Not important enough for Chubb?

[makhro82]

So my ring from ERD arrived yesterday and immediately my boyfriend and I set out to insure it. The ring appraisal says that it is valued at $7325. Touchstone called us today to tell us that Chubb only likes to insure for $10,000 or above. Now BF and I have a baby rock in comparison to most of the people on Pricescope, but in the real world we aren''t doing too bad. So my questions are have you heard of this price minimum before and if I can''t get Chubb who should I get?

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, I am sorry. I have not heard of that. If you have a house you can add a seperate rider w/State Farm or call Jewelers Mutual.

 

[johngalt2004]

Maybe you can add a watch or something else worth $2700 to make the policy value $10K.

 

[MoonWater]

wow, are you kidding? I was hoping to use Chubb but I don''t know if my ring will be "worth" enough!

 

[winternight]

My Chubb has this policy too, your appraised value has to be over $10,000. Maybe you can add some other things to the policy or get a rider on your renter''s or homeowner''s insurance?

 

[MoonWater]

Hmm, well how much does a ring usually cost (what you paid for it) that will appraise for $10k?

 

[chrono]

I would not insure for more than what I paid for it (at least, not by much). Most appraisals are inflated and you will not be given a replacement/cash out for the appraisal amount anyway, but only for what it really is worth to replace (in short, what you really paid for it).

 

[Regular Guy]

We''ve seen this here before; not sure how universal. Some need more.

Try Bill Castro with Total Dollar:

www.totaldollar.com

Could you try them, too, and let us know?

 

[surfgirl]

It''s pretty standard for Chubb. As someone else said, perhaps you can add another piece to make up the extra value?

As for what something costs to be appraised at $10k? It shouldn''t be that much less that $10k because there''s no reason someone should ever appraise something for a huge amount over what it would really cost to replace.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Date: 11/7/2007 3:22:57 PM
Author: Regular Guy
We''ve seen this here before; not sure how universal. Some need more.


Try Bill Castro with Total Dollar:


www.totaldollar.com


Could you try them, too, and let us know?

I second Bill Castro...that''s who we use and my ering''s appraised value is nowhere near $10,000.

 

[stebbo]

Date: 11/7/2007 3:22:18 PM
Author: Chrono
I would not insure for more than what I paid for it (at least, not by much). Most appraisals are inflated and you will not be given a replacement/cash out for the appraisal amount anyway, but only for what it really is worth to replace (in short, what you really paid for it).

True for a replacement policy, but not Chubb and other agreed-value policies.

I'd still only insure for what it costs me to easily replace it though.

 

[Murr4168]

I tried to use Chubb through Touchstone as well and was told the same thing. I ended up using the other insurance Touchstone offers (Gemshield, I think?). It''s a replacement policy but it guarantees that I can use Whiteflash for the replacement which I wanted to anyway so I think it''ll be ok. I may try the Chubb agent listed above though when this policy is up for renewal because I''d rather have a cash value policy.

 

[TravelingGal]

Bill Castro insured my ring. It was also nowhere near 10K.

 

[Quash]

Chubb insures for the higher end of the market in most areas. They take the same approach with insuring homes no less than a certain value.

But, just because they say they don''t like to insure below that amount does not mean they will not. They may have the ability to flex. Good brokers will know if they do and also know how to get them to flex. Either ask the broker to go back to them to reconsider or call another broker. If the broker can make a case to Chubb that you may bring them other business down the road as your income rises, or if the broker feels that by getting Chubb on board with your policy, the broker will get more of your business through other insurers, then this might do the trick.

In terms of insurance type, Chubb typically replaces a loss based on the "agreed value" of the appraisal, not the replacement value. And, they''ll cut you a cheque for the agreed value if you want and won''t quibble about finding a ring of equal value to the agreed value on the appraisal. This means if you paid 6k for the ring and it''s appraised at 10k, you''ll get a 10k cheque, can go buy the ring again at 6k and keep 4k. Or, you can get a big upgrade. Chubb doesn''t tend to hassle customers in making claims but they are more careful about who they choose as customers.

