How to Insure Your Engagement Ring
With engagement season in full swing, countless couples celebrate their love with stunning symbols of commitment. If you’re one of the lucky ones who recently got engaged, congratulations! As you bask in the glow of this significant milestone, it’s crucial to think about how you’ll protect this treasured piece of jewelry. Insuring your engagement ring might not be the most romantic aspect of planning your future together, but it’s certainly one of the most practical.
Here’s what you need to know about insuring your engagement ring and how to find the best policy for you:
Is My Engagement Ring Covered Under My Homeowners or Renters Insurance?
Along with your other personal belongings, jewelry can sometimes be covered under homeowners, condo, or renters insurance. However, there is typically a price limit. If your ring costs more than $2,000, likely, it won’t be fully covered.
Certain types of events that can damage or destroy your ring are often excluded from these policies, such as floods. Additionally, a policy deductible often applies in this situation.
How Do I Insure My Engagement Ring?
Insuring your engagement ring involves adding what’s called an endorsement to your homeowners, condo, or renters insurance policy. There are a few steps you need to take to do so:
- Get a professional appraisal: From the appraiser, you’ll get an official document verifying your ring’s market value. This might be different from the original price, since the market can fluctuate. Ensure the appraiser you visit is reputable, has good reviews, and is a member of a national appraisal society.
- Bring the appraisal to your insurance agent: Your agent may also need a purchase receipt, diamond certificate, grading report, or photographs of the ring. Working with your homeowners or renters insurance company, your agent will help get you a quote for adding the ring to your policy.
- Add the ring to your policy: This addition to your policy is called a scheduled personal property endorsement and is also known as “adding a rider to your policy.” Typically, it costs about $100 per year for $10,000 of coverage—about 0.5-2% of the total cost of the jewelry. If your ring appraises lower, such as around $6,000, you may pay only about $80 annually, a worthwhile cost to protect a piece of jewelry so important and so expensive. After agreeing to a quote and coverage, your insurance company may require you to make an initial payment—but going forward, the fee will be included in your regular billing statements. It’s important that the person who wears the ring is listed on the insurance policy. If you are purchasing coverage for your fiancé or fiancée, provide both your name and their name.
- Every few years, revisit your coverage: It’s recommended that you get a new appraisal every so often since your ring’s market value is likely to rise over time. You want to make sure you don’t underestimate the cost to replace it.
In addition to adding a rider to your homeowners or renters policy, there are options for purchasing separate jewelry insurance with some companies. This may be the right choice for you if you don’t currently have homeowners or renters insurance.
Another option for insuring your engagement ring is through blanket scheduled jewelry coverage. This is a type of scheduled personal property endorsement that covers multiple pieces of jewelry, not just one. This type of coverage might not require an appraisal of individual jewelry pieces; rather, you can decide on an amount to be covered, such as $50,000, and a sub-limit per item. If you want to add your wedding rings or other valuable pieces to your plan as well, this may be the right option for you. Get in touch with your insurance agent to determine what would be the most cost-effective.
Speak to an agent at C&S today.
What Is Not Covered By Engagement Ring Insurance?
- Typically, a scheduled personal property endorsement won’t cover the cost to replace your ring if it is:
- Confiscated by law enforcement
- Deteriorated or defective at the fault of the manufacturer (this should be covered by a warranty)
- Intentionally damaged or lost by you
- Voluntarily sold, even if the buyer’s check bounces
- Damaged by nuclear reactions, rodents, insects, war or other military action, or general wear and tear
But in all other situations where your ring is lost, stolen, or damaged, it will be covered by your endorsement.
Benefits of Scheduled Personal Property Endorsements
Through a scheduled personal property endorsement, your ring can have an “open-peril policy”—meaning that its cost will be covered by your insurer regardless of how it becomes lost or damaged (unless certain exclusions are specified).
Typically, you won’t face the cost of a deductible when you file a claim after adding your ring as a rider.
There are other benefits to insuring your ring than just replacement and repair—it sometimes also covers the cost of preventative maintenance, such as tightening prongs.
If your piece is one-of-a-kind or an heirloom—i.e., it can’t be purchased again—ask your insurance provider about how they may cover its cost. You can often get a cash payout instead of getting your ring replaced if it is truly irreplaceable.
It’s never too late to insure your ring! Even if you’ve been wearing it everywhere you go for decades, there’s always a risk that you might lose it or damage it, or that it could get stolen. And if you’ve been taking it out only for special occasions, maybe now is the time to get it covered—so you can show it off anytime and anywhere, stress-free.
Have other valuables you’d like to protect? Talk to your insurance agent about adding scheduled personal property endorsements for other belongings, too. From expensive art pieces to high-priced golf clubs, endorsements can help you say “I do” to replacing your prized possessions affordably in the event of damage, theft, or loss.