Last updated: 22/10/2020 | Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Jewellery insurance
Many of us have valuable accessories in our jewellery boxes and safes from grandmothers’ engagement rings to status symbol watches, and gifts to personal splurges. Their loss, damage or theft can be painful, both emotionally and financially. Therefore, many people choose to cover these treasured possessions with insurance.
You can add jewellery and watches to your home policy or more appropriately for high-value items or large collections, take out a separate jewellery insurance policy. The amount you’ll pay for this cover will depend on the value of your pieces and security measures you’ve taken to protect them.
In This Guide:
- Insuring your jewellery with your home insurance
- Jewellery insurance policies
- How much does jewellery insurance cost?
- How to compare quotes for jewellery insurance
Insuring your jewellery with your home insurance
Home contents insurance will cover your possessions, including jewellery and watches, to a certain extent. These policies will pay out if your jewellery is lost, damaged or destroyed due to an insurable event at home, such as a fire, storm or burglary. Many of these policies won’t pay out for accidental damage to pieces; for that, you’ll need specialist jewellery insurance.
Home contents policies also have a maximum they’ll pay out for each individual item, often between £500 and £1,500. Many items of jewellery and watches exceed those limits and will need to be declared separately on your insurance policy, for an additional cost on your premiums.
Additionally, these policies come with overall limits on the sum insured, usually between £40,000 and £50,000. Large jewellery collections or very expensive items will exceed this maximum or leave you with little cover for other items, including electronics and clothing.
Some home contents insurance policies will come with personal possessions cover, either as standard or as an extra, which covers jewellery and watches (and gadgets like mobile phones and cameras). Some policies also provide some cover if you take the items out of the country.
You should policies carefully to see what level of cover they offer. Some cheap home insurance policies won’t provide much extra cover for jewellery and watches. Large jewellery collections and particularly expensive items will usually need to be insured with a specialist jewellery insurance policy.
Jewellery insurance policies
Jewellery or watch insurance policies can provide cover for higher-value items and larger collections. These policies typically won’t have a single-item limit but will have a total limit on payout. Such policies typically pay out in a wider range of circumstances than standard contents insurance policies do. For instance, in addition to cover for burglary and damage in disasters, they’ll provide compensation if your jewellery is accidentally damaged or lost or loses any of its diamonds or stones. They’ll also typically cover your jewellery both in the home and when you wear it out.
Their cover usually excludes cosmetic damage such as scratches or dents, general wear and tear and the loss of a single earring, however.
How much does jewellery insurance cost?
The amount you’ll pay for jewellery insurance will depend on several factors. First, the more valuable your pieces and the higher the cover you choose, the more you’ll pay in insurance premiums.
If you don’t know how much your items are worth, it’s wise to get them valued so you ensure you’re not underestimating their value and underinsuring them. You also don’t want to be overestimating their value and therefore paying for cover you don’t need. You can obtain a professional valuation from a National Association of Goldsmiths accredited jeweller. It’s important to do this every two years, as jewellery can fluctuate in value, and to keep the valuation documents in a safe place. Some insurers will require you have an up-to-date valuation for all high-value items as a condition of your cover.
Additionally, insurers will want to know details about how you store your jewellery and security measures you’ve taken to protect them. You can reduce your premiums by keeping your jewellery in a secure safe.
How to compare quotes for jewellery insurance
When you compare jewellery insurance quotes, you’ll typically be asked for the following information:
- details about you, including your name, address and age
- details about the valuables, including their value and where and when it was purchased
- the level of cover you want, including whether you want cover for accidental damage or loss and how much excess you’re willing to pay.
Make sure you have this information to hand when comparing jewellery insurance.
