8 Dazzling Tips to Make Buying Jewelry Insurance Easy

Whether you’re waiting to spring an engagement ring on your significant other or you’ve got a collection of precious family heirlooms, chances are that your most valuable jewelry won’t be covered by a standard homeowners or renters policy.

That means if there’s theft or damage to your personal jewelry, you’ll incur a huge monetary loss. But it doesn’t have to be a hassle to buy extra coverage for your jewelry, nor does it need to break the bank. Here’s how to get jewelry insurance in eight easy steps.

One: Assess The Value of Your Bling

You’ll typically pay 1 to 2 percent of the value of the jewelry to add scheduled personal property coverage to your renters policy or homeowners policy. To make sure you get the right amount of coverage, you’ll need to know the value of your jewelry. That means you’ll need a credit card receipt or, if it’s been more than five years since you bought the item, a jewelry appraisal.

Appraisals

In most cases, you’ll need to submit an appraisal when you file a claim for stolen or damaged jewelry, so you should have your jewelry appraised before you purchase coverage. Not just anyone is qualified to appraise your jewelry, but you can search for appraisers in your area on any of these websites:

• American Gem Society

• National Association of Jewelry Appraisers

• Gemological Institute of America

You’ll typically pay a flat fee per piece or an hourly fee to have all your jewelry appraised, but it’ll be worth it to have the documentation you need when it comes time to file a claim.

Two: Learn the Lingo

Insurance policies are filled with terms that are important to know when trying to understand your coverage. Here’s what you need to know.

Premium

An insurance premium is an amount a policyholder pays monthly, quarterly, or annually to maintain insurance coverage with a particular provider. Some factors affecting your renters insurance premium are outside your control, like your location and residence type. But you can lower your premium by lowering your coverage limits, raising your deductible, or taking advantage of bundling discounts.

Deductible

An insurance deductible is a way for the policyholder to share some of the risk with the insurance provider. The deductible associated with your policy is the amount you’ll be responsible for when you file a claim. So if your $1,000 necklace is stolen and your deductible is $500, your insurance company will only pay you $500 to replace the necklace, assuming it’s covered under your policy.

Coverage Limit

Each type of coverage that comes with your renters policy has a limit on the dollar amount that’s covered. For example, you might be covered for up to $30,000 in personal property, $10,000 in additional living expenses, and $100,000 in liability coverage.

Within each type of coverage, there are also sub-limits for categories and individual items. So while your renters policy may cover $30,000 in personal property, you may only be covered up to $1,500 to replace stolen jewelry.

Valuable Articles Coverage

Valuable articles coverage, also known as scheduled personal property coverage or an insurance rider, is an add-on to a renters policy that covers specific items for almost any reason. While standard policies only cover against named perils, valuable articles coverage for your jewelry will likely cover it even if your cat swallows it or you drop it down the sink drain.

Cash Value and Replacement Cost

Some policies cover your belongings up to the replacement cost, while others only cover up to the cash value of each item. The actual cash value of an item is how much it’s worth now, including depreciation. This is nearly always less than you paid for it and less than what it would cost to replace.

Replacement cost coverage, on the other hand, covers the cost to replace the item with something similar. Some insurance companies pay out the actual cash value first and then reimburse you for the replacement cost once you’ve provided receipts.

Three: Build a Bundle or Go it Solo

Some insurers specialize in jewelry insurance and offer stand-alone policies for your bling. But in most cases, it’s cheaper and easier to add coverage for your jewelry and other valuable items to your homeowners or renters policy. You have several options when it comes to protecting your precious gems, including:

GEICO

GEICO partners with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group to offer a separate jewelry insurance policy that covers loss, theft, damage, and mysterious disappearance worldwide. You can even choose your own deductible.

It’s easy to manage everything from your online account, and if you need to file a claim, it won’t impact your renters or homeowners premium. The cost varies, but premiums are generally 1 to 2 percent of the value of your jewelry. Insuring a $5,000 wedding ring could cost as little as $50 per year.

