Anyone filed a claim with Jeweler's Mutual?

[nicoliae]

Long story short, I lost a ring. It was not meaningful to me in any way but it was worth about $5k. I have it insured with Jeweler's mutual. I'm wondering if I file a claim to replace it or if it will increase my premiums a lot. Since I also have a lot of other jewelry insured I'm really worried about how much this would increase my premiums. Otherwise I would call this a stupid error on my part for losing it and just not replace it.

So if you've filed a claim with JM, how much did your bill go up by?

 

[Sparkle524]

I would love to know as well. I was thinking about switching to them because I heard they were cheaper. Currently I have my jewelry insured with State Farm.

 

[Amys Bling]

sorry I can't help- but I too was considering switching to JM so I am curious as to other's input.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

I don't think it will increase premiums on any other jewelry you might have covered at all. Jewelers Mutual have set premiums based upon the state and county you live in and the value of the piece.
If it were me I would not hesitate to file the claim. They are a great company to work with.

 

[ImpatientOne]

I can't comment on JM in particular, but any time you file an insurance claim, I believe it goes against you for the rest of your insurance as well. For example, I had a computer rider on my homeowners policy and filed two claims, about 2 years apart. I moved and switched to a renter's policy, then 2 years after the 2nd claim had been filed, I moved, purchased a new home, and decided to get a quote from a different carrier for homeowners and auto coverage. Allstate denied me due to previously filed claims. They said try again 3 years after the last one was filed and it would no longer show up. Had I known that was going to happen, I would have just paid out of pocket for replacements rather than filing a claim. Our existing insurance company had no problems issuing us a new policy, but the rates are higher than what we would be paying had we not had any claims records.

For $5k, though, that I would probably go ahead and file a claim and deal with the consequences.

 

[AllieLuv83]

My ring was just lost a few weeks ago. After much searching I gave up and files a claim. My insurance is through Travelers though, the claim was filed on a Friday and I had my check on Monday. I haven't called yet because I don't have a replacement ring but I don't think the premiums would go up.

 

[makhro82]

My ring was just lost a few weeks ago. After much searching I gave up and files a claim. My insurance is through Travelers though, the claim was filed on a Friday and I had my check on Monday. I haven't called yet because I don't have a replacement ring but I don't think the premiums would go up.

I too am with Travelers and filed a claim a few years ago for a jewelry item. My premium did not go up at all with them. The only reason it changed was because I had added another item. I checked on JM's site and found that their premiums were more costly than what I was paying through Travelers even after having filed a claim. HTH.

 

[kcoursolle]

I filed a claim with JM several years ago and everything went smoothly and they were great. I asked them first before filing if my premiums would go up and they said no. They did not go up, but unfortunately I'm not eligible for some of the discounts they offer. None of my other insurance (car, home, etc.) have been affected.

 

[Amys Bling]

Great to know.

 

[Sparkle524]

Does anyone know which insurance carriers find you a replacement diamond if you lose one instead of just issuing you a check for the replacement value? I wanted to make sure to avoid those companies as I would never want anyone deciding on what an equivalent diamond would be.

 

[heather2012]

allie- the ring that you were trying to sell on db so you could upgrade your e-ring was lost? c0nvenient..jkkKk

 

[AllieLuv83]

It was actually lost after I received my upgrade, and while I was in the process of working out a deal with someone, and it is kind of sensitive subject because I feel very terrible for it being lost and not actually going to someone else that will love it.

ETA: But thank you for insinuating that I am committing insurance fraud

 

[denverappraiser]

Does anyone know which insurance carriers find you a replacement diamond if you lose one instead of just issuing you a check for the replacement value? I wanted to make sure to avoid those companies as I would never want anyone deciding on what an equivalent diamond would be.

Pretty much all jewelery insurance in the US is the replacement type, and it's the only variety JM offers. Chubb offers cash out policies but they have limited availability and minimums to deal with as well as noticably higher premiums. Talk to a Chubb agent if you're interested. Travelers, Firemans fund, Geico, Firemans fund and no doubt among others, offer it as an option under the right circumstances. Most of the major homeowners companies don't.

 

[missy]

Does anyone know which insurance carriers find you a replacement diamond if you lose one instead of just issuing you a check for the replacement value? I wanted to make sure to avoid those companies as I would never want anyone deciding on what an equivalent diamond would be.

Pretty much all jewelery insurance in the US is the replacement type, and it's the only variety JM offers. Chubb offers cash out policies but they have limited availability and minimums to deal with as well as noticably higher premiums. Talk to a Chubb agent if you're interested. Travelers, Firemans fund, Geico and Firemans fund, no doubt among others, offer it as an option under the right circumstances.

We have our insurance (homeowners, auto, umbrella, and jewelry) through PURE and they will provide a check if my ring is lost/stolen. We live in the Northeast USA.

 

[denverappraiser]

Thanks Missy. What's your approx declared value and your premium? Any idea if you were REQUIRED to have homeowners with them in order to get the jewelry coverage of if they would have sold you a stand alone policy if you wanted it?

 

[Amys Bling]

It was actually lost after I received my upgrade, and while I was in the process of working out a deal with someone, and it is kind of sensitive subject because I feel very terrible for it being lost and not actually going to someone else that will love it.

ETA: But thank you for insinuating that I am committing insurance fraud

sorry to hear of the loss- that stinks!!! I just looked back at your listing and it was a beautiful ring

 

[missy]

Thanks Missy. What's your approx declared value and your premium? Any idea if you were REQUIRED to have homeowners with them in order to get the jewelry coverage of if they would have sold you a stand alone policy if you wanted it?

