Jewelry Insurance in Boston

Is your jewelry properly insured? It’s dangerous to assume that your jewelry is already insured under either your homeowner’s insurance or your renter’s insurance — as it very well may not be. Jewelry often requires separate insurance riders, based on the value of the jewelry and the policy that the jewelry is added to. Here’s what you need to know about jewelry insurance in Boston.

What Exactly Is “Jewelry Insurance”?

Jewelry insurance isn’t like any other type of insurance policy. For starters, it isn’t a separate policy at all, but instead coverage that you add on to an existing policy. Jewelry coverage is necessary because there are many policies that limit the amount that each individual item can be insured for. In other words, your renter’s insurance may only cover individual items up to $2,000. If you have a necklace that is worth $5,000 that is lost, stolen, or damaged, you will only get the maximum amount of $2,000, even if that doesn’t exceed your total coverage cap.

To get around this, you need to insure the individual items under one of your insurance policies — or you need to increase the individual item coverage to cover all of the items that you want insured.

How Can I Get Jewelry Insurance in Boston?

Getting jewelry insurance in Boston begins by an assessment of your jewelry’s value. If it’s recently purchased jewelry, a receipt will usually suffice — but if it’s jewelry that has been in your family for a long time, you may actually need an appraisal. For expensive jewelry items, you’re going to need some written evidence regarding the jewelry’s value and its authenticity. Once you have this you can submit it to your insurance company and they will then give you a quote for coverage. Your coverage will be associated with either your renters insurance or your homeowner’s insurance.

You should always have a very thorough inventory of your home’s items, including any jewelry — and you should keep in mind that the replacement value of jewelry may differ from its appraised value, especially in the case of things such as wedding rings or other sentimental items. There is also the possibility that jewelry items may be able to be repaired or also have some salvage value, which also may be able to impact its insurable amount. Either way your insurance company should be able to help you.

It’s very important for you to have full insurance on all of the items that are in your home. Jewelry items that you may have had for a while may be more valuable than you think — or, conversely, the appraisal value may not be as high as you expect. In order to get a better picture of your full insurance needs, you can contact your own insurance agent or go through an insurance broker. An insurance broker will be able to get you multiple competing quotes.

Author: Caitlin Barrows