Chubb Insurance was Awesome

[Odinsmom]

My wedding rings are insured with Chubb Insurance. I went with them and cancelled the rider on my homeowners insurance based on everyones feedback here. I chipped the center stone earlier this month. I don''t know how it happened, the jeweler said it was an impact to one of the prongs. I called the agent that I wrote the policy through and was contacted by a Chubb claims adjuster the next day. The jeweler that I initially went to returned the stone and a written estimate for the replacement cost to Chubb. Unfortunately, this took him over two weeks and he sent the diamond registered mail. The jeweler did not advise me of what he determined the replacement cost to be, so I was rather surprised and upset when Chubb called to tell me what the pay out would be since it was considerably lower than anything I could find on the internet let alone a B&M store. Upon advising the Chubb claims adjuster that I would not accept that amount, they advised me to get a quote from the jeweler that originally wrote the appraisal and fax it to them. I had two jewelers write up estimates and fax them to Chubb. I also wrote a letter to Chubb stating why I was disputing the payout and provided documentation from the internet on like kind and quality. Chubb called today to thank me for providing the information and they adjusted their payout to match the lower of the two estimates that were faxed today. I completely agree with the amount of the payout and couldn''t be happier with their service. The Chubb claims adjuster went above and beyond to make sure that we reached a settlement that was fair and equitable to us both.

My only advise to those of you who ever have to go through this is to use a jeweler that you trust and make sure that you agree on the replacement cost before the estimate is submitted. I didn''t realize what a moron the original jeweler was until I had to contact other jewelers for estimates. They were all more than happy to share their horror stories about this jeweler with me. The most amazing thing was that the original jeweler with the way too low estimate advised me that he wanted to make Chubb Insurance happy with the low payout so that they would send business his way. He''s the authorized jeweler for State Farm and Liberty Mutual in this area and is looking for more insurance companies to represent. Wish he had told me that before I used him for the estimate. Needless to say, the original jeweler will not be the one providing the replacement diamond. I guess he also doesn''t believe me when I tell him that Chubb doesn''t have authorized jewelers that their insureds have to use.
I still haven''t decided if I should file a complaint with the Jewelers Vigilance group and the Better Business Bureau against he original jeweler. I checked with the BBB and he doesn''t have any complaints filed against him so theres no way for anyone to know that he''s a rat.

 

[msbennie]

My only advice is that it is always better to get an appraisal from an independent party....

 

[glitterata]

I don't understand. I thought Chubb would pay the amount your ring was insured for. I thought that was why people went with Chubb.

 

[sfanta123155]

Odinsmom
I don't get what the problem was?
Is it that you had a terrible jeweler that gave you a bad appraisal? Then you insured it for what he appraised it for and the stone could not be replaced for that amount of money that Chubb was willing to pay out? Doesn't Chubb have something whereas they will pay you %150 of the insured price if you have not had the ring appraised for a few years or the price of diamonds
has gone up drastically in a short period oF time?
Did you finally get your check or what?

 

[Odinsmom]

It is everyone's misconception that Chubb will automatically pay you what the appraised amount was when you took out the policy. I thought the same thing based on what I read about Chubb here on Pricescope They will only pay for like kind and quality just like all the other companies out there. We all know it's common practice for jewelers to write the appraisal for more then what you paid for the piece and Chubb knows that too. Regardless of what your appraisal states, Chubb will require you to get an estimate from the jeweler of your choice. This is clearly stated in the policy that Chubb issues you, most of us just don't really read this until we have a loss. The advantage that I see with using Chubb is that they write YOU the check for the replacement and you can go to any jeweler you want for the replacement. All the other insurance companies that I know of make you use the jeweler of their choice.

 

[sfanta123155]

I was told by my agent and Chubb that whatever you have the piece insured for is the amount that you can cash out at. You don't have to get any appraisals after the fact of the loss. If you insure a ring that you paid $25K for $50K then they pay you the $50K not what you paid for it. thats is the advantage of using Chubb over anybody else. Otherwise there is NO difference between Chubb and Joe Schmoe insurance, and the premiums are quite different and more expensive! i think you may need to clear that up. I am going to call then again and get the whole thing in writing. I have almost $100K insured through them in jewelry
and if they lied to me the policy will be cancelled ASAP.

 

[verticalhorizon]

That's interesting. I can't wait to hear what happens next. please keep us updated.

My agent writes policies for both Travelers and Chubb and she said that Travelers works the same. They pay out a check for the loss. Domestic and international. Loss or theft. She said that the Travelers was less, but I'm inclined to think she just wanted me to get my renter's insurance too.

How detailed is the Chubb policy documentation. Travelers isn't very detailed and kind of confusing. I think after the year is up, will discuss it with the FW and see if we want to switch.

