone who specializes in fine jewelry will perform all of the work for you.
A jewelry claim against your homeowner’s policy might have consequences for the rest of your policy: At renewal, your premium may increase or your eligibility may be impacted.
Those little and easily misplaced items are insured independently from the rest of your property with standalone jewelry insurance, which means your homeowner’s insurance is unaffected.
After purchasing engagement ring insurance via your homeowner’s policy, you’ll most likely set it and forget it, which means that the insured value will remain constant even if the market worth of your jewelry fluctuates. As a result, getting a claim settlement large enough to repair or replace your jewelry is practically difficult.
Because a jewelry-specific insurer knows the market, they have an annual Insurance Value Adjustment (IVA) to assist guarantee your coverage limit matches what it would cost to replace your jewelry in today’s market. (This is essentially a percentage increase in your coverage limit – and hence your premium – designed to avoid you from being underinsured.)
Jewelry insurance gives peace of mind, allowing you to wear your ring with confidence, knowing that the policy will cover repairs or replacement. So, jewelry insurance or insurance for your engagement ring is necessary.
Do You Need Jewelry Insurance?
You most likely do, but if you believe you can cover the expense of repairing or replacing the ring on your own, you may not see the need to insure it. However, if your engagement ring is of great value (either monetary or sentimental, and most likely both), and you want to ensure that it can be fixed or replaced, it is good to consider getting it insured.
Cost Of Insurance
Rates vary depending on where you reside. In most cases, the cost of insuring jewelry is 1-2 percent of its worth. A $5,000 ring, for example, typically costs roughly $50 a year to protect. Whether your premium is 1%, 2%, or anywhere in the middle is determined by our historical losses for the jewelry wearer’s residence region. So, probably an engagement ring insurance costs 1-2 percent.
You will need several types of documents to effectively insure the ring, those are:
Appraisal
If the object is of high worth, most insurance companies will request an evaluation. An appraisal should be performed by a respectable company and will contain information such as the four C’s: carat weight, cut, clarity, and color. Even if the artwork appraises for somewhat more than you purchased, you’ll want it near because a higher assessment may result in a higher insurance rate.
Grading Report
A grading report, such as one from the Gemological Institute of America, may also be provided by the jeweler. This will also include the diamond or precious stone’s parameters, but it is not an evaluation. Rather, it will assist the appraiser in determining the value and should thus be included with the insurance policy. The grading report would be utilized if the ring was damaged or lost.
Photos
Along with your appraisal and grading report, you should provide images of the ring to the insurance provider to ensure that the standards are satisfied with an accurate visual of the piece. This will also benefit you if you need to repair or replace the item.