Insuring New Jewelry & Other Big-Ticket Items

As the holidays come to a close, individuals across the country are likely enjoying the gifts they received from their friends and family members, including big-ticket items such as new jewelry or electronics. With these big items comes the question of whether or not you should insure them. To mitigate the financial impact of loss or theft you will want to insure these valuable items as quickly as possible. This takes a bit of thought on how to do so, so let’s take a look at some of the more important matters involved.

The question of existing insurance
Many people might think that their homeowners insurance policy covers all of their jewelry and other expensive items kept within the house, however this is not always true. Homeowners insurance policies vary as far as what they will and will not protect. There are plenty of cases where policies only cover half of your personal belongings.

The shortage of coverage can translate to massive losses in the event of a fire, major burglary or other threat, especially if you are storing a lot of highly valuable items.

Elements of coverage
Investopedia, a website devoted to investment and finance best practices, uses the example of wedding rings to outline its suggestions on insuring a piece of valuable jewelry. According to the news source, the first step is to get a professional appraisal to ensure the item is properly valued.

As for cost, Investopedia states that a piece of jewelry valued at about $6,000 will translate to an average of about $80 to insure annually, with policyholders paying between $1 and $2 for each $100 of value the covered item has. Speak to your independent agent about the other considerations involved in insuring your valuable jewelry and new big-ticket items following the holidays. Read Full Story