UK ring insurance suggestions please

[D2B]

Hi

Im in the UK and renting. after having received one or two little bits and pieces over the last year and I am in need of some contents and jewellery insurance. Now I would love to be able to get the same diamonds from WF etc if somethingg were to happen. Now we dont have a lot of contents, as we live in a furnished flat, so any UK PS''ers please any recommendations on who to use?? Really have no idea as we are not originally from the UK

thanks in advance
D2B

 

[Rhea]

I''d be interested in hearing answers as well. We have an unfurnished flat so we need contents insurance and to add jewellery to it.

 

[merlinthecat]

You need to have a rough idea of how much cover you would need. Think about all the personal items you have, and what it would cost to replace them.

Usually any one item that has a value greater than £2000 will have to be specified on your policy. I.E. expense rings, watches or laptops etc. If you use one of the search engines on the internet like ''moneysupermarket.com or ''gocompare.com'' you can put in your details and they will give you a list of the cheapest insurers. It will give you an idea of cost.

But definitely sort out some insurance ASAP...because when you start to calculate what you have and the replacement value, you''ll be suprised how much it comes to.

Hope this helps

Merl

 

[Rhea]

I just remembered that which? does some comparisons on which insurance is the best. It seems easy to me to find an insurance company, I have several in my high street and people always advertise on tv, but that''s totally different to finding a good insurance company.

My US policy also used language that I was used to, whereas the one place that I really checked out in the UK used totally different language that I couldn''t get my head around.

 

[D2B]

thanks,

I guess I want to make sure that the contents plus jewellery insurance, means if something does happen, I dont get some horrible B&M replacement for my studs etc. So I was hoping someone could suggest a good company, there are so many inusrance options, that it is a bit daunting, let alone the specifics of good diamond cover.

D2B

 

[Rhea]

DH and I just spent a while talking about this today thanks to your thread, but came up with no firm conclusion. I think we''re going to start by using which? and then calling anyone we still have questions on. We compiled a list of questions that are important to us. I remember in the US when my insurance was tested it wasn''t as good as it should have been. So I''ve hopefully learned a bit on what to clarify with potential insurers.

Maybe someone else in the UK will weigh in on who they use soon!

 

[Pandora II]

I'm insured with Norwich Union. My e-ring is a rider on our contents insurance.

You don't need to own a property to get insurance - I had it all the way through University too.

There are various websites that you can use to get lowdowns. I use Motley Fool a lot for all sorts of financial advice - they send good articles through as well if you sign up as a member.

Which isn't bad, but you have to pay and sometimes they are out of date.

The big supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury etc do insurance, also a lot of banks do as well.

I bank with First Direct and I cannot sing their praises too highly - they are fantastic. Well worth calling them for some advice (just say you're thinking of opening an account - they give you £100 if you do BTW).


They don't take much information when they do the policy, so make sure you have copies of any paperwork.

FI and I spent an evening photographing anything we had of value and drawing up a spreadsheet of items and values.

That way if anything happens, we have records of what we had. They do often send you to Goldsmith's to replace things - but, if you get the right one they are amazingly helpful.

My mother had some jewellery stolen - an antique gold chain in rose gold. My father had paid $400 3 years earlier, the SA valued it from photographs at $2.5k and told the insurers that they couldn't replace a piece like that, so they sent her a cheque. Boy, did we have fun - 2 chains, a bracelet and 2 pair of earrings. My mother was still very sad about the one that was stolen - it was beautiful and very unusual.

 

[Maisie]

I got my home contents insurance through the AA (A large broker).

I had to change insurers recently as Fortis wouldn''t cover my larger diamond. I can''t for the life of me remember who my new insurer is.

I will have to hunt out the paperwork.

I asked my insurer how my ring would be replaced if it was lost or stolen. They said I would have to get 3 quotes and they would choose the one they would go with. I asked if I could go back to Whiteflash and they said it was possible. Wherever it came from it would have to be like for like, so I would receive a comparable diamond to the lost one.

 

[Rhea]

Maisie, that''s my fear. In the US some policies let you pick between the few jewellers they work with and others give you the cash to go find your ring on your own. I don''t mind working with someone''s jeweller but I have OEC earrings and I''d want OEC earrings again. I have an antique wedding band and engagement ring and I''d like to have the ability to search for another one rather than just replacing them with modern pieces.

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 6/1/2008 6:26:11 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''m insured with Norwich Union. My e-ring is a rider on our contents insurance.


You don''t need to own a property to get insurance - I had it all the way through University too.


There are various websites that you can use to get lowdowns. I use Motley Fool a lot for all sorts of financial advice - they send good articles through as well if you sign up as a member.


Which isn''t bad, but you have to pay and sometimes they are out of date.


The big supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury etc do insurance, also a lot of banks do as well.


