Jewellery Valuations and insurance

isofa

Our local jewellers is having a "Guild Valuation Day" coming up from the Guild of Valuers and Jewellers (www.gvj.org.uk), and we were thinking of getting a couple of items valued for insurance purposes.

But I wanted to know if it was good value, or if there are better ways to get items valued.

They have a sliding scale of charges depending what the item(s) are worth, so if you happen upon a rare heirloom, you'll pay lots more. I thought this was a little cheeky, surely a flat fee would be fairer?

They also photograph and add the items to an e-register, for insurance purposes (I assume your insurer can access this, especially in the unfortunate case of a theft)

Their charges, roughly are:

Up to 2K it's £100
up to 2.5K £120
up to 3K £140
up to 4K £160
up to 5K £180
up to 6K £200
up to 7K £220
up to 8K £240
up to 9K £260
up to 10K £280

It's then £15 for each additional 1K worth up to 30K.

You can bring a maximum of 5 items to be valued.

You can opt for slightly cheaper postal valuations, but who wants to post irreplaceable family artefacts, regardless of their monetary value?!

lisyloo

You could try the National Association of Goldsmiths here

http://www.jewellers-online.org/pages/rvmain.php

I am afraid I have no idea whether the prices you posted are good value.

For valuable and difficult to replace items it could be worthwhile.

You could also take the following precautions.

1) Keep receipts for jewelry (or for anything you might need to claim for).
2) You could take your own photos yourself these days.
3) You could get a safe. We have a small one bolted to our floorboards. I'm sure a professional thief could outfox it, but you average opportunistic 5 minute burglar probably wouldn't find it and it demonstrates a degree of care. Ours case about £20 from screwfix direct and is similar to the ones you get in hotel rooms. They need to be bolted down somewhere as they are portable. Some people might poo-poo this but I think it certainly demonstrates that you haven't been negligent and if it's well hidden then an opportunist may well not find it (I've heard the average burglary is 2 minutes).

It really is a bit if a trade off, but it is up to you to prove the value of your possessions in an insurance claim and it could save a lot of hassle.

Personally I have gone the DIY route and I have an inventory of all my jewelry. I am quite careful about what I take abroad. Night time on a cruise ship with a safe then I wear my jewels. In less well-off places it's the "argos collection".

isofa

Thanks lisyloo, it's difficult to get a comparison on costs for valuations, but would also rather pay a fixed fee, rather than have the potential of someone valuing something and then it costing hundreds more because they say it's worth x amount. But I can't seem to find anything relevant locally.

As a keen photographer, I'll make sure each item is fully documented myself, good tip, thanks

It nearly all sentimental value, rather than being new and/or significantly valuable (I'd guess) old and I was curious to know the value, just for insurance purposes.

LittleVoice

isofa wrote: »

. . . . but would also rather pay a fixed fee, rather than have the potential of someone valuing something and then it costing hundreds more because they say it's worth x amount.

Agreed. There must be a temptation for a valuer to increase the estimate because it means a higher income for themselves.

Also the valuation for "insurance purposes" is generally higher than it would be on the same item for other purposes (eg probate). So it shows how subjective the valuation process can be.

isofa

LittleVoice wrote: »

Agreed. There must be a temptation for a valuer to increase the estimate because it means a higher income for themselves.

Also the valuation for "insurance purposes" is generally higher than it would be on the same item for other purposes (eg probate). So it shows how subjective the valuation process can be.

That is exactly my worry, over valuation for their own ends, "oh yes sir, this is worth a small fortune!"