Anyone here WITHOUT insurance on their jewelry?

[jaysonsmom]

I never saw the need for jewelry insurance because my rings (total over 2.5 carats) and pendant (1.12 ct) are always on me, and I'm very careful with my jewelry. I figured that I'd be able to replace any type of damage (such as a small diamond falling out of a band) without too much out of pocket, and the hassle of filing a claim is probably more trouble than just a little $$

Even for my centerstone, which is a good chunk of change. I figured I'd never have to worry about because I have it in a 6-prong platinum setting that gets checked regularly.

So, talk me into scenerios that I may or may not have thought of? Should I get insurance?

 

[Kaleigh]

Most of it isn't insured. My ering , diamond studs and Grandmother's 3 stone OEC are insured. My DH thinks it's a waste to insure any more. He says I have never lost anything in my life. Now that I type this , watch me lose something tomorrow..

I keep a lot of it in the safety deposit box.

 

[kenny]

I don't insure jewelry.

Insurance is gambling, and I have other uses for my money, thank you very much.
You are betting you will file a claim.
The company is betting you won't.
The premiums are set to cover all claims PLUS pay a zillion salaries and make a handsome profit.
That's why in the casino of the Insurance Industry the odds are with the house.
Insurance companies are some of the richest companies on the planet.
They manipulate us by appealing to our most base instinct, fear.

The only insurance I buy is required . . . my house because it is not paid off and my car because it is the state law.
I don't even buy the coverage for my 2010 car that replaces it if it is stolen.
No bank can force me to since since I paid cash. (I also detest paying interest, I have other uses for my money, thank you very much.)
If it does get stolen, not likely, I'll buy another one.
It's not that I'm rich; it's that I don't like wasting money in non-mandatory premiums.
I see the peace of mind that insurance companies claim they give you as kind of a trick because more of your money is gone forever - no risk of getting it back.
To me peace of mind comes from keeping my money or getting a thing for it.

If my diamonds go away I'll be fine.
They were just luxury items anyway and I'll be glad for the time I enjoyed them, and it will be someone else's turn.
I never buy extended warranties either.

I figure all the money I've saved bought us that Octavia.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

If the worst case scenario were to come true--you lose your center stone--would you replace it? And if so, would it be stressful financially?

My only substantial piece of jewelry is my e-ring and it's not insured, but that's because it's not replaceable. If I were to lose it, I wouldn't have any interest in replacing it.

 

[lyra]

I insure. What about theft? What about if you fall and crack or break your stone? The stone itself may be secure in it's setting, but you can't guarantee that no harm will come to it, or that it won't get stolen.

 

[jaysonsmom]

If the worst case scenario were to come true--you lose your center stone--would you replace it? And if so, would it be stressful financially?

My only substantial piece of jewelry is my e-ring and it's not insured, but that's because it's not replaceable. If I were to lose it, I wouldn't have any interest in replacing it.

In that worst case scenerio, I'd probably be able to replace my centerstone eventually. Maybe not the next day, but both my husband and I have jobs with a good bonus system, and that is our money for "toys" and separate from our living expenses.

I guess I like what Kenny said: If my diamonds go away I'll be fine.
They were just luxury items anyway and I'll be glad I had time to enjoy them and it will be someone else's turn.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

If the worst case scenario were to come true--you lose your center stone--would you replace it? And if so, would it be stressful financially?

My only substantial piece of jewelry is my e-ring and it's not insured, but that's because it's not replaceable. If I were to lose it, I wouldn't have any interest in replacing it.

In that worst case scenerio, I'd probably be able to replace my centerstone eventually. Maybe not the next day, but both my husband and I have jobs with a good bonus system, and that is our money for "toys" and separate from our living expenses.

I guess I like what Kenny said: If my diamonds go away I'll be fine.
They were just luxury items anyway and I'll be glad I had time to enjoy them and it will be someone else's turn.

I like what Kenny said, too, so long as by "someone else's turn" he means me. I've ogled that octavia many a time!

 

[kenny]

LOL

 

[jewelerman]

no insurance currently.But even with insurance i made it through one home robbery and three botched mugging attempts(in a 10 year period) with my good jewelry still in my possession!only jewelry that has been lost or stolen has been sterling or gold filled and not enough to file a claim against.