Does Chubb do homeowners and renters insurance too?

 

[fire&ice]

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On 7/29/2004 7:26:20 AM sfanta123155 wrote:

I was told by my agent and Chubb that whatever you have the piece insured for is the amount that you can cash out at.

What they say and what they do are two different things. I would tend to believe the person who actually experienced the loss. And, that is contrary to what I heard.

 

[Odinsmom]

----------------
On 7/28/2004 11:06:04 PM sfanta123155 wrote:

Odinsmom
I don't get what the problem was?
Is it that you had a terrible jeweler that gave you a bad appraisal? Then you insured it for what he appraised it for and the stone could not be replaced for that amount of money that Chubb was willing to pay out? Doesn't Chubb have something whereas they will pay you %150 of the insured price if you have not had the ring appraised for a few years or the price of diamonds
has gone up drastically in a short period oF time?
Did you finally get your check or what?----------------

Chubb will pay out up to 150% of the appraised value if prices go up. If you don't get an estimate of what the replacement cost will be, then how will you and Chubb know that you are owed 150% of the appraised price? That's why they require an estimate of the replacement cost. If they just paid out the appraised value with no questions asked, then the 150% part would never come into play.

 

[sfanta123155]

So what it all boils down to is that you need to get two accurate appraisals every couple of years and decide which one to go with. Once you decide; then write the policy according to that appraisal and value of the item (ring).
When a loss occurs then you are covered for the correct amount to replace the item; and if the value has gone up within the time frame betweeen appraisals; then they will pay up to %150 of that appraisal by cutting YOU a check. Is that the whole ball of wax?

 

[sfanta123155]

Hi Odinsmom.
I spoke to the Chubb main office this afternoon. It appears that your problem exists due to the fact that your jeweler gave you a bad appraisal and sent it along without informing you of the amount.
Chubb told me that what they do is have you get an appraisal from ANY and I emphasize ANY jeweler of your choice that you feel comfortable with to replace the item in question. Once they receive this appraisal then they have their claims reveiw it and cut a check. If you paid $10K six months ago for a stone/ring and it now costs $15K to replace it; according to the jeweler's appraisal; then they will pay you the $15K. That's up to %150 of the amount the item is insured for. The tel# 1-800-884-3770. They said ANY jeweler and that's the "key" word here. So if you bought the stone online for $7K and got a great deal and had it insured for $10K and something happened to it you could technically go to Tiffanys and get an appraisal from them to replace it.
Obviously Tiffanys would be a huge difference in price to replace the same item. You would have no problem getting the $15K. I went over this exact scenario with the rep I talked to on the phone and it is a fact. She told me to refer to a specific page and paragraph in my policy which states all this info. This is probably different for all states so I don't know about your state, I can only speak for my state. It comes under the valuable items coverage which is an additional coverage they have. You must specify this coverage and make sure you have it.

 

[elmo]

Chubb Valuable Articles Coverage

F&I, it looks from that like there's a limitation to the 150% buffer that's specific to New York only.

 

[baltneu]

Would they really take an appraisal from Tiffany's? If so, then I guess the Chubb policy is really amazing.
Would Tiffany actually give an appraisal for a ring not bought at their store?

 

[sfanta123155]

Balt
Remember they (Tiffanys) are giving you an appraisal to REPLACE a stone as if you're going to purchase it through Tiffanys not on a stone you bought someplace else. You give them the AGS/GIA cert and get an
appraisal to replace the SAME item. So if your original stone was let's say
an AGS0 2 CT. D color VS1 clarity RB with fantastic numbers that you paid $25K plus, then you would get an appraisal from Tiffanys for the same stone.
I'm sure the appraisal would be more at Tiffanys than an online vendor.

 

[baltneu]

I am sure the appraisal at Tiff would be significantly larger than buying from elsewhere, we know Tiff prices, but so do the insurance co's.
Hey, all I am saying is great deal if insurance will accept
Tiff appraisal. You should therefore get a nice, fat check.

 

[lyn77]

My agent writes policies for both Travelers and Chubb and she said that Travelers works the same. They pay out a check for the loss. Domestic and international. Loss or theft. She said that the Travelers was less, but I'm inclined to think she just wanted me to get my renter's insurance too.


I have renters with travelers and the agent said they can add "blanket coverage" with it. It is not the same as the Chubb policy. They will replace the ring or stone with what they consider to be similar based on the appraisal.

I don't want to switch the renters policy, but I think it is very difficult to find a Chubb agent (in nyc) who will just insure the ring. If anyone has any recommendations for Chubb agents, please let me know. Thanks for your help.

 

[baltneu]

lyn77
Check the past threads on chubb insurance, somewhere I remember seeing a phone number of a Chubb agent in NYC area that can help you. Good luck.