D has renter’s insurance but realized that the collective value of her jewelry (ring, watch, earrings, & pendant) exceeds the standard coverage amount and so applied for a floater. Despite her location in a safe neighborhood, her floater application was denied. (So much for the fact that we have had home & auto coverage from this company for 20 years; we’ll be looking elsewhere!)
In the interim, does anyone have experience with one of the companies that writes jewelry-only policies? We’re not talking about the Hope diamond here.
Is this a college age student or an adult out on her own?
Come to think of it, my 24 yo D’s jewelry is still covered on our family policy along with my jewelry, and we haven’t thought to remove it and have her get her own coverage.
My DD had renters insurance that would NOT provide her with a rider for jewelry. She switched companies.
We use Jewelers Mutual for all of our jewelry and have been pleased. She’ll need to submit appraisals or receipts for each piece of jewelry she wants to cover. You might want to cover only the items that put you over the limit of the renters policy.
I am in the industry and agree with the above post about Jewelers Mutual. They do individual policies as well as insure entire stores.
@Mama2Drama, do you know if Jewelers Mutual, or any other insurer, insures on replacement cost rather than appraised value? The appraised value is so overstated that it seems we all end up paying high premiums. I have AAA and have been very pleased but all my jewelry is based on appraised value; I’d be happy to have lower premiums and just be able to replace a piece if it’s lost or stolen.
@Pizzagirl D is a a college grad, working full-time. The agent offered to write a floater on our homeowners’ policy that would cover the items but warned they must be kept at our house in that case. Agree with @thumper1 that a change in companies is in order.
What company you can use ususally is affected by where you live if you want to add on to your renters insurance. How about Geico? It is a national company so they may be in the needed area. Another company that you may not think of immediately is AAA.
A good appraisal should be retail replacement cost. That’s how all appraisers I have worked with do it.
Some companies may not be refusing to write the policy, they may not offer it or may not offer it in that state. They can only insure what they are approved to insure by that state’s department of insurance. They may have found that there were too many claims in the area to make it profitable to insure jewelry (or autos or cars).
When I moved, my insurer (Hartford, big name, nationwide) didn’t offer rental insurance in my new area.
I am not in the jewelry business…except as consumer. Jewelers Mutual…excellent. But I wouldn’t insure all my pieces. Only the most expensive and not replacable.
^^ My friend keeps a lot of her jewelry in a safety deposit box and doesn’t insure that. I think she has to notify the insurer when she switches items out.
She does inform her insurance company.