Selling a diamond that has been reported lost

[bob50]

I have a GIA certified diamond that has been reported lost through insurance. I have recently located the diamond with the certification. My question is can I sell the diamond or will their be tracking of the diamond when a jeweler buys it?

 

[Brian Knox]

Wow !!!

Sounds a little like insurance fraud.

 

[bob50]

Yeah I know, it's been lost for over a year. Honestly thought it was gone forever. I've had the certification all this time.
What can I do with it. Should I just call the insurance company and tell them I found it. I've already spent all the money I got for it which was $2500. I would like to sell it for $1000 or so but don't want to get caught with fraud because it's technically fraud since I found it but when I reported it it was 100% honesty and has been for over a year.

 

[anniepie]

I second that Brian.

If whoever own(s) or (ed) the diamond made a claim on the stone, I am guessing the stone would have been paid out/replaced by the insurance agency. That being done, if the old stone "shows up" it righfully belongs to the insurance company becuase they replaced the original stone and they *should* be notified of this happening. I am not an insurance agent, but after reading my policy on my ring, I think it would go something like this?

 

[CaptAubrey]

once you've cashed the claim check, the ring belongs to the ins co. if you want to be honest, you should call your adjuster; he will most likely tell you to send it to him.

 

[8*flash]

Let me get this straight. You lost the diamond, got $2500 for the diamond a year ago, SPENT the $2500, and now have the diamond back and you want to SELL the diamond for another $1,000? You need to quit while you are ahead.

 

[niceice]

Once the claim has been paid, the diamond is the property of the insurance company. You need to contact your insurance company and turn the diamond in to their salvage department.

 

[rothko]

I don't want to sound too negative, but I'm pretty sure that if you sold the diamond, it would be *outright* insurance fraud (even if it was 100% legit when you lost the ring). In fact, I'm relatively certain that even keeping the diamond could be construed as insurance fraud (if the insurance company found out about it). Its unlikely they'll ever find out if you don't sell it, however, it might ease your mind if you anonymously called an insurance company and asked them what one should do if this were to happened.

 

[fire&ice]

Two people find a diamond on the same day? Both feel they have claim to it.

...shaking my head in bewilderment.

 

[moremoremore]

TOTALLY fire and ice.

 

[Charmed]

What concerns me is the fact that once you found the diamond, you are ready to sell it. Does that sound strange to anyone else? Especially since you have received $2500 for it already! Why would the thought not occur to you to contact the insurance company immediately and return THEIR ring? Good luck because you are treading on uneasy ground.

I don't want to infer that you are not being honest. Maybe there is more to the story..............

 

[DiamondExpert]

NiceIce has it right...my guess is that if you do anything other than turn the stone/ring over to your insurance Co's salvage dept. in a timely fashion, you are comitting insurance fraud.

 

[ChooChoo]

Just curious (not encouraging insurance fraud, hehe!)... If he kept the diamond and took it to a jeweler to be set in a pendant, for example, would the jeweler run a check on the number? Could he get away with that?

 

[rothko]

----------------
On 5/11/2004 9:14:28 PM ChooChoo wrote:

Just curious (not encouraging insurance fraud, hehe!)... If he kept the diamond and took it to a jeweler to be set in a pendant, for example, would the jeweler run a check on the number? Could he get away with that?----------------

Oh geez... uh, let's not encourage this. I know we'd all love to get something for nothing, but in this case, someone is paying for it, namely, everytime someone "loses" a ring, all of our insurance goes up. I'm all for having insurance for accidental loses and damages... but!

lets all do the *right* thing now...

 

[eyesoftexas]

I will chime in as someone who should know the law. It IS TOTALLY insurance fraud, No doubts - none!!! Granted it is unlikely you would get caught but why take the chance. Now here is the scam part from a different perspective. The insurance company has already written this loss off and what I can imagine happening is that you send the diamond back to the agent, he pockets the diamond and says nothing (which is stealing). Employee theft is huge (having seen many of these cases go to trial).

What you need to do is send this via insured/registered mail and send copies of your letter to the head office (not the branch you sent the diamond to). This way you know the diamond is being tracked by the insurance company and they are not just pocketing the goods.

 

[bob50]

Thanks everyone for your opionions. I have contacted my insurance company and returned the ring. No complaints here. Greed is a sin that never pays. Honesty goes a long way and feels much better than having $1000 that I'll be worriing about forever and possibly paying huge fines over. So if anyone finds themselves in this situation do what I did. Send the property to the righful owner which is now the insurance company.
Thanks again for all your input.

 

[Shay37]

Good job, Bob.

Who wants to be looking over their shoulder all the time? It's always better to be honest.

Shay

 

[WinkHPD]

----------------
On 5/12/2004 8:27:30 AM bob50 wrote:

Thanks everyone for your opionions. I have contacted my insurance company and returned the ring. No complaints here. Greed is a sin that never pays. Honesty goes a long way and feels much better than having $1000 that I'll be worriing about forever and possibly paying huge fines over. ----------------

Or going to jail over!

I do a lot of insurance replacement work and I know from experiance that insurance companies do NOT play nice when they uncover fraud! We alerted a company that we work with one time that there was a serious question in our minds about a claim. They thanked us, informed us that they already had started an investigation into this claim and the adjuster told me later that there had been criminal charges filed. Last we heard the guy was facing jail time over a claim that would have been settled for around 10k if it had not been fraudulant.

On a brighter note. If you ask your insurance company nicely, they will usually allow you to make a salvage offer on the stone. I have a client who had a similar situation to yours, the item was found about four years after the loss and he was allowed to buy it for about $0.40 on the dollar as salvage.

Wink