UK gem lovers: who are you insured with?

[rosetta]

hi everyone,

can the PSers based in the UK please advise on who to get my stones insured with?

I am using SafeGuard for the appraisal, and need the following:

1. insurance worldwide (i want to wear the stones abroad)

2. cash sum replacement rather than replacement with ''a similar stone''

Can anyone please help out?

TL, LD, Pandora??

i would also like to hear your experiences if you''ve ever had to make a claim.

thank you!

 

[LD]

TL isn''t in the UK but I''m sure she could help with insurance for the US. Pandora is in the UK so may be able to help.

Unfortunately each insurance company will have it''s own policies on travelling abroad and giving cash as a settlement. Most will insure for loss abroad IF an item is specified and covered by an appraisal.

Under most home contents insurance, you have a £ limit per article and so if you were to have a burglary you need to make sure that everything adds up to under the full amount they allow and no-one piece is over the stated limit. If you are over in either then you must specify each article and that means it attracts its own premium per annum. On top of that, some insurers need you to have the item checked annually for loose claws etc so it can be cost prohibitive.

Most insurance companies won''t give a cash equivalent. They nearly all have their own companies that they use for replacement.

I have a number of items insured under my house contents insurance and lost a ring whilst on holliday. The Halifax (after sending 2 people round to take statements, see photos, etc., allowed me to use a company I knew to replace the ring. I suspect that''s because the company I wanted to use quoted less than their replacement jewellery companies.

If your home insurance won''t allow you to insure jewellery then there''s a specialist jewellery insurer that Safeguard recommend (and I think there''s a link on their website).

In order to fully insure I had to show that I had a safe of X grade, a certain grade of alarm and my premiums are very very very high. In fact, they''re so high that I now only insure the most expensive pieces.

 

[rosetta]

thanks LD!

whoops, i thought TL was in the UK (sorry TL!)

looks like home contents insurance is the way to go, i only have one piece i''d like to insure.

any other input is much appreciated!!

 

[lelser]

It''s often better to have a separate policy so that if there''s a loss on the jewellery your home insurance doesn''t go skyrocketing. Sometimes your regular insurance broker can write a high-value jewellery policy for you.

T.H. March writes specialty policies in the UK, but I don''t know if they are any good or not.

You may want to ask a store you trust who writes their coverage and see if the broker/company would handle a non-trade policy.

Cheers,

Lisa

 

[LD]

T.H. Marsh are the only insurance company that will insure jewellery under a separate policy - thanks Lisa for reminding me of their name. They are recommended by Safeguard and have a very good name in the insurance world in the UK. However, they were going to impose trade restrictions on me (I''m not trade) - which meant I''d have to have a room converted into a safe with reinforced everything!!! Mind you I''m sure that if you''re only insuring a couple of pieces they wouldn''t mind so much!

I''m afraid that jewellers in the UK aren''t able to help with insurance.

 

[Pandora II]

I have a rider on my home insurance policy - I''m with Norwich Union. My rings are covered globally for all risks.

I made them take copious details so that if I need to replace I can get a tsav of the same quality not whatever some random chain can come up with. Although, I have a tame jeweller who is one of the ones you get sent to if you need to claim.

My mother needed to claim for some antique pieces that were stolen and the guy agreed that they couldn''t be replaced by new pieces so the insurance company paid cash - and a lot more than was expected as the pieces weren''t appraised before - the jeweller valued them from photographs - they weren''t even riders, just on the normal house insurance. The sentimental value was sad, but we had a great time choosing new pieces! So, worth making friends with a jeweller in one of the stores that your insurance company uses!