The Importance of Jewellery Insurance

Find out everything you need to know about insuring your jewellery, and how to choose the right policy for you.

Why should I Insure my jewellery?

It's easy to overlook jewellery insurance when you're caught up in the excitement of becoming engaged, or celebrating an extra special occasion, but when you give or receive valuable jewellery, it's important to make sure that the item is covered, in case it becomes lost, stolen or damaged.

Even if you're lucky enough never to experience the loss or theft of your jewellery, damage to jewellery is surprisingly common, and can easily happen if you catch your item on clothing or furniture, for example. Unfortunately this sort of damage is rarely included in manufacturers warranties, so taking out insurance is the only way to ensure that you won't be left out of pocket if you need to repair or replace your jewellery.

Choosing the right insurance policy

Unfortunately, not all insurance policies are created equal. People often assume that any insurance policy will automatically cover them for an identical replacement of their jewellery in any eventuality, but this simply isn't the case.

Does your policy cover a like-for-like replacement?

When jewellery is insured as part of home or contents insurance, claimants are often given a jewellery voucher card rather than the cash equivalent, and are consequently limited to choosing a replacement from a small number of high street retailers. This can be particularly problematic if your jewellery has not been valued with your insurer prior to your claim being made, as the insurer will be left to estimate a value, and you can be sure that it will be lower than you were expecting. If your original item was bespoke or came from a high quality independent establishment, such as Diamond Heaven, it would be very hard to replace your jewellery with something mass produced from a high street retailer.

Does your policy cover all eventualities?

You may be limited in the circumstances in which you can make a claim. Your policy may cover you for loss but not damage, and it may only cover you inside or outside the home. If you travel regularly it's also important to check that your policy covers you abroad, as well as inside the UK. Consequently, it's extremely important to check the small print before agreeing to your policy.

What is your excess?

If your insurance quote is surprisingly low, it may be because a high excess will be payable by you in the event of a claim. Make sure you double check the excess figure prior to signing up; if the excess payable is close to or exceeds the value of your jewellery, this policy will not be appropriate for you.

Cataloguing your jewellery

Before taking out insurance, make sure that any jewellery has been valued, and that you have photographic records of its appearance, along with notes on its age and composition. If you have any receipts relating to its purchase, keep them in a safe place, as you may need them to prove how much you originally paid for the item, and when it was purchased. Provide your insurer with as much information as possible about your jewellery when taking out your policy, as it will be a lot harder to provide details of it in the event of its loss.

Using a specialist insurer

If your item of jewellery is worth more than £1,500, you should specify it as a separate item on any contents insurance policy, or take out specific cover from a specialist jewellery insurance broker.

When you take out policies with companies such as T.M March, which are dedicated to providing jewellery insurance, you can be sure that you are receiving the most comprehensive cover available. T.M March have been insuring jewellery for over 125 years, and their policies allow you to replace items via your chosen jeweller, without any need for high street gift cards or vouchers, with no excess payable when you make a claim.

How Diamond Heaven can help

At Diamond Heaven we always recommend that you insure your jewellery, and when you buy an item from us, we will provide you with a valuation for insurance purposes, which you should use when securing any quotes for your cover. If you have any queries regarding your jewellery, or how to insure it, please get in touch with us today.