Does homeowners insurance cover a new engagement ring?

Here’s what you need to know about jewelry, collectibles, and fine arts insurance.

Jewelry is a deeply personal possession, often having great significance and value. It’s natural to want to protect our precious jewelry pieces, such as engagement and wedding rings, from theft, loss, or damage. Similarly, a valuable painting or prized baseball card collection may cause us to worry: what happens if there’s a fire or flood in my home?

We find that many people assume their jewelry, collectibles, and fine arts pieces are covered under their homeowners, renters, or condo insurance policies. While these items might have a limited coverage under property insurance, the bottom line is: adding specific riders allows your valuables to be covered for many types of losses.

How do I know if I need an insurance policy rider?

Consider all the items you might want to cover in your home. It’s easy to remember the sparkly rings and necklaces, but there may be other valuable pieces of jewelry, fine art, or collectibles in your attic, garage, or closets. While you are going through this mental exercise, you may wish to take a home inventory.

To do this, take some time now to document the contents of your home. Digital videos and photos are a simple way to capture a room’s contents, including closets, shelves, and drawers. Snap pictures of brand names and models of appliances and electronic equipment such as phones, laptops, gaming consoles, televisions, security systems, and smart speakers. Taking inventory now means having a record of what’s in the home without the stress of damage and loss.

Home inventories are time-consuming but worth it

One of the many tasks a public adjuster (PA) manages for a client is creating a documented inventory. Grenier Public Adjusters sends a team to work room by room, drawer by drawer, to record the type and quantity of everything that needs to be replaced. It’s not unusual for a home inventory to be more than 100 pages long.

During the home inventory, if you catalog valuable jewelry, art, or collectibles, check your property insurance to see if these items are covered by a sub-limit. If they are not, or the sub-limit is not to your liking, you may wish to add them as a rider. When you add or schedule an item, your policy premium will go up a bit. Most people find this increase worthwhile for the peace of mind the rider brings.

How to insure jewelry

Congratulations! Your new engagement ring is beautiful, and likely represents a significant investment. For individual pieces of jewelry, a rider (also called endorsement) will cover up to its appraised value. You may have to provide a receipt, appraisal, and photos of the item. Another option is blanket coverage, which insures more pieces of jewelry but offers a sub-limit for each piece (which may be less than the piece of jewelry is worth).

How to insure collectibles and artwork

It’s never wise to assume that your homeowners, renters or condo home insurance policy will cover the full value of your fine arts or collectibles. Depending on the item’s value, you may need to add a rider to your policy.

Your insured collectibles and artwork are subject to your policy’s limits. Check coverage carefully when you add a rider to your property insurance. You’ll want to make sure losses are covered for fire, theft, damage, and water.

Fine arts and collectibles examples:

• Paintings and fine art prints
• Sculptures and statues
• Stamps and trading cards

What isn’t covered?

• Normal daily use (wear and tear)
• If your painting degrades over time, this is not covered.
• Loaning artwork or displaying artwork other than in your home. If a museum asks to borrow your insured painting, it would not be covered once it leaves your residence.

Make sure your prized possessions are fully covered by your homeowners, condo, or renters’ insurance. We’re happy to review existing policies and provide recommendations. Please contact Grenier Public Adjusters at 774-239-6822 or fill out our contact form.