Love is in the air, and you have decided to give your sweetheart a ring or some other sparkly jewel. It’s essential to have insurance coverage on the ring to protect your investment from theft or loss. Yet, many people don’t insure their jewelry.
Under or Uninsured Gems
In 2021 ValuePenguin commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 1,250 Americans. Unfortunately, 27% percent of these respondents with $10,000 or more worth of jewelry in their household don’t have insurance for those valuables, and 62% percent of all consumers said their jewelry (regardless of value) isn’t insured!
Jewelry coverage typically costs 1–2% of your jewelry’s value. Jewelry coverage usually includes theft, loss, and disappearance up to your policy or rider limit. There are also other benefits, such as coverage for everyday wear and tear repairs and low to no deductibles.
There Are Two Ways You Can Insure Your Jewelry
You can get a separate jewelry insurance policy or add a rider to your property policy. If you can’t decide which is best, consider quoting both options and comparing the coverages and rates offered.
A Policy Specifically for Your Jewelry
Of those surveyed, 9% have a separate coverage policy specifically for their jewelry. Some of the benefits of this can be greater coverage. Your homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover all losses. For example, floods and earthquakes may result in the loss of your jewelry, but the only coverage would be a policy that doesn’t exclude those acts of God.
Your Homeowners or Renter’s Policy
30% of those surveyed insure their jewelry through a homeowners or renters insurance policy. On average, it costs $121 annually to add $10,000 of jewelry insurance to a home insurance policy, making this an affordable way to protect yourself from loss.
Jewels aren’t automatically covered like most of the belongings within your home. And without a rider, standard property insurance often has a sub-limit for jewelry, and coverage can be limited to certain types of losses.
Scheduling Your Jewelry
You will need to schedule your jewelry (also known as adding a rider to your policy) to ensure the piece is covered for its appraised value. This process requires a receipt or appraisal and photos of jewelry. The specific details will depend on the item and the insurer.
Do you have multiple pieces of jewelry to insure? Find out if you should schedule each piece separately or get blanket jewelry coverage.
Expect a slight Bump in Your Premiums
Your property insurance premium will likely go up when you schedule jewelry, but knowing your jewelry has “open peril coverage” is worth it. This means that all perils are covered except those that are expressly excluded. Plus, there’s typically no deductible if you make a claim after you schedule your jewelry.
Do You Live On the Property?
The ring’s owner must be listed on the insurance policy. The recipient’s name must be on the policy if you choose to cover an engagement ring via a rider on your property insurance policy. So if you don’t live together, your fiancé or fiancée will need to get coverage for the engagement ring themselves.
Do You Have Jewels to Insure?
Hermann Insurance is here to help. You can count on the reliable, independent insurance agents at Hermann Insurance for all your insurance needs. Contact us today!
