Who has gone through claim process for ring Insurance?

[tjs]

I am insurance shopping for a recently purchased ring (total cost ~$3500). I am weighing pros and cons between Chubb, State Farm, Jeweler''s Mutual, and Liberty Mutual (any other recommendations?)

Anyway, I''ve read a lot on these forums about the, what I like to call, "theoretical" pros and cons. As in, pros and cons based on what is documented by these companies. But I am more interested in execution, how well these companies stand up to their policies.

Has anyone actually filed for any claims with these main companies? If it was a cash-out policy, did you actually get a reasonable check? If it was a replacement policy, did you have a good replacement? Was it an easy or difficult process? All experiences are appreciated. And if this topic is covered by another thread directly, feel free to link me.

I know its only $3500, but I don''t mind paying a few bucks a month to give my fiance an ease of mind.

 

[Skippy123]

I filed a claim w/State Farm when my ring got lost in our house remodel; I was so sad. It was super easy to file the claim. I called our agent and gave him a heads up and said I rather look in our house for 3 months in case it shows up. Well we never found it so I called our agent again. He was great; they turned the appraisal work over to another appraiser for State Farm and that took a couple of days and then issued us a check. We almost didn't insure the ring.

I liked being able to add a rider to our regular insurance and the ease of already knowing our agent. Plus for us it is is so much cheaper to go through StateFarm
rather than going through Chubb or JM. HTH

ETA: I don't know if it was a cash out policy or replacement; they just gave us a check. hmmm. . . maybe I will ask our agent but I assume it is cash out.

 

[kev_800]

I agree. Its best just to add it to your renters/homeowner''s policy. If the ring is worth more than a certain dollar value ($15,000-20,000) then it becomes worthwhile to have a stand-alone policy.

 

[tjs]

Date: 10/29/2007 12:01:39 PM
Author: kev_800
I agree. Its best just to add it to your renters/homeowner''s policy. If the ring is worth more than a certain dollar value ($15,000-20,000) then it becomes worthwhile to have a stand-alone policy.

Since I am fairly fresh out of college, I don''t have many personal assets. Thus, I don''t have renters/homeowner''s insurance. So I was considering getting a standalone policy to just ease my fiance''s mind so she doesn''t have to worry about it getting stolen, etc. Now on the other hand, I have car insurance through Liberty Mutual so I''ll see what they can do for me.

From past posts here, it seems the average is somewhere between $1-$3 per hundred, paid per year. That would put this ring in between $40-$120 per year. I imagine some of the standalone policies have minimums ($50/yr) though. So any other good, or horror, stories from insurance claims? And on another note, has anyone else been in a similar situation (lower cost ring, but no home/rent insurance)?

 

[denverappraiser]

I’ve dealt with the claims end of many insurance policies and most find it pretty painless as long as they understand the nature of the policy they have. The insurers really are generally trying to meet their obligations to their policyholders in a fair way. The difficulties come when clients don’t understand the policy either on the cash/replacement issue or on what sorts of losses are covered and when the appraisal is so weak that it’s not clear exactly what it was that was lost.

Chubb does have a minimum for their standard valuable articles policy and I don’t think they are going to be an option for you. Similarly, State Farm and Liberty Mutual don’t write stand alone jewelry policies as far as I know so, from your list, the only remaining one is Jewelers Mutual. They offer a fine product for your situation and are easy enough to buy and their claims procedure can go through pretty much any jewelery store you like so it's relatively painless. Gemshield from XL will also offer standalone policies in that price range. Both are replacement type and both are ‘all risk’ policies but read the fine print to understand what those terms mean.

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

 

[cl2ysta1]

i havent had to file a claim with them, but i am in the same boat you are. recent college grad with no real assets other than my ring! We got jewelers mutual for now. When we have a home we might just add it to our homeowners

 

[johngalt2004]

I avoided a rider on my homeowners insurance because I do not want to risk a raised eyebrow from them (and raised rates on my mandatory homeowners insurance for the rest of my life) in the event that my wife''s diamond is lost/damaged and a claim becomes necessary.

Is that fear unfounded? Are you guys sure that there won''t be a deleterious inpact on my homeowners insurance rates that will follow me the rest of my days if I have to make a claim on my diamond insurance rider?

For that reason I decided to keep it separate and got a Chubb policy. Chances are next year I will switch to Gemshield or JM to save some on rates.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 10/31/2007 10:48:43 AM
Author: johngalt2004
I avoided a rider on my homeowners insurance because I do not want to risk a raised eyebrow from them (and raised rates on my mandatory homeowners insurance for the rest of my life) in the event that my wife''s diamond is lost/damaged and a claim becomes necessary.


Is that fear unfounded? Are you guys sure that there won''t be a deleterious inpact on my homeowners insurance rates that will follow me the rest of my days if I have to make a claim on my diamond insurance rider?


For that reason I decided to keep it separate and got a Chubb policy. Chances are next year I will switch to Gemshield or JM to save some on rates.

Yes, that’s a valid concern.

When insurance company’s asses the risks associated with insuring you, they will generally interrogate a large database called CLUE where they put information about your claims history. It says that you filed a claim, what the amount was for settlement and the date. It doesn’t include details like whether it was for jewelry, how good a case you had or any other such details although this information is kept in the internal records. When you change companies or add a new policy the company will check your CLUE report as part of the decision process for accepting your policy and/or setting your rates. Folks who have had a few car accidents run into this head on. CLUE is pretty sparse info to work from which sometimes works to your favor and sometimes to your detriment. If you file a claim against your standalone jewelry policy, it’s unlikely your homeowners company will query your report looking for changes because it costs them to do this and they have to have some reason to suspect a problem to justify paying the money to look into it. Internal to the company they have far more information about your account and it costs them nothing to keep records. They have excellent memories and paying attention to them is free.

It’s worth noting that even the best of clients have claims activity from time to time and it would be foolish to cancel or drive away otherwise good customers because of it. It’s patterns that they’re looking for. A series of claims over a relatively short period against your homeowners policy is likely to raise some eyebrows. A single jewelry or other ''ordinary'' claim probably will not.

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