How much to claim?

MrChips

My wife had some gold and diamond earrings stolen while travelling overseas. We have submitted a travel insurance claim and the company is offering to reimburse her for the replacement cost - the only trouble is we don't know what this is.

They were a gift from a friend 10 years ago (2004) when she was living in the USA who tells us he paid around $1,400 for them from Zales back then (he no longer has any records or receipts however). Until they were stolen my wife had no idea they were so valuable.

We have tried sending a photo to Zales to see if they can value them but they said they don't have any items that look like that any more. We have asked if they have a 2004 catalogue but are still awaiting a response.

In the absence of any specific valuation from us, the insurer has offered £700 to replace them. To my mind that is on the low side, as that wouldn't even cover $1,400 today, let alone allow for 10 years of inflation in the cost of gold (around 3-4 times more expensive now), diamonds and labour.

Any thoughts on how we can determine a more accurate, justifiable cost would be gratefully received.

InsideInsurance

What do you have to substantiate what they were?

With no receipt, no valuations, nothing to say its 5g of 18ct gold and a pair of 0.5 D/IF/briliant then its going to be hard to do anything. Many would argue the £700 is very generous based on no documents. What is the single item limit on your insurance anyway?

Were they solitaire stones or clusters? Based on your comment from Zales it sounds like they were more complex settings/ designs so any comparative sizing -v- photos is going to be a non-starter

MrChips

We don't have much at all, unfortunately. As part of the claim, we submitted photos of my wife wearing the earrings, photos of the box, correspondence with Zales, a statement in writing from the friend in the US indicating when they were bought and how much he paid.

In the absence of anything else, I was wondering if there was in existance (or if insurers used) some sort of "jewellery price index" which indicated the approximate movement in prices for items such as these over time. Or perhaps an alternative option would be to consult a local jeweller?

The single item limit is £3,000.

I'd have to get my wife to answer your more specific questions about the earrings themselves.

InsideInsurance

Unfortunately jewellery is not valued purely on the cost of its raw materials. If that were the case a Tiffany charm would cost a couple of pounds not a couple of hundred pounds based on it being just a small bit of silver.

Brands rise and fall, design popularities change, raw material prices change etc and so you cannot simply apply a multiplier. In this case you'd also have movements in currency and other factors too.

Even if you could, the problem is you cannot independently confirm the original price. A friends testimony is not going to be considered particularly unbiased.

You could speak to a local jeweller (not samuels or goldsmiths etc) that actually do onsite valuations or make jewellery and see if they can give any form of estimate based on the images. If the diamonds were general high street grades this MAY be possible but if they were certified/ premium grade they arent going to be able to accurately judge the colour/ inclusions from a general photo. Likewise they are unlikely to be able to tell if they are 9, 18 or 24 ct gold - or as they are from the US, 14.