A friend of mine who was a claims manager at Chubb explained to me that because they tend to market to the upper-end of the market, they depend on word of mouth and so they''re business model is structured in such a way that they often don''t bother fighting claims as they recognize this could cost them business through bad word of mouth. He said he knew of instances where people''s homes had burned down and Chubb just cut a cheque up front right after the fire without getting in to a war with the customer, which most insurance companies will do. They believe this approach brings them more business.

But, for service like that you''ll pay a premium and they''ll also seek to protect themselves in different ways and one way is by limiting their business to a more specific range of the market in an effort to limit their exposure to fraud.

 

[BriBee]

I also just had an issue trying to get Chubb insurance. I just got engaged (Tuesday) and the first thing I want to do is get the ring insured. As far as the minimums discussed here, I think my ring might meet that requirement, but when I called a Chubb broker in my area, she basically flat out refused me! She told me that they won''t write a policy on just one piece of jewelry (I guess no matter how much it''s worth????). And I don''t really have anything else at this point that I would care to get insured. So that was a little frustrating because I had heard good things about them through PS and I liked the sound of their replacement policies etc.... So now I guess I''ll check out Jeweler''s Mutual...? I have policies with State Farm currently, but I have heard mixed reviews about their claims processing.

 

[blondie23]

I have my ring insured through Chubb and yes it is over the threshold but it is only for one piece of jewelry so I know they can at least do that. Also, my ring was appraised for what we paid for it and I like the feature that we can get cash out if something happens. Right now I love my Cartier solitaire but if something were to happen to it and I wanted to upgrade I wouldn''t be able to go to Cartier to get an upgrade without costing me an arm and a leg. That is why I love the cash out policy because I don''t have to buy the replacement at a place similar to Cartier.

Also Travellers will also do jewelry under 10K and also do cash out. check them out.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 11/8/2007 12:40:04 PM
Author: BriBee
I also just had an issue trying to get Chubb insurance. I just got engaged (Tuesday) and the first thing I want to do is get the ring insured. As far as the minimums discussed here, I think my ring might meet that requirement, but when I called a Chubb broker in my area, she basically flat out refused me! She told me that they won''t write a policy on just one piece of jewelry (I guess no matter how much it''s worth????). And I don''t really have anything else at this point that I would care to get insured. So that was a little frustrating because I had heard good things about them through PS and I liked the sound of their replacement policies etc.... So now I guess I''ll check out Jeweler''s Mutual...? I have policies with State Farm currently, but I have heard mixed reviews about their claims processing.

Try calling Bill Castro. When I was looking insurance, many were running into the same thing. They say they won''t write a policy for one piece of jewelry. They will...you have to just find the person who will do it for you. Do a search. Mara found someone in the Bay area who will do it too, but I don''t recall the name. This person seemed a bit faster (and less scatterbrained) than Bill, but I found him very pleasant.

 

[Quash]

Date: 11/8/2007 12:40:04 PM
Author: BriBee
but when I called a Chubb broker in my area, she basically flat out refused me! She told me that they won''t write a policy on just one piece of jewelry (I guess no matter how much it''s worth????).

Chubb does insure single pieces of jewelry and you don''t have to have other policies with them. The problem is that you have to go through a broker to get a policy from Chubb and it''s not worth many broker''s time to deal with a one-off like that.

So, call a few more brokers that deal with Chubb. One will likely end up doing it for you. But, that broker should have been more honest with you and should not be misrepresenting Chubb''s policies simply because it serves her interests.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 11/8/2007 8:14:13 PM
Author: Quash

Date: 11/8/2007 12:40:04 PM
Author: BriBee
but when I called a Chubb broker in my area, she basically flat out refused me! She told me that they won''t write a policy on just one piece of jewelry (I guess no matter how much it''s worth????).

Chubb does insure single pieces of jewelry and you don''t have to have other policies with them. The problem is that you have to go through a broker to get a policy from Chubb and it''s not worth many broker''s time to deal with a one-off like that.

So, call a few more brokers that deal with Chubb. One will likely end up doing it for you. But, that broker should have been more honest with you and should not be misrepresenting Chubb''s policies simply because it serves her interests.

Ditto. The problem was with that insurance agent, not Chubb.