How does insurance work for hard-to-find stones?

[diamond_quester]

Never mind! Found the answers.

Original question was, if it is very hard for your insurance co to find your shape stone with the exact carat/color/clarity specs (mine doens't have a cut grade since it's a fancy), will insurance be likely to cash out even if you have a replacement policy. As far as I can tell, the answer is that they will try to replace with your specs or better. If they really cannot find anything suitable they will pay out estimated replacement value.

 

[oldminer]

It isn''t a bad question and the answer you found is pretty good.

A difficult to find item can be insured for its value, but replacing it can be quite difficult. One must always be prepared to accept the cash or something similar, not identical. Difficult to find definitely means difficult to replace.....

 

[diamond_quester]

I''m prepared for that, David! Just wanted to make sure that in such a case, insurance cannot require me to accept trade-offs in the 4C''s. PS search doesn''t turn up any options priced within my coverage amount until I relax at least two of the three specs (carat, color, clarity). I would like to at least have some say in whether the trade-off is acceptable to me.

 

[denverappraiser]

Read the details of your policy. They are not all the same. In general, if the company can''t make a replacement that meets all of the specifications listed in the item description section of the policy, they must cash out for the face value of the policy.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver