Is insurance necessary?

[NoobInNeed]

PA

 

[denverappraiser]

Not all insurance policies are the same and be careful when comparing between companies. If the 3 policies you’re considering are all state farm, it’s likely they are identical except for the deductible and price but it’s worth asking your agent this question just to be sure.

If you imagine it as two policies, one for the portion from 500-6000 and one for the portion from 0-500 it may be easier to analyze. Or the former, the premium is a tad over 1% and for the later it’s about 5%. That’s a considerable difference. Statistically there are more claims in the low end both because they get repair claims that are near or less than that $500 boundary and EVERY claim over $500 will maximize that limit. Is it worth 5%, which will pay for that portion of the piece in 20 years? Maybe. How risky is she? How much trouble is it to come up with $500?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[winternight]

Date: 4/13/2010 9:10:27 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/13/2010 12:31:21 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/13/2010 12:17:09 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
depends,in our case it would cost us $220 per $10k worth of coverage

so no,we don''t insure our jewelry.

That''s crazy DF, with higher priced items it is even more important to insure it seems to me!

but where do i drawl the line? insure my wife''s rings but not my watches? insure her 3.34ct ring which she hardly ever wears? or should we only insure her 1.15ct ring and her 5 stone ring? how about her diamond tennis bracelets,her diamond earrings?

I have a floating sort of policy that insures any item of jewelry up to a certain amount and my engagement ring insured separately. I insure at about 1/2 the dollar max of jewelry I might wear or travel with at any given time.

 

[denverappraiser]

For what it’s worth, I’m told that the claims that result from burglary, fire, etc. while you’re away actually outnumber the claims for loss of things while in your possession. The things on your person are not necessarily at higher risk than the things you leave at home although, of course, this has a lot to do with both how you store things and how careful you are with things in your possession. Statistically it's not as different as you might expect.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[jackers]

Date: 4/14/2010 8:51:37 AM
Author: NoobInNeed

Date: 4/13/2010 11:24:49 PM
Author: jackers
I just got a quote from my homeowners on a $6K engagement ring. $49 per year. I''ll gladly pay that.

What insurance company are you with by the way?

I just got a quote for my ~$6k e-ring from State Farm with whom I already have auto and home owners:
No deductible - $87.00 yearly
100 deductible - $79.00 yearly
250 deductible - $70.00 yearly
500 deductible - $61.00 yearly

My inner nerd is plotting the quotes to see which would be better, although it''s hard to determine when I think she''ll lose it...

I use USAA. It is a financial instituion that is available to prior military members. They may have relaxed their memberships, check out their website. And that is for ZERO deductible. Their car insurance rates are just as good!

 

[NoobInNeed]

Whoops! Sorry, didn't mean to post or attach this. Can't seem to delete it either.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/13/2010 9:10:27 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/13/2010 12:31:21 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/13/2010 12:17:09 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
depends,in our case it would cost us $220 per $10k worth of coverage

so no,we don''t insure our jewelry.

That''s crazy DF, with higher priced items it is even more important to insure it seems to me!

but where do i drawl the line? insure my wife''s rings but not my watches? insure her 3.34ct ring which she hardly ever wears? or should we only insure her 1.15ct ring and her 5 stone ring? how about her diamond tennis bracelets,her diamond earrings?

I suppose you would just make a decision based on what you are comfortable with. for you, you decided no insurance. For me, I have insured the single piece I wear every day and no others.

 

[motownmama]

My homeowners policy with Chubb covers any jewelry piece under $5000 (they covered studs I lost). I only pay above that for my ER and tennis braclet. I have tons of jewelry, but those are the only individual pieces above $5K.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/13/2010 9:20:04 PM
Author: kenny
I see a diamond as a luxury.
If it goes away I''d miss it, but I would not be financially devastated.

At least I got to enjoy a beautiful treasure for a while.
Plus we are enjoying the $1000 per year we save by not paying premiums.

After 10 years we could buy another $10,000 Octavia with the savings.

I suppose I would think twice if insurance was $1000 per year. For me it is $150. Either you own much more jewelry than I thought, or you got a very high insurance quote

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/13/2010 5:02:01 PM
Author: simmplyb

A couple things I''ve learned about insurance: 1. make sure your appraisals are not over-inflated! Only insure your jewels for the amount it would cost your insurance company to replace them as this is all you will get! 2. If you payed for designer pieces, your insurance company will replicate it but may not get you the label brand! 3. You must have your appraisals updated every 3-5 years or you will lose in appreciation value.

Just as a point of clarification, as long as you have documented that the goods are branded and the apprasal valuation takes that into account, then you should be able to argue with the insurance company to replace your lost item with the same name brand. Most policies state that you should get "like kind and quality" in the even that a replacement is needed. The definition of like kind and quality is based on the documentation that your provide to the the insurance company at the time that the policy is bound.

Always read the policy that you have from your insurance company. They will vary in how they will replace the goods in the veent of a loss. Some give you cash, some let you choose the jeweler of interest, others will use their own sources. If you have a branded or upgradable stone, you will want to ensure that the latter two options are available to you so that you are able to get true like kind and quality.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/14/2010 9:36:22 AM
Author: winternight

Date: 4/13/2010 9:10:27 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/13/2010 12:31:21 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/13/2010 12:17:09 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
depends,in our case it would cost us $220 per $10k worth of coverage

so no,we don''t insure our jewelry.

That''s crazy DF, with higher priced items it is even more important to insure it seems to me!

but where do i drawl the line? insure my wife''s rings but not my watches? insure her 3.34ct ring which she hardly ever wears? or should we only insure her 1.15ct ring and her 5 stone ring? how about her diamond tennis bracelets,her diamond earrings?

I have a floating sort of policy that insures any item of jewelry up to a certain amount and my engagement ring insured separately. I insure at about 1/2 the dollar max of jewelry I might wear or travel with at any given time.

the agent i talk to said...you need to insure each item separately.

 

[kenny]

DF insurance rates vary by county.
We live in the one with the highest rates.

 

[Rhea]

It really depends on your lifestyle and what you can afford. My engagement ring was 1/2 covered by renter''s insurance from Oct 2004-March 2006, not covered at all from March 2006 - Nov 2008, and now fully covered by the renter''s insurance.

It was expensive for us when it was bought in 2004 but not anything that we couldn''t replace if that''s how we chose to spend the money. We''re less likely to replace it now, we''re just at a different place in our lives.