Insuring jewellery: what your insurer actually needs
指南以英文发布。
简短的回答
An insurer needs a retail replacement figure – what a shop would charge for an equivalent piece new – not resale and not melt, because the policy promises to replace the item. That figure belongs in a written valuation from a qualified valuer who has examined the piece, dated and renewed periodically.
The figure an insurer wants is the highest one
A piece of jewellery carries several values at once, and they are not close together. Melt is the metal alone. Resale is what a buyer would pay you today. Retail replacement is what a shop would charge for the nearest equivalent, new, over the counter, with tax and margin included.
Insurance is written around the last of those, for a plain reason: most policies promise to replace the item rather than hand you cash. If the insurer has to buy you a comparable ring, the sum insured has to be enough to buy one at retail. Insure for what you could sell it for and you will find yourself underinsured at the worst possible moment.
It cuts the other way too. A sum insured well above a realistic replacement cost buys nothing except a higher premium, because the insurer replaces the item rather than paying out the figure written on the schedule. The aim is accuracy, not a large number.
What a valuation document must contain
A valuation is a document, not a figure. The insurer needs enough detail to identify the piece, price a replacement for it and settle an argument years later. At a minimum it should carry:
- A full description of the piece: what it is, its style and period where relevant, and how it is constructed.
- The metal, its fineness, and the weight of the piece.
- Each stone: type, shape and cut, measurements or weight, and the grades the valuer assigns.
- A note of whether each stone was measured loose or estimated in the mount, since grading in a setting is less exact.
- Any treatment identified or assumed, and any laboratory report relied on, quoted by its number.
- A clear photograph of the piece, attached to the document itself.
- The valuer’s name, their qualification, the firm they act for, and a signature.
- The basis of valuation stated in words – retail replacement, rather than resale or market value.
- The date, and the currency.
A single line reading gold ring with diamond, followed by a number, is not usable. If a claim ever turns on the document, every missing detail becomes a negotiation.
Scheduled items and general contents cover
Household policies usually cover jewellery in two different ways, and the distinction catches people out.
General contents cover includes jewellery up to a single-item limit, often a modest one, and frequently only while the items are in the home. The total for jewellery may also be capped separately from the contents sum.
A scheduled or specified item is listed individually with its own sum insured, is usually covered away from home as well as in it, and is often covered against loss as well as theft. It costs more, and it is the only way to be confident that a particular ring is insured for what replacing it would actually cost.
Terms differ between insurers and between countries, so read the schedule and ask the insurer directly what the single-item limit is, whether cover extends away from home, and whether loss is included. That is a conversation to have with them rather than a question to settle from a web page.
Revalue, because the numbers move
A valuation is a statement about a particular date. Metal prices move, and so do stone prices: natural diamond prices shift slowly, laboratory-grown prices have fallen steeply, and coloured stone prices depend on what is coming out of a small number of places. A figure written some years ago may no longer buy the equivalent piece.
Insurers differ on how often they want a document refreshed, and some index-link the sum insured between valuations. Ask yours what they expect rather than assuming. Between full revaluations, keep the schedule and the photographs current, because a ring that has been resized, reset or had a stone replaced is no longer the piece the document describes.
What happens when you claim
A claim is an identification problem before it is a money problem. The insurer needs to know what existed, that it was yours, and what an equivalent costs today. The valuation answers the third question. Photographs and a receipt answer the first two, and they are the part most people do not have.
Keep photographs of each piece from several angles, including any hallmark, alongside the original receipt, any laboratory report and the valuation itself, and keep copies somewhere other than the house they describe. Our guide to photographing jewellery for identification covers the frames that are worth having.
Expect the insurer to offer a replacement sourced through their own supplier rather than a cash settlement. Whether you can take cash instead, and on what terms, is a matter for the policy wording and for the insurer to tell you.
Choosing a valuer, and what to ask
Look for somebody with a recognised professional valuation qualification who will have the piece physically in front of them, with a loupe, a gauge and a scale. A valuation written from photographs, or from a description given over the telephone, is not the document you are paying for.
Ask three things before commissioning the work. What the fee is, quoted hourly or per item and agreed in advance rather than as a percentage of whatever the piece turns out to be worth. What basis the valuation will be written on, in words. And whether the document will include an image and the valuer’s qualification, since insurers frequently ask for both.
Stones are graded more accurately loose than mounted, and a good valuer says so in the document when a grade is an estimate made in the setting. That honesty is a feature, not a shortcoming.
Where an estimate fits, and where it does not
An estimate produced from a photograph is a starting point and a record. It tells you roughly where a piece sits, which is often enough to decide whether it exceeds your policy’s single-item limit and therefore justifies a valuer’s fee. Carat returns melt, resale and retail replacement as separate ranges with the comparable sales behind them, and gives no figure at all when the photographs will not carry one; how it works sets out the reasoning.
What it is not is a valuation document, and that deserves saying plainly: no insurer will accept an app estimate as a valuation. Nobody qualified has held the piece, nothing has been weighed or tested, no stone has been measured, and there is no name and no qualification at the bottom of the page. Use an estimate to decide where a valuer’s time is worth spending, and use the valuer to produce the document your insurer will rely on. More on the three figures is in what is my jewellery worth.
常见问题
Will my insurer accept an app estimate?
No. No insurer will accept an app estimate as a valuation document, because nobody qualified has had the piece in their hands. It is useful as a record of what you own and as a way of deciding which pieces justify a valuer’s fee.
How often should jewellery be revalued?
Ask your insurer, since policies differ, but every few years is common practice. Metal and stone prices move, and a figure written a decade ago may no longer buy an equivalent piece. Some policies index-link between valuations, so check whether yours does.
What is a scheduled item?
An item listed individually on the policy with its own sum insured, usually covered away from home and often against loss as well as theft. General contents cover instead applies a single-item limit and may only protect jewellery inside the house.
Do I need a valuation for every piece?
Usually only for pieces above the policy’s single-item limit, which your insurer will state. Below it, photographs and receipts kept somewhere safe are generally enough to support a claim. Ask the insurer what they require before paying for documents.
What should I keep in case I have to claim?
Photographs of each piece from several angles, including any hallmark, the original receipt or laboratory report, the valuation document with its date, and a note of where each item is kept. Store copies somewhere other than the house they describe.
Can I insure jewellery for what I could sell it for?
That is a different basis and it will not buy a replacement. Replacement policies are written around retail cost. If you would rather have an agreed cash figure, ask the insurer whether they offer one and what documentation an agreed value needs.