 

[Callisto]

I'm not planning to insure my ering or tennis bracelet. My tennis bracelet is an heirloom so I didn't really pay anything for it. I dont' wear it often enough to be concerned about really damaging it and the diamonds are hardly exposed at all so the worst case scenario would be one falling out which would be inexpensive to fix (the diamonds are pretty small). My SO and I could replace my ering without being financially uncomfortable as we set a pretty low budget for it. So its not worth it to me.

However, if I had a stone that cost me 10K or more, I might consider it.

 

[Anonymous]

I know it may seem wasteful to some people, but for the price of one lunch outing per month, you bet my ering is insured! The peace of mind + the fact that my FI and I aren't in a position to fork out cash to replace it if something happens tomorrow = happy to pay the very reasonable premium of approx $120 (probably less, it's a rider on my HO ins) that we pay per year.

 

[diamondringlover]

My ering and 5 stone are insured, I waited 20 years for this stone, I sure as heck couldnt afford to replace it anytime soon if I lost it, so yes I insure it, my other jewerly I do have increased homeowners insurance on them, but not a seperate policy...its not that they arent special to me, they just arent as valuable.

 

[that_someone_special]

Some are insured. I think of it this way- I pay about $670 a year to insure these items, divided by 12 months is about $56 a month for a piece of mind.

Fine by me!!

But, It's not uncommon to hear gunshots in my area in the summer when people are out drinking and being stupid... I'm fairly close to a lot of busy bars.

 

[elrohwen]

I don't have it on my ering. The stone is an heirloom and has a big ol' crack in it. Our old renters insurance was fine with that, but when we switched companies they refused to insure it. None of the normal jewelry insurance companies would take it either because it had existing damage. Re-insuring it with the original company would've cost a lot, and we realized that if it was lost or broken the insurance company would not have bought us something similar (because of the damage, it's worth a lot less than a stone of similar size and cut would normally be worth). The entire ring was appraised for less than $10k, but the stone is 1.7cts, so you can see how we wouldn't be able to get anything comparable even if insurance was to just give us the money (which isn't really what they do in most cases).

So DH and I just decided not to insure it unless a time comes when we can put it back on renters/homeowners without a lot of additional cost. It just didn't make sense to pay a lot of extra money to get coverage that wouldn't really cover me for what I want anyway. The stone goes back more than 3 generations, so it's not really replaceable anyway.

 

[Dancing Fire]

ain't no way i'm paying the insurance Co. to insure $10K worth of jewlery for $220 per yr.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Some are insured. I think of it this way- I pay about $670 a year to insure these items, divided by 12 months is about $56 a month for a piece of mind.

Fine by me!!

But, It's not uncommon to hear gunshots in my area in the summer when people are out drinking and being stupid... I'm fairly close to a lot of busy bars.

That is one of the top reasons why I don't have insurance. I think the city we live in is the second safest in the California? We frequently leave the house with our front door unlocked or the garage door open. In fact, once the garage door broke, and it took 3 weeks for a new one to come in. We had no garage door for 3 weeks and no one came by to check out the contents of our garage....we have nice golf clubs, surfboard, bikes etc. Our next door neighbor even told me their front door is always unlocked in case he needs to call me to check on his dog.

 

[that_someone_special]

I grew up in an area like that.. garage door open with no one in sight.. doors unlocked... lol I miss that!!

I now reside with FI and he loves this city soooo much he doesn't want to move. I'm getting used to it now... I mostly have insurance incase of burglary/ fire.

But to be honest, we are over insured on everything.. our home, auto, inland marine, and umbrella carry the highest limits I've ever seen on individuals! Apparently, FI had a friend that rear ended a surgeon... and his hand became damaged... so he could no longer work.. and now will spend the rest of his life paying money to this guy because he wasn't properly insured... lol it's the one thing he refuses to budge on.

 

[LGK]

Personally, I am amazingly good at losing things. Really, really good at it. I very, very rarely take my rings off just because I know this and even trying to conciously only put them in a special box or something, I can get distracted and just set them somewhere dumb if I'm on the phone or something, so I just never really remove them. So, I insure my larger OEC, and my smaller one, and that's it. Those, I couldn't replace easily, and they both have x-thin girdles, so I bit the bullet and insured them.

