Insurance question

[Rowan]

I recieved my personal articles policy today for my solitaire. It lists the setting metal, carat weight, shape, clarity, and color. It doesn''t say anything about the cut quality, which is Ideal H&A. Is this normal? Do I have to ask them to include that, and if I do, will they? It''s with State Farm.
Thanks!

 

[ame]

I would and I mentioned that I wanted it in there.

 

[oldminer]

Insurance companies promise to replace with "like kind". Simply keep your documentation and should you have a loss I doubt you'll have any real problem. If you have enough monetary coverage most insurors don't quibble on the details so long as they believe your loss was unintentional or accidental.

If you feel better being certain they know, in advance, then forward the details to them and request they be placed "on record". Send this via Certified Mail with a return receipt and keep all this in a safe place. It may be overkill, but if it makes YOU happier, then I don't see any problem.

 

[denverappraiser]

Rowan,

State Farm is a pretty good company. They asked for an appraisal up front, from which they extracted the few tidbits of information that they inserted into the contract and then they discarded the remainder. Summarizing in this way is actually a pretty common practice in the insurance industry. If you keep your copy of the entire packet then you have done what was required on your part. The summary normally references the appraisal report directly by the report number or the date and name of the appraiser. In either case, this effectively binds the entire document to the policy including your grading reports, manufacturers style numbers, h&a, etc. They should keep their own files but this is their problem, not yours. If you have a loss, you have done your part to comply with their rules about defining the property and you will have no problem producing an additional copy. Most appraisers keep copies on file as well.


Neil Beaty
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[blitz]

I would point out to State Farm, in writing about the H&A.
From my experiance: a loss occurs and the requst (estimate to replace $) for replacement, that is sent to their (State Farm) authorized replacement sources is that BRIEF description with the stated replacement cost. So the person who recieves the fax reads 1.00 ct, RB, VS-2, F and the dollar amount. They estimate from this.
I think that if they know the cut grade or H&A, they will quote appropriately the first time, and save the insured time in being made whole again. Just my opinion based on observations.

 

[Rowan]

Thanks for all your help!

 

[baltneu]

Rowan
I have a SF policy and when I first received the policy it was basic like yours. Spoke to my agent, and sent in a letter to him what I wanted included on the "Declaration page". It took a little time, but they finally got it right and included such things as "H&A"'s, etc. I think it is worth the extra effort to do so, so in case of loss, you do not have any surprises, because SF is a "Replacement policy". Hope this is helpful.

 

[WinkHPD]

----------------
On 8/12/2004 5:27:28 PM blitz wrote:

I would point out to State Farm, in writing about the H&A.
From my experiance: a loss occurs and the requst (estimate to replace $) for replacement, that is sent to their (State Farm) authorized replacement sources is that BRIEF description with the stated replacement cost. So the person who recieves the fax reads 1.00 ct, RB, VS-2, F and the dollar amount. They estimate from this.
I think that if they know the cut grade or H&A, they will quote appropriately the first time, and save the insured time in being made whole again. Just my opinion based on observations.----------------

My expewriance has been different, I have done many replacements for State Farm and when I am given the rough information I am also normally sent a copy of the original appraisal from which I make my replacement quote. If I do not get it direct from State Farm I always ask the client for a copy. I have never had a problem getting the copy or getting the authorization to use the proper quality and cut. But I do agree that it is always best to ask them to include any pertinent information in the rider, as you never know when you are going to get a "bad" adjuster. I know there must be some out there, I have just always been fortunate to work only with good ones for the past fifteen years...

Wink

 

[Rowan]

Thank you all.

This is good to know. I think for my comfort I will go ahead and ask them to include it, but I'm glad to hear they are a good company to deal with.