State Farm

State Farm offers personal articles protection that you can bundle with your renters or homeowners insurance policy. You get worldwide replacement cost coverage for your jewelry, and there’s no deductible unless you opt to add one.

Allstate

With Allstate, you can add a floater to your homeowners or renters policy to cover expensive items like jewelry. This scheduled personal property protection covers more perils than your renters or homeowners insurance, including accidental loss, and there ’s no deductible associated with this coverage.

Jeweler’s Mutual Perfect Circle

Jeweler’s Mutual Perfect Circle is a stand-alone insurance policy for jewelry. The personal jewelry policy covers your jewelry items against more than the typical rider; you get coverage for natural disasters like floods or earthquakes in addition to theft, loss, damage, and disappearance. Premiums vary, but Jeweler’s Mutual gives a few examples:

• $31/year for a $2,500 watch in Denver with a $0 deductible

• $93/year for a $5,000 ring in New York with a $100 deductible

• $50/year for a $3,000 bracelet in Chicago with a $0 deductible

Lavalier

Lavalier offers stand-alone jewelry insurance that costs 1 to 2 percent of the value of your jewelry. Lavalier covers jewelry against most perils. Exclusions include manufacturer’s defects, nuclear hazards, war, and intentional loss or damage. However, keep in mind you may not be able to get coverage for watches from Lavalier.

Four: Ponder Your Preferred Coverage Level

You’ll pay a higher premium for higher limits, so consider how much coverage you need. You might want to insure one piece of jewelry, such as a diamond ring, up to the replacement cost while only partially covering your other valuables. Decide which individual pieces you can’t live without and determine your coverage limits from there.

Five: Shop ’til You Drop

To ensure you get the best deal on your stand-alone or bundled jewelry insurance policy, you’ll want to get customized quotes from different insurers. Most insurance companies will give you a free quote online in just a few minutes. And if you’re shopping for home insurance, you can streamline the process even more by using Insurify to compare quotes in one place.

Six. Research Time

Most jewelry insurance providers charge 1 to 2 percent of the value of your jewelry as an annual premium, so you shouldn’t pay more than that. Once you’ve narrowed down your options to the cheapest policies that provide the coverage you need, look into financial strength and customer satisfaction ratings for each company.

Read reviews from other policyholders to get an idea of what the claims process will be like. Also, consider the various coverage limits and exclusions when making your choice.

Seven: Sign off on a New Quote

Once you’ve selected the best jewelry insurance provider for you, go ahead and sign up or purchase the add-on to your existing policy. While you likely won’t need a receipt or appraisal to purchase coverage, you will need one of the two when filing a claim.

Therefore, it’s best to have your jewelry appraised before purchasing coverage since you won’t be able to get an appraisal on a piece of jewelry once it’s lost or damaged.

Eight: Hope You Never Need Your Insurance

Whether you leave your wedding ring poolside on vacation, lose your valuables in a burglary, or simply lose track of your favorite bracelet, it’s likely your stand-alone policy or scheduled personal property coverage will have your back. You’ll be able to file a claim online or by calling your insurance agent, and you’ll typically need to provide documentation such as an appraisal or receipt.

If at any point your jewelry insurance policy becomes unaffordable or you transfer ownership of the jewelry, you can typically cancel the policy by contacting your insurance agent. Many insurers will even offer a refund if you’ve prepaid your policy.

Jewelry Insurance FAQ

How to Find the Best and Cheapest Renters Insurance

To find the most affordable coverage that also meets your needs, you should shop around and compare customized insurance quotes. Since jewelry insurance is relatively affordable when compared to other types of coverage, you may be able to offset the cost of a new policy by lowering your insurance costs overall.

You could potentially save hundreds by using Insurify to find cheap renters insurance quotes. And it just takes just a few minutes to access quotes from up to 20 providers all in one place. There’s no need for spreadsheets or desks covered in sticky notes when you can use our artificial intelligence technology to quickly find the best deal.