Homeowners Insurance for Jewelry

Most of us treasure our jewelry. Rings, necklaces and more not only have monetary value, but also sentimental meaning. While you might consider them priceless, these items do have a tangible value. So, if something were to happen to them, you’re going to want to replace them. How do you get the money to do that?

Often, homeowners insurance can cover losses to your belongings, including your jewelry. However, you can’t assume that your policy will cover every instance of jewelry loss.

When Home Insurance Doesn’t Cover Jewelry
Many people don’t take off their rings to shower, bathe or wash dishes. Let’s say your ring accidentally slides off and slips down the shower drain while you wash your hair. If you can’t fish it out, this means the ring is likely lost. What do you do now? You might want to call your homeowners insurance company to see if your policy can cover some of the value.

Unfortunately, incidents like these usually aren’t covered under your policy. It’s true that homeowners insurance will cover jewelry losses. Still, it will usually only do so following unavoidable, unpreventable accidents. Your insurer likely won’t consider it an unavoidable accident if you forget to take off your ring in the shower.

However, Other Accidents Have Coverage
Nonetheless, you can still get coverage for your jewelry on your homeowners policy. The key here is that the damage or loss must result from an unavoidable or unpreventable incident.

Let’s think about some of these scenarios. A fire might gut your home. Water damage might spring from a burst pipe. A theft might make off with your valuables.

Instances like these usually have coverage under standard homeowners insurance. If they cause damage to jewelry, then you might be able to get coverage for the loss.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that even standard coverage does have its limits. For example, most homeowners place per-item limits on expensive items like jewelry. For example, you might have $50,000 in possessions coverage. However, your policy might limit the amount you can claim on jewelry to only $1,000.

Getting Coverage for Jewelry
Though homeowners insurance can help insure jewelry, you might need to devote special attention to it. You have a couple of avenues to help make sure these items have coverage.

A floater on your policy can often help raise the monetary limits of high-value jewelry. Keep in mind, premiums and deductible rules might vary on a floater.
With very valuable jewelry, a specific jewelry policy might come in handy. It can often cover some or all of the cost of the lost item as a result of a very wide range of damage.

Talk to your insurance agent about the best way to insure your precious belongings. Our agents are happy to help!

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