Live in Canada, Bought ering from Whiteflash, Insurance?

[dmdfool]

Got my first ering, waiting for it to ship, super excited!!!

Need to get it insured now...who do I go with?

I got a recommendation from whiteflash to go with perfect circle, but I've also read that UCAA?? is just as good, if not better?

Totally noob when it comes to this...I also know I can self-insure by not buying insurance, but I feel more comfortable having it than not. What's my best option to get my ering insured if i purchased an ACA whiteflash diamond if I live in Canada(not sure if that matters being in Canada).

Thank you so much!

 

[needsomebling]

I insure my wife's more expensive items through AAA. They can place an insurance rider on your home policy that covers jewelry. It's not that much per year, but it covers my peace of mind if something gets lost or damaged. I don't know if it's a good policy or not as I've never had to claim anything, but AAA has been pretty good otherwise for us. AMA actually in Alberta.

 

[dmdfool]

Ok Thank you.


One of the things I've already looked into was getting it insured through the house.

My concern is that if the insurance ever had to be used, would I get the diamond replaced with an equal or higher valued diamond or will they replace it with the lower diamond if I insure it through my house.

I spoke to a local jeweler appraisal in my neighborhood and he charges $45 for an appraisal. I am just wondering if someone can give me more insight as to insure the diamond through my house, or go third party with perfect circle or w/e(online) insurance dealers.


Is it true that your house insurance will rip you off on the ring?

 

[needsomebling]

Are you a dentist too? I'm a DDS.

I'm not sure how the house insurance rider policy works exactly, but I gave them copies of the appraised value of the jewelry to be insured, and I would guess that they would offer a fair replacement cost (not the appraised value) to get an item replaced or repaired. I think they likely make note of the item's specifications, but they adjust the premium to take into account the appraised value. I don't think they would give you the full appraised value in any situation so that's why people don't really want high appraisals as it just bumps up the premiums and doesn't seem to offer any real benefit other than making the buyer feel good about their purchase.

I'm not a jewelry expert so maybe someone else can chime in on whether it's better to go through a special insurance company or not. I do find that over 17 years I think I've paid about $3750 in insurance premiums to cover about $10,000 in jewelry. It's a big cost to pay over time, but I think it's well worth it just in case something were to happen.

Be careful to check what you get from your jeweller as some seem to make mistakes and refuse to correct them.

 

[kmarla]

Our home insurance policy covers jewelry valued up to $10,000. I added a rider to cover my e-ring. I've never had to make a claim but they have a copy of the appraisal which isn't overly inflated ( as far as replacing in Canada/CDN dollars) and I have the GIA certificate so I think it should be pretty straightforward.

 

[hawk25]

I'm a Canadian who bought a WF ACA ering, and I insured through Perfect Circle (Jewelers Mutual). It was a pretty easy process. WF has a partnership with JM, where the appraised value is just 30% above what you paid. The good part is you can change that value to whatever you want, as long as it is above the purchase cost (I changed mine to only 15% extra to account for inflation).

I prefered JM since you're allowed to specify which company replaces the ring (up to the appraised value). So if I lose mine, I can work with WF directly for a replacement, getting another ACA, as opposed to the insurance company using one of their approved jewelers to try and replace it with similar specs. I used my invoice from WF as my appraisal (I didn't see the need to pay for a third party appraisal, but that's just my opinion), and the AGS certification.

My annual premiums are about 1.5% of the appraised value, so pretty reasonable IMO. I don't believe they insure people in Quebec though, if that matters to you. I haven't (and hope I never have to) made a claim, so I can't comment on how easy/hard it'll be. But it's been a good experience so far

The one thing I still don't have a clear answer to is that if I ever have to make a claim, and find a replacement ring from WF, who pays the taxes to get it into Canada? I tried speaking to a JM rep, and she sounded pretty unsure when she said that JM would.

 

[kmarla]

I would assume the insurer pays the taxes as this is part of the replacement cost. Taxes would be incurred whether you import the ring or purchase locally....we just can't avoid it. We just went through a claim for water damage and we had to replace many items. The only additional expense we paid was the deductible on our policy. Make sure you keep all your original paperwork including proof of taxes paid just in case but you shouldn't be required to pay taxes twice. Get your insurer to clarify their policy in writing if you're uncomfortable.