Questions about Appraisals and How to get Jewelry Insured from a newbie

[OneNJen]

Hi all... I am not sure where the appropriate place to post this is, but it does relate to diamonds, so here goes...

First, I don''t own a home, nor do I rent, so I don''t have a homeowners policy or renter''s insurance. I have four or five pieces of jewelry that I would like to insure. In this case, how do I obtain insurance?

Secondly, I have a question about appraisals. Several months ago I bought a diamond circle pendant. With the purchase, I received a "statement of sale" from the retailer. Do I use that to submit for insurance purposes, or do I have to get the pendant appraised as well?

Thanks for the help!

 

[denverappraiser]

Standalone jewelry policies are available from several companies. Among the ones often recommended here are:

Jewelers Mutual available at www.jewelersmutual.com
Gemshield by XL available at www.touchstoneinsurance.com
If you meet the minimum value requirements Chubb available at www.touchstoneinsurance.com or www.totaldollar.com

The statement from the jeweler was provided for this purpose. If it contains a description of the piece that is sufficient to replace it in the case of a loss and if the value conclusion is reasonable for funding such a replacement then this will probably work just fine.

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

 

[OneNJen]

Thanks, Denver, that helps immensely!

 

[MP]

Denver,
If you don''t mind me asking who would you go with to insure an e-ring? I know that certain insurers won''t simply give you a check if you lose a piece, but instead will be you one of equal value. I certainly wouldn''t want that to happen given the amount of time I''ve dedicated to finding the right e-ring.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 2/12/2008 8:53:49 AM
Author: MP
Denver,

If you don't mind me asking who would you go with to insure an e-ring? I know that certain insurers won't simply give you a check if you lose a piece, but instead will be you one of equal value. I certainly wouldn't want that to happen given the amount of time I've dedicated to finding the right e-ring.

I am a long time and satisfied client of Jewelers Mutual both for my personal jewelry and for my business. All of my client’s property is fully insured while in my possession and the policy is through them.

Chubb has a wonderful product and I would be able to meet their minimums but the prices are higher. Quite a bit higher. I’m pretty frugal (ok, my wife uses the word ‘cheap’). In my case I would be paying more than double for a policy with similar limits. Insurance prices vary considerably depending on your address and in some locations they are far closer together than this, especially the high cost places like Manhattan and LA. In some it’s even worse. By all means get a quote. If the price were the same or even fairly close I would have gone with Chubb.

A properly done appraisal reduces the pain of the replacement type policies dramatically. The big problems with them comes when it’s unclear what exactly is required for replacement, when the value conclusion isn't in sync with reality or when the client doesn’t really want to replace anyway, they want the cash for something else.

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