I do have a *lot* of jewelry that's not insured. I should probably insure the chandelier earrings I got recently. The thing is I usually pay so little for some things, the $100ish appraisal cost plus premiums on what they appraise for would be a significant chunk of money compared to what I paid. For example, the 3 1/2 ct earrings were something like $600, and are probably realistically worth around $3,000 retail. But since I paid so little I just don't usually insure those types of things. And there's a good number of watches, smaller rings, and so forth that I don't bother to insure for the same reasons.

It really something everyone has to decide themselves... I might insure the e-ring if I were you, but it really depends. You could self insure too, like put away the amount you'd pay on a premium every year in an account or something. Could you replace it easily if you lost/damaged it? Would you want to? Are you hard on your jewelry or prone to losing stuff? My answer to those were no, yes, and yes, so I did insure it. And I am absent minded. If you are really not like that, it may not be worth it to you in the long run.

 

[panda08]

I insured my first ering with Chubb and paid $360 a year for about $12K of coverage. I just upgraded and the quote is now $670 I was ok with $360 but am balking at $670. I don't know if I can go without but just can't swallow forking out that much for something I may never use.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Mine is covered in my entire plan - and I figure at $10 a year it's a gamble I'm willing to take. Of course the price I pay for insurance, also considering that I seem to be an accident magnet, is insanely low.

 

[kelpie]

I think if you are willing to own valuable things it's worth protecting them. Perhaps not if they are in a safe deposit box. But if they are worn or in a jewelry box anything can happen. I'm surprised at the high quotes you all are receiving. I must live in a cheaper area. I have 16k in coverage including 2k for less valuable unscheduled items. It comes out to a mere $14 a month through jeweler's mutual. SO WORTH IT!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Meh, I had insurance for a year, then moved, then didn't reinsure. Partially out of laziness, partially because of the same reasoning as Kennys.

 

[betty6333]

I have insurance on some of it. The stuff I would be sad if it was damaged or stolen.

 

[JSM]

I have insurance on my e-ring. Even though it wasn't expensive, we aren't financially able to buy a replacement should I lose it/it gets stolen/it breaks/etc. And I would want another one!

Plus, insurance on a .52 carat diamond is NOT breaking the budget. It is worth it to me for peace of mind. The rest of my jewelry, though, is uninsured. I can live without that!

 

[Amethyste]

I am without... I know I know.................. Buying a house... i'll insure in a month.

Being robbed is what I don't feel easy about...

 

[Amethyste]

I insured my first ering with Chubb and paid $360 a year for about $12K of coverage. I just upgraded and the quote is now $670 I was ok with $360 but am balking at $670. I don't know if I can go without but just can't swallow forking out that much for something I may never use.

Ha! It is $1,095 with My insurance for my ring!!! It's crazy!!!

 

[panda08]

I insured my first ering with Chubb and paid $360 a year for about $12K of coverage. I just upgraded and the quote is now $670 I was ok with $360 but am balking at $670. I don't know if I can go without but just can't swallow forking out that much for something I may never use.

Ha! It is $1,095 with My insurance for my ring!!! It's crazy!!!

Yeow!!! That is CRAZY!

I just checked with JM to see if it would be cheaper because it's a replacement value policy instead of a cash out policy but it's only $100 cheaper than Chubb. Argghhhh....

 

[LGK]

It's crazy how much even JM varies from place to place... or however they figure it. I pay something like $200/yr for just under $25,000 in insurance thru them.

 

[that_someone_special]

I insured my first ering with Chubb and paid $360 a year for about $12K of coverage. I just upgraded and the quote is now $670 I was ok with $360 but am balking at $670. I don't know if I can go without but just can't swallow forking out that much for something I may never use.

That is insane. INSANE!! I'm covering $56k worth for that amount!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I believe part of the price difference may be whether the insurance company reimburses you with a check or with a "similar" diamond.
The policies that just give you cash are a lot pricier (or so I hear) than those that just replace your diamond (I'm assuming the company has whole-sale connections to get a diamond of similar stats to replace yours, so it would cost them much less compared to writing you a check for the full insured retail amount).

For example, if you insured a 2 ct Whiteflash Ideal cut with a replacement policy, if you lost it, the company may only be obligated to replace it with another diamond that matched in size and color and clarity, not necessarily cut quality. At least, these were the things I was warned about when looking at policies.