Do I insure the engagement ring?

[sebas]

Hi everyone! I'm kinda debating whether or not to insure the engagement ring. The engagement ring was made by Leon Mege and it includes 1.07ct of pave diamonds. A single row pave on the shank and a 3-sided halo pave.

I got the e-ring appraised and it was appraised at a higher value than what I actually paid (I actually asked the appraiser to lower it a little bit so that the insurance cost wouldn't be so high).

Currently, we have renter's insurance which covers up to $7500 in jewelry. So if the e-ring gets lost, damaged, or stolen than the engagement ring would be covered up to $7500 (a little less than what actually was paid). The cost for covering jewelry up to $7500 is $50 more per year than the standard renter's insrance. However, if I get the special jewelry insurance addition to the renter's insurance that requires the appraisal, the insurance would cost about $200 per year, but would cover the full amount of the e-ring and would also cover if the engagement ring lost a diamond or needed repair.

Should I pay for the higher ring insurance and have peace of mind, especially since it covers a diamond pave falls off? I don't know how likely this is and if it does happen how much it would cost to fix it if insurance did not cover it.

 

[SMC]

Hi everyone! I'm kinda debating whether or not to insure the engagement ring. The engagement ring was made by Leon Mege and it includes 1.07ct of pave diamonds. A single row pave on the shank and a 3-sided halo pave.

I got the e-ring appraised and it was appraised at a higher value than what I actually paid (I actually asked the appraiser to lower it a little bit so that the insurance cost wouldn't be so high).

Currently, we have renter's insurance which covers up to $7500 in jewelry. So if the e-ring gets lost, damaged, or stolen than the engagement ring would be covered up to $7500 (a little less than what actually was paid). The cost for covering jewelry up to $7500 is $50 more per year than the standard renter's insrance. However, if I get the special jewelry insurance addition to the renter's insurance that requires the appraisal, the insurance would cost about $200 per year, but would cover the full amount of the e-ring and would also cover if the engagement ring lost a diamond or needed repair.

Should I pay for the higher ring insurance and have peace of mind, especially since it covers a diamond pave falls off? I don't know how likely this is and if it does happen how much it would cost to fix it if insurance did not cover it.

People are all going to have different opinions on this depending on how risk adverse they are.

However, my thought is that you can wait about a year before you take out insurance. JM will insure pieces with appraisals that were within the last 12 months (I think) so you can wait 12 months and then take out insurance. It's likely that diamond prices will have risen by then and the gap between your ring replacement cost and $7500 will be bigger.

The reason the appraisal came back higher is so that it insures you have enough coverage to replace your e-ring with "like kind and quality" given the likelihood that diamond and precious metal prices are likely going to rise.

I think how often pave comes off is very dependent on how rough the wearer is. If your fiancee takes her ring off before doing anything that would be rough on the rings (including sleeping), she may likely wear the pave for years without problems. I've read that LM is very high quality so you shouldn't need to be worried about manufacturing flaws. Replacing pave shouldn't be that expensive (I think less than $100 for sure) and I don't think that pave should be falling off under "normal" wearing circumstances in the 1st year. The likelihood of pave falling off increases with wear, so the chances of you needing to use that policy coverage will be greater in year 2 and even greater in year 3 (making insurance a better buy).

You're lucky your renters insurance has such a high jewelry coverage amount! Mine only covers $2500 and so do most standard homeowner's policies!

 

[jmarshall]

I recently asked a similar question. Another thing to consider is how your insurance company will handle it. Replace the ring on their own? Cash payment? Have you order and pay the vendor directly? Where did the 200 dollar quote come from? Seems high. Especially with a deductible.

 

[SB621]

With my insurance USAA I always insure my jewelry for what I paid for it. Why pay extra for inflated values. I do update the figures every 2- 3 years pending how the diamond market is doing.

 

[jmarshall]

With my insurance USAA I always insure my jewelry for what I paid for it. Why pay extra for inflated values. I do update the figures every 2- 3 years pending how the diamond market is doing.

Personally I think that by the time you paid for an appraisal every 3 years it would be just as cheap to be slightly over insured

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Are you 100% certain that your renter's insurance blanket coverage covers it for loss under any circumstances? Like if she hits it on the door and the diamond cracks? That is why most of us have coverage for the specific item because some blanket coverages do not cover loss under every circumstance.

Like Sarah, I only insure for the amount I paid. Diamond prices do not always go up. The last year they were mostly stable or went down a little, for example. So I would only allow an appraisal to be no more than 10% more than what I paid, max.

And, you never, ever make a claim for a small thing like melee falling out. Only make a claim if the whole diamond or setting has to be replaced. Making little claims likely will make your premiums go up and you might even be dropped from the insurance company. Insurance is to protect you from having to replace something that would be a hardship (or impossible) to replace. Maintenance is not something you use insurance for, if you are smart.

 

[WillyDiamond]

OP, check the renter policy carefully for wording on an individual loss. The $7500 might be for "all" losses of jewelry and personal properties, but there is a limit per piece. Homeowners/rentors policies often have caps per piece, that is why insurance co's offer personal article riders to identify specific property you want to insure up to it full value. Best of luck.

 

[partgypsy]

Ditto. Don't assume that your ring is covered by renter's insurance. Ask them specifically about this, you may find out (as I did) I needed to add a special rider for jewelry).

 

[sebas]

Thank you for all the useful comments. I will contact the insurance company (AAA) and ask some of the specific questions brought up on this forum.

 

[heididdl]

I have my larger pieces insured with a rider. However I recently lost my diamond bracelet and I paid $2,000 11 years ago. Because my homeowners was so good and I had the original bill of sale they sent me a check for $1,000....so I was thrilled as it wasn't on the rider. Is my 3.66 GIA ring listed yes, my 2.41 studs and my other 1.66 trillion ring yes. All my other pieces are not.