Hi denverappraiser, you're very welcome.

We got a huge discount because we combined all our coverage to PURE last year. My ER approximate declared value is 55K (I need to update this as the last appraisal was in 2004 and we did not over-inflate the value then because it didn't make sense to pay more to insure).

Before I switched to PURE I had JM and was paying about 1K (a bit over) for my ER alone. Now I *think* the ER coverage alone is less than $600 per year with PURE but again that is because we combined everything from both our NY and NJ homes. I do think that PURE does a cash out policy no matter what though but you would just be paying higher premiums if you only cover your jewelry. I was very pleased with the PURE premiums as we have beachfront property and it was difficult to find any reasonable homeowner's coverage at all.

 

[missy]

So sorry for your loss nicoliae and Allie!

 

[denverappraiser]

A standalone jewelry policy with a cash out claims procedure is something that gets asked for quite a bit here. There's not a one size fits all sort of solution and the closest that gets talked about much is Chubb. The problem is that the agents don't like to write jewelry only policies, they don't offer it in all states, and they have a minimum that's pretty high for most people. That's why I'm asking. I'm not familiar with PURE but their website looks pretty interesting and I'm glad to hear you're happy with them. The devil is ALWAYS in the details with these things and you've got several special issues (multiple homes, presumably expensive ones, multiple states, expensive ring, a bundle that probably other assets like expensive cars and such) that would scare off a fair number of the insurance companies but for customers with those sorts of issues it looks pretty good. Maybe for others as well? Firemans fund goes for that high end demographic as well but they have even higher minimums than Chubb. $600/$55k is certainly reasonable premiums, especially for New York, which tends to be a high cost area. I was expecting double that or more.

Their website seems to be mostly about homeowners insurance and it suggest that they specialize in services to clients with expensive homes. Any idea what they mean by 'high value' (this varies a LOT throughout the country. $1,000,000 will buy a lot of house in Manhattan Kansas, not so much in Manhattan New York)?

 

[TimMD]

Does anyone know which insurance carriers find you a replacement diamond if you lose one instead of just issuing you a check for the replacement value? I wanted to make sure to avoid those companies as I would never want anyone deciding on what an equivalent diamond would be.

I know that everyone is not eligible for USAA, but I have my valuables insured through them and it is a stand alone policy separate from my home owners/auto insurance called a VPP policy (valuable personal property). Whereas they offer to find a replacement, they also will give cash replacement and quite reasonable replacement at that. I made a claim a couple of years ago and from the time I made the claim to the time the money was in my account was about 48-72 hours. It was very smooth and when they mentioned replacement, I simply requested replacement value in cash instead and they obliged without issue. My yearly premium is slightly above 1% of the total value covered. I live in Texas. Just thought I would share.

 

[heather2012]

not insinuating anything, just drawing my own conclusions...

I mean let's be honest, at the end of the day even if you really did lose the ring- how heartbroken could you really be if you were going to sell it to a stranger anyway? At least this way you get a few grand more to put towards the upgrade and have the possibility that it "might" turn up. JUST saying...

to the op, sorry for threadjacking continue on.

 

[denverappraiser]

not insinuating anything, just drawing my own conclusions...

I mean let's be honest, at the end of the day even if you really did lose the ring- how heartbroken could you really be if you were going to sell it to a stranger anyway? At least this way you get a few grand more to put towards the upgrade and have the possibility that it "might" turn up. JUST saying...

to the op, sorry for threadjacking continue on.

This is the primary reason that the insurance companies prefer replacement type policies. They call it 'moral hazard'. The other big reason is inflated 'appraisals'. People routinely think their stuf is worth more than it is going to cost to replace, often by orders of magnatude. With stated value type policies they need to be much more careful at the underwriting end to be sure that the documents you present are a reasonable reflection of reality.

 

[armywife13]

not insinuating anything, just drawing my own conclusions...

I mean let's be honest, at the end of the day even if you really did lose the ring- how heartbroken could you really be if you were going to sell it to a stranger anyway? At least this way you get a few grand more to put towards the upgrade and have the possibility that it "might" turn up. JUST saying...

to the op, sorry for threadjacking continue on.

Wow, an accusation like that seems very uncalled for. I think it is very rude and unnecessary to publicly accuse someone of committing insurance fraud.

 

[AllieLuv83]

I personally would feel very different about someone wearing my diamond on their finger than the though of it possibly have been thrown into either a trash can or the toilet by my small child. Yes I am very sad a d heartbroken thinking about it being missing forever and it would have been a different feeling if it continued to bring happiness to someone. I am not really sure who you are to judge me and my situation and you are certainly entitled to draw your own conclusions. I am a very hardworking and honest person and parent and certainly if the ring ever shows up I will work closely with my insurance company to either return them the funds or the ring.

 

[AllieLuv83]

And honestly I am not sure how little of a moral code a person has to have to lie about something like this just to get a few "extra grand" to put towards a ring.

When the claims adjuster called me I explained the whole situation, that I had not been wearing my ring. That I was in the process of selling it. That it was laying on my work desk after I took pictures of it. So if they had any issues with that story then they would have communicated that with me.

 

[nicoliae]

^ Sorry for your loss!

Thank you all for the information. I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do.

 

[AllieLuv83]

sorry for the threadjack nicoliae! I hope that your issue resolves quickly. I would just call them and ask if filing a claim would raise your premiums.