When to appraise and Insure?

[jerbop]

Hi all,

I am planning to get my stone set in a temporary setting (white gold tiffany-style four prong setting). I am not planning to propose for another few months. Should I get the ring appraised in its temporary form and subsequently have it insured? Or since she won''t be wearing the ring for a few months, should I wait to have it appraised and insured until we pick the permanent setting? Thoughts?

 

[aphisiglovessae]

It kind of depends on whether you want just the diamond insured or the whole ring, right? We waited until we had the entire ring put together before insuring because the setting was worth a considerable amount as well (we had the setting first though so our situation is a little different than yours). I'm no expert though, hopefully they'll chime in soon. I'm hardly ever right lately, it seems.

I have Chubb, which allows you to change the value of the insured amount, but it was so hard to get the policy in the first place. I can't imagine how hard it would be to get ahold of someone again to change the value in such a short period of time. I can't contact my original policy writer because he changed departments, I think. I'm not sure who took his place.

ETA: As for an appraisal, I would have that done immediately. We did, to make sure we got what we paid for.

 

[jaz464]

I would have it appraised ASAP. Is it certed? Is there any question about the quality of the diamond? Have it appraised quickly because if everything doesn't check out OK then you can quickly return it. I was also insure it immediatly. Even if no one will be wearing it, it could still be stolen from your home, lost, etc.

You can add in the setting later, that is what I did.

 

[RockDoc]

Getting it appraised / evaluated now isn''t going to cost more in the end result, other than you would be covered for any mishap earlier.

It doesn''t hurt to have the information and protection early on. The only cost difference is the time from now til she wears it for the insurance premium.

It is prudent to have a back up plan should "something" happen. This way, if there is a problem of any sort you won''t have to deal with others who may be liable, as the insurance company will.


Hope this make sense for you.

Rockdoc

 

[jerbop]

Thanks for the quick responses. Let me get this straight, appraisals typically cost around $150-$200 depending on how thorough it is. Won''t I have to incur this cost again once I have the rock set in the permanent setting?

 

[f0rbidden]

wow, that seems kind of high for an appraisal - of course, that having been said, in my area at least, it depends on what your having appraised, and is ususally charged by the hour.

 

[aphisiglovessae]

Woohoo! I knew you'd be here soon, Rockdoc! I guess it's all about how much piece of mind you want, right? After all, that's what insurance is really for, IMO. Like Chris Rock said: "They should call it 'in case s**t happens"

It's only really worth it if something happens to it. If nothing happens to it, you were really paying for that little bit more sense of security. We weren't really afraid of anything happening to our ring or diamond, so we weren't really in a hurry to insure it. Also, if it was worth less than a certain amount, me and my fiance agreed we wouldn't insure it. But it ended up being worth WAY more than we thought, so we did.

ETA: I think the whole concept of insurance (all kinds) sucks anyway. But it's something that you gotta have, I guess. The only thing I can't really complain about is when Hurricane Ivan hit. My fiance's home insurance company took good care of him, even though it took some pushing and shoving.

 

[aphisiglovessae]

Date: 3/9/2006 11:19:01 AM
Author: f0rbidden
wow, that seems kind of high for an appraisal - of course, that having been said, in my area at least, it depends on what your having appraised, and is ususally charged by the hour.

I think it depends on how thorough the appraisal is. If you're going to get sarin reports with complete measurements and pictures from an idealscope, firescope, etc., the price can be a little higher. If you're just have some jeweler look at it with a loupe and place a value on it, it's less. We had our rock originally appraised/analyzed by Rockdoc and he has a very thorough report that left NO questions in our minds as to the quality of the diamond. We had an additional appraisal for insurance (just in case. We didn't know if we really needed one or not, at the time) through a local gemologist/jeweler that cost less, but all the appraisal included was a description of the ring and the diamond's inclusions with an estimated value.

 

[jaz464]

My appraisal was in that price range.

 

[RockDoc]

Do you really need an appraisal?

It depends on the type of insurance policy you are going to select.

If it is a Chubb policy they do not require a formal appraisal ( if the value is under 50K). This type of policy is called "Stated Value" or As Agreed Value policy. It is very different than a replacement type insurance policy commonly sold by most of the well known companies.


An appraisal is different from a gemological evaluation of the diamond. The need for an appraisal should be based on how the insurance company would settle your claim, should you have one.

If the insurance companies method of claim settlement is to REPLACE the article, then a comprehensive appraisal is needed, so that you get PRECISELY what you had.

If it is a stated value policy ( the Chubb type ) then you get cash to go where you want to replace the item. An appraiser who writes an appraisal SHOULD require knowing this BEFORE the appraisal is done. The methodology of how the value in the report is expressed is different depending on how the claim is settled.

If an appraiser does not know the way the claim would be settled then most likely, it really doesn''t offer much protection for you. Few appraisers really take the time to find this out.

Rockdoc

 

[jasontb]

Wanring: Insurance is a scam and a rip-off!

 

[Shay37]

Date: 3/9/2006 4:23:36 PM
Author: jasontb
Wanring: Insurance is a scam and a rip-off!

Not for me it wasn''t. Chubb was superb. I had a check in two business days. When I found my ring and returned the replacement, they sent me a letter thanking me for my honesty and that they appreciated my business. They did not raise my rates prior to the finding of the ring, and they were nothing but sweethearts about it.

If you cannot replace the ring today with cash in the bank, get it appraised and insured. What if there''s a fire in your house? Just because it''s not being worn, doesn''t mean something can''t happen to it. Also a lot of appraisers will "re-check" your stone once its set without incurring additional expense or for a nominal fee.

Get the insurance.

shay

 

[jasontb]

True. Insurance is great if you are the 1 in 10000 who end up using their benefits.

 

[jaz464]

Date: 3/9/2006 4:23:36 PM
Author: jasontb
Wanring: Insurance is a scam and a rip-off!

Baloney, peace of mind is worth something, even if you never use the insurance.

 

[sunkist]

At what point cost wise do you start insuring a ring (or any jewelry)? I mean, if I had a $4,000 ring should I insure it? Or is that typically for the $10,000 rings?

 

[jaz464]

I would say that you should insure it if you would have a hard time replacing it quickly (like within 2 weeks or so, without it hurting).