Is Jewellery Insurance the Best Option for Me?

Getting the right jewellery insurance is as easy as following these three steps.

1. Insuring jewellery as a homeowner

Jewellery is covered by homeowners insurance, including losses from fire, tornadoes, theft, and vandalism. In general, the policy limits the coverage for jewellery and watches, as well as precious and semiprecious stones, to $1,500. What is the reason for the low theft limit? An industry trade group says jewellery is so easy to steal because it is so valuable.

Jewellery coverage limits on home insurance can be increased, but even those amounts may not be enough. When you pay an additional $2,500 per piece, however, a $5,000 limit may still not be enough.

According to Bryan Howard, director of product management and personal lines underwriting at Jewellers Mutual, an insurer that covers jewellery, too many homeowners discover too late that their standard home coverage doesn’t fully cover jewellery. 

2. For jewellery, there is a floater insurance policy

In addition to your homeowners policy, you can get better jewellery insurance by centrestone.com.au adding a “personal articles floater,” which costs more than just raising your coverage limits.

If your homeowners policy doesn’t cover jewellery exceeding its limits, a floater can help. Jewellery destroyed in a flood, for example, might be excluded from the coverage of a floater, which item sizes each piece (such as the ruby necklace and engagement ring).

Floaters don’t usually have deductibles.

Jewellery insurance provided by a floater is broader than that provided by a standard homeowners policy. An accident floater, for instance, would cover a necklace left in a hotel room or drop your engagement ring down the bathroom sink. A professional appraisal is required when you buy a floater.

Items are usually covered by floaters regardless of where they are, such as in your home, on a plane to France, or in a Caribbean hotel room.

3. Insurance policy for jewellery on its own

There are companies that specialise in insuring jewellery that offer stand-alone jewellery insurance policies. A jewellery insurance policy has the advantage of keeping claims off your home insurance record and not affecting your future premiums.

Generally, stand-alone policies and floaters have similar components, but this varies from insurer to insurer. Among the similarities are:

• Various types of coverage, including theft, accidental loss, and mysterious disappearances
• An earring, for example, that is lost from a set of earrings
• Deductible is not required

In addition to floaters, jewellery insurance policies can cover incidents like chipped stones in rings and broken clasps on necklaces, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

When it comes to jewellery insurance, how much does it cost?

It costs between 1% and 2% of the jewellery’s value to purchase a jewellery insurance policy. For instance, if you own a $10,000 ring, you may want to cover it with $100 or $200 each year.

Jewellery is covered by homeowners insurance under the personal property section. As a result, jewellery coverage isn’t an additional cost. Your personal property limit might not be enough if you have pricey jewellery that consumes most of it.