I bank with First Direct and I cannot sing their praises too highly - they are fantastic. Well worth calling them for some advice (just say you''re thinking of opening an account - they give you £100 if you do BTW).



They don''t take much information when they do the policy, so make sure you have copies of any paperwork.


FI and I spent an evening photographing anything we had of value and drawing up a spreadsheet of items and values.


That way if anything happens, we have records of what we had. They do often send you to Goldsmith''s to replace things - but, if you get the right one they are amazingly helpful.


My mother had some jewellery stolen - an antique gold chain in rose gold. My father had paid $400 3 years earlier, the SA valued it from photographs at $2.5k and told the insurers that they couldn''t replace a piece like that, so they sent her a cheque. Boy, did we have fun - 2 chains, a bracelet and 2 pair of earrings. My mother was still very sad about the one that was stolen - it was beautiful and very unusual.

Excellent stuff, Pandora, thank you! I like that you mentioned your bank as well, since I am not overly enthused about my current bank (HSBC) and am thinking about switching in a couple of months when my account with them is up for renewal (so weird to have to PAY to bank, don''t have that at home).

 

[Pandora II]

Definitely try First Direct, you can do everything by telephone or online (They don't have branches). A real live person answers the telephone - none of this automated, push button x nonsense.

You can call them at 3.30am and they really are happy to help you! I do this every now and then...

They called me to tell me if I moved my savings account to another one I would get more in interest!

The best one was when my mother had her card cloned. She banked with Royal Bank of Scotland, and found out that $6k was missing from her account at 8pm on a Friday night. She tried calling them and they were shut till Monday. She was really worried, so I suggested we call my bank as the system was probably the same. They were so nice and spent 20 minutes talking to her about the process and sympathising with her. At the end of the call, the woman said that if my mother had banked with them, the money would have been back in her account by the next day.

Royal Bank of Scotland took 6 weeks to return the money. We also knew exactly when the card had been cloned and the location - they weren't even interested!

My mother now banks with First Direct!

I don't know what the system is if you aren't from the UK - but give them a call and find out.

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 6/2/2008 10:36:41 AM
Author: Pandora II
Definitely try First Direct, you can do everything by telephone or online (They don''t have branches). A real live person answers the telephone - none of this automated, push button x nonsense.


You can call them at 3.30am and they really are happy to help you! I do this every now and then...


They called me to tell me if I moved my savings account to another one I would get more in interest!


The best one was when my mother had her card cloned. She banked with Royal Bank of Scotland, and found out that $6k was missing from her account at 8pm on a Friday night. She tried calling them and they were shut till Monday. She was really worried, so I suggested we call my bank as the system was probably the same. They were so nice and spent 20 minutes talking to her about the process and sympathising with her. At the end of the call, the woman said that if my mother had banked with them, the money would have been back in her account by the next day.


Royal Bank of Scotland took 6 weeks to return the money. We also knew exactly when the card had been cloned and the location - they weren''t even interested!


My mother now banks with First Direct!

I don''t know what the system is if you aren''t from the UK - but give them a call and find out.

How do ATMs work (er, cash points, I think you call them here) if they don''t have branch locations? And I''ve had a bank account in the UK with HSBC for almost a year now--it will expire in September and by then I am hoping to have a proper job here in the UK and stuff, so hopefully that won''t be an issue. But I will look into it for sure. Thank you!

 

[Pandora II]

You just use any ATM/Cash point - to pay in cheques etc, just go into HSBC and do it there, or put them in the post.

 

[D2B]

thanks everyone. Pandora i will check out Norwich Union. Hopefully my concerns about replacement stones will be alliviated.

Its hard, you spend so long looking for the perfect stones, it would just kill me to get some awful B&M stone. I mean if they gave me a tiffany etc replacement I would live with that

, but I doubt that that is what they will have in mind.

d2b

 

[gwendolyn]

Sorry, D2B, one more question and then I will stop hijacking your thread, I promise!

Date: 6/2/2008 12:38:43 PM
Author: Pandora II
You just use any ATM/Cash point - to pay in cheques etc, just go into HSBC and do it there, or put them in the post.

Do you have to pay to use those ATMs, though? I know usually the High Street banks are free if you withdraw money from other High Street banks, but others have to pay. I looked at their website (rather hurriedly, I admit, just before a meeting) and didn''t see anything mentioned about whether it''s free to withdraw from ATMs or not.

 

[Pandora II]

No, it''s free.

You only pay if you use one of those weird ones - but you pay for those whichever bank you are with!

 

[Rhea]

ATMs always warn me if I have to pay over here. Either on the screen once I put my card when they say that they won''t charge me for the transaction but the bank I actually hold the account with might, or in motorway rest stops when they have little red stickers on them. Those are the only two times I can think of a bank charging me in the UK.