It’s almost here. Little hearts adorn every window in the city, restaurants are booked well in advance, flowers, bonbons—Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. With the risk of being considered the antithetical of a romantic, allow me to call myself rational and give you some advice on how to ensure adequate protection for your new ring if you’re being proposed for marriage this weekend, because some of you will.
Jewelry losses are among the most frequent of all home insurance content-related insurance claims. Protect your precious possessions.
Contact your insurance professional.
First you need to know if you’ll need additional insurance. Most standard homeowners and renters insurance policies include coverage for personal items such as jewelry, but typically the dollar amount on the policy is limited to $1,000 to $2,000. Engagement rings are estimated to cost more so this limited coverage won’t be sufficient.
To ensure proper coverage, consider purchasing a floater or an endorsement policy. It even covers you financially for the so-called “mysterious disappearance”—when your ring falls off your finger and is flushed down a drain or is lost. Unlike homeowners policy, floaters and endorsement carry no deductibles, thus no out-of-pocket money is needed to replace the item.
First, you need two copies of the store receipt: one to forward to your insurer, so that they have the current value of the ring, and one for your own records. A copy of the appraised value of the item is also a good idea, especially for heirloom pieces. Ask your insurance professional to recommend a reputable appraiser.
Include it in your home inventory.
Remember to update your home inventory. If you don’t have one yet, why not celebrate your engagement by creating one with your fiancée?
If you insist that you don’t think you need renters insurance, read this: a 2015 Insurance Information Institute poll conducted by ORC International discovered that 95 percent of homeowners had homeowners insurance, yet only 40 percent of renters had renters insurance. However, it seems that an engagement ring often triggers interest in getting a renters insurance policy for the first time, as many people start to think more seriously about financially protecting themselves after such a big event.
