Argos jewellery and watch insurance is it worth taking out?

katies_mum

I`m not sure if this posting is in the right place, if its not please could you move it for me?

I`m wondering if anyone has taken out Argos jewellery insurance and if you think it is worth it? There are lots of `terms and conditions!!`.

We bought our daughter a white gold diamond ring for her 16th it was £95 on offer from £189.99. Its a lovely ring and is only worn on special occaisions and lives in a ring box on her dressing table.

At the weekend I noticed that it had gone very out of shape, so took it back to Argos. They were going to speak to their repair people and then ring me with some options. I have just had a call from Argos and they have looked at the ring are prepared as a guesture of goodwill, exchange the ring for another one the same, they said they are not sure if its a fault with the ring or its wear and tear (its currently back to full price). They did mention that the jewellery insurance might be worth taking out £19.99 for 2 years as this would cover loss or damage (but when I read the T & C there seems to be lots of get out clauses).

Whilst is it brilliant of them to change the ring I am also worried that the same thing could happen again, maybe the white gold is really soft etc and this is what the problem is. I`m not sure and if it did they might be be as ameniable in changing it. I`ve never had a ring that has gone out of shape before. Not even sure in this instance if we would be entitled to a refund.

Do you think its worth taking out the insurance or just taking a chance. I do think we have all risks on our contents insurance but think there could be an excess.

Thank you

InsideInsurance

The colour of gold itself doesnt change the relative strength. Anything less than 24ct is a blend of gold and other metals, with white gold these are silver coloured metals to lesson the gold's natural yellow colour before a final plating is applied to give it the end result. Generally the lower the ct the harder it is

Assuming it is http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2307361.htm then at 9ct it should be relatively strong but ultimately it is a ring and so will be susceptible to knocks etc.

Looking at the insurance, problem one is that you must be 18 to get the policy but the ring is your daughters.

There is no accidental loss and naturally no wear and tear cover so really all that is insured is theft unless you can point your finger at a specific event and convince them that you really did knock the mount and lose a stone then and its not just a gradual loosening that caused it to fall out (and that presumably you couldnt find the stone despite you knowing exactly when it happened)

Finally, you are limited to the purchase price of the item. Given you bought it in a sale you are at most going to get £95 back if a claim is successful

katies_mum

InsideInsurance, thank you for replying. Yes that is the exact ring.
I`m wondering if its bending because part of the band is hollow!

With regards to the insurance the shop seem to be tweeking slightly what is covered...they said if the same thing happened again and the ring bent then it would be covered under accidental damage! but of course this is a form of wear and tear!! so it wouldn`t. I don`t think its worth £19.99.

I suppse we have two choices - one to accept the replacement ring and accept the same thing might happen again or try and see if there is another ring she likes (that looks slightly sturdier) and see if they might consider exchanging for this.

Thanks again for the advice on the insurance.

InsideInsurance

If the ring is hollow then that would certainly weaken it substantially.

What the sales guys in a shop trying to sell you something say -v- what the insurer claims handlers (Enterprise Insurance Company Plc) decide at the point of claim are liable to be fairly different from each other but the sale of warranties are no way as closely regulated compared to your mainstream insurances (car, home, pet etc).

The other thing to consider is that white gold is plated and overtime the plate will rub off and the gold alloy will show through. On the basis it is 9ct this may not be too bad but certainly on higher ct white golds this can be fairly yellow. Replating tends not to be too expensive at around £30-£40 but when compared to the cost of the value of the ring you may want to consider if white gold is the best option if it is intended to be a long term keepsake

katies_mum

Thanks again for replying. The ring was a 16th birthday present, our daughter looks after everything she has (its just the way she is) and has only worn the ring for `best`.

I appreicate white gold is plated and don`t think we would ever get around to having to have it replated. But we did think that the ring would last longer than a few months.

When you click on the picture of the ring you can see where its hollow if thats the right word. It might just be that we had a faulty one! don`t suppose we will ever know. I`ve just spoken to my daughter and she really loves the ring so think she wants to try another one...I`m not so sure but it has to be her decision.

*Scarlett

Check on your home contents insurance - you may already have cover for theft, loss or damage. Naturally wear and tear would be excluded and you might find that the excess would not make any claims worthwhile buts it's worth a look.

I would have expected it to last longer than a few months especially if it is just worn occassionally. But hopefully you'll have better luck with the next one.

(It's a very pretty ring by the way!)

katies_mum

Thanks Scarlett, we do have all risks cover on the contents insurance but do think there is an excess.

I`m hoping the next one will last longer, we will have a new receipt so if the same thing happens will take it up with Argos again, what I don`t want is that my daugher is frightened to wear it incase it goes out of shape again!

*Scarlett

Well of course she must wear it! It's too nice to be kept in a box all of the time.

If you have another issue with the ring you can tackle that when and if it happens.

The description of the ring says "great for daytime and evening" which would imply that you could wear it all day or all night without causing any damage!

Tell her to wear it when she wants as she obviously loves it.

katies_mum

Hi *Scarlett, thanks for mentioning what it says about the ring. I have printed the page just incase we have any further problems with the new one!! I agree she should be able to wear it when she wants, rings she has had from Clares costing a few pounds have lasted longer!