Health insurance, life insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and car insurance are a standard part of life for most adults in the United States. Insurance lets you protect the things that are important to you and receive financial compensation if those things are damaged or lost. One type of insurance that most people overlook is jewelry insurance.
Why Is Jewelry Insurance So Important?
Jewelry insurance should be separate from your homeowner’s insurance. If you lose a valuable piece of jewelry, your homeowner’s insurance premium will not increase. Jewelry insurance can cover the replacement value of your jewelry. However, homeowner’s insurance may only cover a fraction of its value. Homeowner’s policies might only cover your jewelry if it gets stolen. These limitations do not exist with jewelry insurance.
It does not matter if your jewelry gets stolen, lost, or damaged, you have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that it is protected. Jewelry insurance will cover your valuables regardless of the circumstance or location of the incident.
For example, it is covered if you go on vacation to some far-flung island and lose your engagement ring. If you visit a hostel in Central America and your watch gets stolen from your room, it is covered. Or in a scenario where you damage your expensive jewelry because you fall on a hard surface, it is covered. Regardless of what happens to your jewelry and where you are on the planet, you know that you will get financial compensation for your loss.
What Is Blanket Jewelry Insurance?
Jewelry insurance can be divided into two categories. There is a blanket and scheduled jewelry insurance. The type of insurance you get will depend on how extensive your jewelry collection is and the value of the individual pieces.
Blanket jewelry coverage is for the value of your entire collection instead of individual pieces. Your policy will lay out the maximum value limit for each ring, earring, necklace, or other jewelry piece. If you have one piece that is significantly more valuable than the rest, you may want to consider a separate schedule policy.
The nice thing about a blanket insurance policy is that you don’t need to have an appraisal done. However, you will want to have documentation for all of your pieces so that in the event of a loss, the items’ descriptions, photographs, receipts, etc. can be used to determine their estimated value.
Jewelry insurance follows the person, not the jewelry. If you are on vacation and find a beautiful emerald ring, you don’t have to worry about immediately adding it to your policy. With a blanket jewelry insurance policy, the item is automatically covered as long as its value is not more than the total limit for the policy.
How Can You Benefit from Scheduled Jewelry Insurance?
This policy is the type you would get for engagement ring insurance. With this policy, individual pieces of jewelry are listed and have an agreed-upon value. You will need to get an appraisal that needs to be updated every two years for each piece of jewelry under scheduled jewelry insurance. This type of insurance is the best for high-value, precious jewelry pieces.
What Is the Best Jewelry Insurance for Your Needs?
The best insurance policy to protect your jewelry will vary based on your circumstances. If your collection consists of several high-value pieces, you may want to consider a scheduled policy. If you have a lot of smaller pieces that are valuable but are not highly valued works, then a blanket policy is the best choice.
Since jewelry insurance is not as common as health insurance, life insurance, or auto insurance, many people have no idea what it should cost. Some mistakenly think it’s too expensive, and others question the value of having a policy. In most cases, insurance will generally cost between 0.5% and 2% of the item’s value. This means that if you want to get a $10,000 engagement ring insured, it could cost as little as five dollars a month.
Now Is the Best Time to Get Jewelry Insurance
You may want to consider purchasing jewelry insurance as soon as you purchase an expensive piece of jewelry. Even if you don’t have the policy documents, but you paid for the policy, you will likely be covered. Your jewelry is more than its financial value; some sentimental weight is behind it. Protect your investment with jewelry insurance.
