Why Get My Jewellery Valued for Insurance?

Posted on 12 Jan, 2023 by Paul Nilsson

The saddest part of our job as jewellery valuers is when you, the jewellery owner, gets burgled and we are asked to evaluate your loss only to find that there are is no documentation of the items. This makes it impossible for us to establish a fair value for you. Or, you may find out, too late, that you were not fully covered for the items in the first place. Then you start to feel like you are getting “robbed” all over again by your own insurance company.

The latter is because insurance companies usually place limits on what they will pay for jewellery that they didn’t know you owned. There are two kinds of limits – a per item limit that is typically between $1000 and $5000, and a total loss limit that can be as little as $5000 but is usually more like $15,000 or the total sum insured. For items or collections over these limits to be covered they must be documented and specified on your insurance policy.

Clients that have just suffered the burglary always say to us that they wished they had their jewellery valued but they “never got round to it”, or “we thought it would never happen to us”. We urge you to get around to it before its too late. Jewellery is the prime target of thieves because it is small, easily transportable, difficult to trace, and relatively easy to turn into cash. Why hesitate to have a precious jewellery item professionally documented & valued when you stand to lose $500 or $5000 or $50,000 by not getting it done. At GemLab, we tailor your reports to suit the type & value of your jewellery items so that you only pay for what is needed for your jewellery to be fully insured.

Some of the more modern home contents insurance policies have very high per item limits – $5,000 or $10,000. Some high-end policies even have no limits on jewellery. This is done by the marketing departments of the insurance companies to make it easy for you to take out the policy in the first place. There is no obligation to get jewellery valued before it is fully covered. It also tends to give you a false sense of security.

This is all very well – until claim time. This is when you find out that the claims department of your insurance company is going to require proof that you owned the jewellery in the first place, proof of exactly what the jewellery items were in terms of carat gold or other metals such as platinum and silver, and sizes & qualities of diamonds and gemstones, and proof of their value.

If you would like to “get around to it” right now its easy to get your precious diamonds and jewellery documented, valued, and fully insured at GemLab Jewellery Valuers. Contact us now to make a booking or to find out more about our professional, independent, and confidential service.