OMG…My jewelry is worth that much!!!

Posted on 5/26/2016

Usually finding out your jewelry is worth more than you thought it was is a happy surprise…like when you are having it appraised to give to your children, or when you are selling certain pieces, or just when you want to know what it is worth.  But imagine what a huge disappointment it is to find out you could not replace that favorite ring you just lost because you did not have it properly insured. 

How could this happen?
You were so diligent in getting the appraisal and proper limit of insurance when you first purchased it several years ago.  Either unaware that the value of jewelry has been increasing steadily over the past few years or knowing it has but not giving another thought about how that would affect your coverage.  After all you insured the ring so you should be all set.

Unfortunately this is a common mistake made by most people with scheduled valuable articles, especially jewelry…not getting updated appraisals every few years and adjusting your coverage accordingly.  Until that awful day when you lose that ring and you find out you have it insured for half of what it is going to cost you to get a comparable ring.

What can I do to prevent this from happening to me?
Don’t wait until it is too late….be sure to get your jewelry appraisals updated regularly and notify your account manager of any changes in value.

And remember unscheduled jewelry has limited coverage. All Homeowner policies have a maximum limit they will pay for the theft of unscheduled jewelry. The standard limit is $1,000. In addition the standard Homeowners policy does not cover lost jewelry at all.   If you have pieces of jewelry that are valued under $10,000 and want to cover but them but don’t want the hassle of itemizing the values and keeping track of what items are being insured, you can now schedule jewelry on a blanket basis, i.e. you don’t have to list each item. You determine how much coverage you want in total for your jewelry and that amount will be your blanket limit. Blanket coverage is subject to a maximum per item limit…usually $10,000 (some companies have a higher limit). For those pieces that fall under that value, this is an easy way to cover them – same broad coverage. For those valued in excess of that value, you will need to schedule on an itemized basis with regularly updated appraisals.

Again, don’t wait until it is too late…if you have jewelry that is not currently scheduled either on a blanket basis or itemized, contact your account manager to discuss your options.