BMJ Blog

What to Know About Insuring Your Jewelry

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Guest Writer | 0 Comments

Today I'm pleased to introduce insurance experts Brian Boak and David J. Singer who have written this guest post to answer your questions about how jewelry insurance works. Thank you Brian and David.

Insuring Your Jewelry by Brian Boak and David J. Singer

A very common question that insurance brokers hear is, “Why do I have to cover my jewelry any differently than my other possessions?”  In this short piece, we will give you the answer to that question, and what you should think about when deciding about jewelry coverage. The reason that jewelry is treated differently than other possessions is that it is a target of thieves. Therefore, the insurance companies need to charge more to cover your jewelry. In order to do that, every home, condo, co-op, and tenants’ policy has limits on jewelry coverage and if you have more jewelry than the policy’s limit, you need to buy more coverage. The limit may be as low as $500, but could be as high as $5,000. The jewelry coverage may also be subject to the policy’s deductible, meaning that the policy would only pay for claims in excess of the amount of the deductible. Even if you do not have more coverage than the policy’s limit, you may wish to “schedule” your jewelry, as discussed below. Jewelry coverage can cost between $15 and $25 per $1,000 in coverage (depending on location). 

There are two ways coverage can be added to your policy, Blanket or Scheduled:

BLANKET COVERAGE: You tell the insurance company how much coverage you want in total. You would not need to list individual items (good). Some companies have an endorsement to add $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000 of jewelry coverage to your policy. Other companies allow higher limits. A deductible may apply to a loss and there is normally a per piece coverage maximum.

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Posted in Guest Post, Informational, jewelry appraisal, jewelry insurance