All you need is love, but a little jewellery never hurt anyone. Make sure your sparkles are insured.
“You can’t cry on a diamond’s shoulder, and diamonds won’t keep you warm at night, but they’re sure fun when the sun shines.”
– Elizabeth Taylor
You may have expressed your feelings for your beau in the form of a luxury watch or shown your appreciation for your sweetheart’s charms with a spectacularly sparkly charm of her own. Whether you’ve ‘gone for gold’ with a Rolex watch, declared devotion with a diamond ring, or offered romance with rubies, the chances are you won’t want to lose or damage your new bijoux. Specialist high value jewellery insurance can help safeguard you should it be damaged or lost.
Insure Your Jewellery at the Correct Level
Your items of jewellery might not automatically be covered by your high value home insurance, so it’s worth checking with our team to ensure you’re properly protected. When you add, for example, an engagement ring to your jewellery and watches collection, it is also important you check your “sums insured” and any specified item requirements with your insurer. This is to make sure you have the correct high value jewellery insurance.
What is meant by “sums insured”?
‘Sums insured’ is the maximum monetary sum your insurer will pay in the event of the loss or damage of an item insured1. You will need to make sure the replacement value of the item is covered, otherwise you could be underinsured which may lead to you needing to pay the difference in value or worse still, your policy becoming null and void. Read more at: https://www.lloydwhyte.com/advice-zone/why-your-home-insurer-wont-pay-your-claim
If you’re unsure about the replacement value of a high value item, we strongly recommend you obtain a professional valuation.
If you lose an heirloom or antique jewellery for which you have no receipt or exact value, the process can differ. Depending on the type of jewellery insurance you have, you can often recoup the value of the item so as to replace it with other items of jewellery.
Here is a true story…
When I was 25, my father passed his gold signet ring on to me. Two years later, he died. I wore his treasured ring for 21 years until last year I lost it. I looked everywhere, turned the house upside down, retraced my steps to where I had been, and took the bath panel off in case it had somehow managed to walk across the living room (where I thought I had put it on the table), to the bathroom. It was nowhere to be found. After I explained to my insurers (at that time I was not insured with Lloyd & Whyte) that it was a gift and passed down through the family for generations, my insurers asked for proof of ownership in the form of photographs of myself wearing the ring. I had none.
Having given up hope that I would ever find this irreplaceable item, I began to explore the possibility of having a new version made. It would never be the same as my father’s though – and I knew it. I felt sad and angry with myself for misplacing it. I had all but given up hope, when late last summer, my boyfriend went to get a courgette from our vegetable patch and lo and behold, there it was, underneath a cluster of carrots, gleaming in the soil. It had been swept up in the kitchen compost, then into the garden compost and back into the soil. My buried treasure was discovered!
The lesson I learned was always keep photographic documentation of the item and of the person wearing it, whether it is a ring, bracelet, brooch, necklace, watch or something else.
If your insurer provides high quality cover, they will understand that heirlooms and gifts don’t always come with receipts. We do suggest however, that you obtain a valuation for the replacement cost and keep relevant photographs mentioned previously, even if you do have proof of purchase, certificates, and receipts.
Questions worth asking your insurer are:
- In the event of a claim, will you need to replace a lost item first then request financial compensation, or will your insurer pay before you source a replacement piece?
- Do ‘sums insured’ track the fluctuating market prices of gemstones and precious metals?
- How often do you need to obtain and submit an updated valuation?
- Are there any exclusions within the policy?
If you would like help with understanding what contents insurance covers or help with any aspect of your existing contents insurance, contact us today. Or if you would like a quote, please don’t hesitate to contact our team of helpful experts. For listed property insurance or thatch insurance, get in touch today.
Insurance for standard homes differs from thatched property insurance and listed building property insurance. For building insurance and contents insurance that is tailored to your unique property and valuable items, talk to our team of insurance specialists
Call: 01823 250702 for Thatched property insurance
or 01787 880338 for Listed property insurance
What matters to you, matters to us
- https://www.insuranceopedia.com/definition/520/sum-insured
Lloyd & Whyte Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England No. 03686765. Registered Office: Affinity House, Bindon Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 6AA. Calls may be recorded for use in quality management, training and customer support.