So This Is What Jewelry Insurance Is For

Peace of mind or just another one of those wedding industry things?

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One of the wedding industry’s less admirable qualities is that it often trades in fear. There’s a lot of cautioning that if you don’t do or buy X, then you’re just waiting for disaster to strike. Like a sitting duck. Most of the time, the reality is more like, “If you don’t do or buy X, you’ve got a 1.5% chance of disaster striking, but you’ll probably be fine. Proceed accordingly.” The problem is, it’s often hard to parse out the good advice from the fear mongering. And on more than one occasion, I’ve ignored perfectly sound logic on the basis that if the wedding industry wants me to buy something, I probably don’t need it. Case in point: jewelry insurance.

Sh*t Happens

Then Meg’s engagement ring got stolen during a robbery. While a robbery can be traumatic on a whole bunch of different levels, I remember feeling relieved that at least her ring was covered by insurance. So I decided to look into whether or not my own engagement ring was covered under our renters insurance policy, and was surprised to find that our coverage had a jewelry limit of about one third what my ring cost. Whoops. And while it’s possible to add a rider for the extra coverage, I was going to have to fill out extra paperwork and then wait for a quote, which seemed like a lot to do. So instead I did the next best thing: nothing. And I’ve spent the past year relying on the power of magical thinking to prevent anything bad from happening to my wedding rings.

But magical thinking can only take you so far (like, to the end of your driveway, maybe). So when we had the opportunity to work with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company this month, I resolved to pick up where I had left off. Because what better way to tell you about jewelry insurance than to finally get some for my damn self. I was promised that the process would be procrastinator-proof, so I headed over to www.jewelersmutual.com to get a quote. And here’s where they won me: it took less than five minutes from start to finish. I didn’t have to wait for a quote by email; I just input the purchase price for my engagement ring, answered a few easy questions about where I keep my ring when I’m not wearing it, and had a policy within minutes. It’s effective immediately, my personal policy costs $50 a year (based on the value of my ring), and it covers my engagement ring in full with the option to forgo a deductible. The hardest part of the whole process was remembering in which folder we’d saved the jewelry receipt. (A note on that: you’ll need an itemized receipt or an appraisal to figure out the value of your jewelry. But Jewelers Mutual will take care of telling you exactly what you need after they receive your application. And you’re still covered in the meantime.)

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But do you really need it?

Of course, not everyone needs jewelry insurance. Michael, for example, chose a $40 tungsten carbide ring for his wedding band and he could order a replacement tomorrow if he needed one. But for those of us with more expensive rings (think $1,000 or more, which is usually the maximum replacement cost on most standard renters or homeowners insurance policies), or with jewelry that’s hard to replace, you might find that you want the peace of mind provided by a jewelry-specific insurance policy. If you’re not sure where you land, here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

  • Does your renters or homeowners policy have a limit on jewelry coverage? Is it less than you bought your jewelry for?
  • Would you be heartbroken if your jewelry was lost or stolen? Would it be difficult to replace?
  • Is your renters or homeowners provider easy to work with? Do you want to be dealing with them in the event that something happens?
  • Will you be covered if the loss or damage is your own fault?

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It’s the last two questions that tipped me towards Jewelers Mutual over our renters insurance policy. This isn’t my first foray into specialized insurance. When I was shooting weddings, I owned and rented equipment that was worth more than a klutz like me should ever be trusted with. I bought photographer’s insurance because it’s what everyone told me to do. And when one of my cameras got stolen, I realized why specialized insurance can make a difference: they don’t make you jump through hoops if something happens. Unlike broad coverage, specialized insurance companies only ever deal in the kind of product you’re covering, so they usually have special caveats in their policies for circumstances like:

  • When it’s totally your fault: Like that one time a special piece of jewelry my aunt gave me simply vanished inside my house one day, never to be seen again. (Jewelers Mutual calls that mysterious disappearance.)
  • When you make a spontaneous purchase: If you have an existing policy with them, Jewelers Mutual will give you thirty days coverage on new jewelry, up to a certain limit.
  • When you already have a really unique piece of jewelry: Jewelers Mutual has what’s called a “same kind and quality” repair or replacement policy, which basically means that they will do everything in their power to repair or replace your jewelry with something that is indistinguishable from the original (particularly useful if you have a unique ring or a stone that’s hard to replicate).

The common refrain of the wedding industry is that you have one chance to get things right, or you’ll regret it for-e-ver. But jewelry is kind of the opposite: you’ve got a lifetime with it. Maybe more if you plan on handing things down to future generations. So while the hope is you’ll never have to use jewelry insurance… shit happens. And it’s damn convenient to have it when you need it. Because if I learned anything from what Meg went through, it’s that losing valuable possessions is hard enough. What comes after shouldn’t be a headache too.

This post was sponsored by Jewelers Mutual. For over 100 years, Jewelers Mutual has specialized in protecting jewelry and only jewelry. Jewelers Mutual believes that your insurance should be built around the way you live your life, with comprehensive coverage, worldwide protection that allows you to travel and stay covered, flexibility to work with your own jeweler, personal assistance when you need it, and a fast, professional, compassionate claim experience. Click here to get instant, no-obligation quote for jewelry insurance from Jewelers Mutual.

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