Is jewellery covered by home insurance policies?

The typical place most people start to search for suitable jewellery insurance is under their home contents insurance policy. However, if this is your chosen route, it is important to check carefully with your insurer the extent of cover (if any) you are actually provided with.

Unfortunately, it’s an easy assumption to think that you are automatically covered for insurance for loss or damage to your jewellery under your home insurance but this is often not the case.

How do I find out my policy’s claim limit?

Claim limits should have been visible within your home insurance policy documents, under either the ‘contents section’ or the ‘all risks section’ as we mentioned earlier. However, these do tend to be misplaced, so if you happen to have misplaced yours, calling your insurer to check your claim limit is the best next steps as they will be able to tell you right away. They should also be happy to supply you with duplicate documents.

It’s important to keep in mind, if the value of the jewellery you have lost is higher than your sum insured limit on your home insurance, then it is likely you will not be recouping the true value of your jewellery back. As the claim limit on your home insurance policy is the maximum your insurers will pay to replace your items of jewellery.

For this exact reason it is important to insure your jewellery on the correct sum insured basis. You could choose to insure with a jewellery insurance specialist. This gives you the bonus of ensuring your jewellery is protected and your home insurance premium stays low by not claiming on that insurance and thus risk losing your valuable no claims bonus.

How do I know if my home insurance covers jewellery?

Home policies cover a number of sections, the two that jewellery can be considered to be covered under are:

1. Contents Section
2. All Risks Section

The contents section of a home policy will cover your belongings as defined in the policy wording against a wide range of perils such as: fires, thefts & floods etc. This section can usually be extended to also include accidental damage as well.

However, please note, this does not include accidental loss- the most important cover to have when owning valuable items such as jewellery. If you lose an item in your home, it will probably not be covered.

Under the general contents sum insured, most policies will provide a momentary limit of valuable items that can be covered. Typically this could be 25-40% of the total contents sum insured. Valuable items would include: articles of gold, silver and other precious metals, jewellery, clocks, watches, photographic equipment, binoculars, furs, pictures and other works of art, audio and audio visual equipment, computer equipment and collections of stamps, coins and medals.

Under the contents section, there is usually some cover provided for items taken temporarily out of the home although loss is not covered. You may also find that theft cover is excluded unless force and violence is used to gain entry to or exit from a building.

The “All risks” section of a home policy is where you can obtain the valuable cover you need for your items of jewellery as it includes accidental loss.

It will cover items both at and away from the home. “All risks “is the widest form of protection you can obtain although there are still some restrictions. It is important to read policy documents carefully.

“All risks” is normally divided into two separate types:

Unspecified- ideal for items of a lower value, where you do not need to inform the insurer of an individual description.

Specified- This is where you list the item and it appears on your schedule of
insurance.

Your insurers will be able to tell you of any thresholds that will require you to specify items.

Jewellery valuations are important

Ensuring your jewellery is valued correctly is important to ensure items are accurately covered if a situation arises where you lose or have your jewellery stolen. By valuing your most precious jewellery items accurately you can ensure your specific insurance that has been purchased to cover the items is actually covering the items for the correct monetary value. For example, jewellery made from gold can change in value over years and you may find insurance that once covered your jewellery doesn’t anymore as the item has increased in value. It is important to do regular jewellery valuations and ensure they’re updated at least every two years.

Should I claim jewellery on my home insurance?

When looking to claim on your home insurance, there is usually an excess that needs to be paid, so before claiming via insurance it is important to understand what that deductible is. It will enable you to make an informed decision if it is worth claiming for the item or not. Excess fees across home insurance can range from £Nil to as much as £550.

If you happen to lose an item that is worth £500 and your insurance excess is £300, you will need to way up if claiming for the item is worth it or not. Also, keep in mind when you claim your premium may increase next time around. So before, claiming for the loss of jewellery on your home insurance it is worth weighing up, if it is worth it or not?

Don’t have a Home Policy?

Not everyone has a home insurance policy, some people choose not to have one as they only want to insure their most prized possessions.

If you do not have a home policy, you can insure your jewellery under a separate stand-alone policy. This may also be an option, if you have very valuable jewellery and your own home insurer will not cover the values that you require.

A stand-alone jewellery insurance policy such as the one offered by Assetsure will provide “All risks” insurance usually on a worldwide basis as well. If you need to make a jewellery claim under a policy issued by Assetsure, there is no excess to pay.

If you require a quotation for jewellery insurance visit our Jewellery insurance product or contact us, we will be pleased to assist you.