Valuing a ring

trailingspouse

Just made what I expected to be a quick phone call to accept a quote on my house insurance. As I have done every year for the last 36 years (I shop around every year). The person I'm talking to asks me to confirm that I have either a recent valuation or a recent receipt (less than 3 years old) for my engagement ring. I've never been asked this question before, and the ring has been on my policy for 9 years. They tell me that the ring won't be covered without it.

The plot thickens - I was with this insurer a couple of years ago, and they didn't ask me this question. So - looks like my ring wasn't covered. The person I'm talking to seems to think that's not a problem as 'nothing happened' - I think they're missing the point somewhat.

I believe it costs around 10-20% of the valuation to get a ring valued, which in my case could be up to £600 - am I really expected to do that every 3 years??

paddyandstumpy

If it's a condition of their policy, yes.

Also, in the event of a loss you'll need to substantiate ownership, quality and value.

Finally, if you don't have an uptodate valuation how do you know how much it's worth?

FutureGirl

Their policies may have changed over the years, so you may not have needed a valuation / receipt back then.

rs65

trailingspouse wrote: »

I believe it costs around 10-20% of the valuation to get a ring valued, which in my case could be up to £600 - am I really expected to do that every 3 years??

I got a ring valued for nothing when it was in for resizing. Getting it checked periodically is wise so find a local jeweller and ask how much it would be to get it checked, polished and valued.

trailingspouse

Many thanks. Have just renewed with my previous insurers, who haven't asked for any sort of valuation.

Yes, I can provide a receipt from when it was bought 9 years ago (thus proving ownership, quality, and to a certain extent value) - my issue was with the insurer expecting me to do this every three years, when it's never been asked for before.

billn

OP have you declared an increase in value for the ring, on some policies you only have to have a valuation if the item is specified and over a certain value, it is fairly standard to have to have jewelery valued every three years but I think 10-20% charge is high 5% is more like I have paid in the past.

FutureGirl

It's worth still getting a valuation done incase you need to claim.

I've always found receipts don't tell the full 'spec' of the ring, which causes problems with peoples claims.

dacouch

As others have mentioned, the charge including VAT would be nearer 5%.

The advantages of a regular valution is that (Especially since the last recession) inflation in jewellery costs is very much larger than normal inflation. It is entirely possible a ring costing £6000 nine years ago could be worth £8000 at current prices.

By not having a valuation, you could be losing out on receiving the higher value if you make a claim on your previous policy.

The valuation also helps prove ownership of the ring.

It also means the the clasps on the ring are maintained on a regular basis, reducing the chance of losing a diamond.

In addition, should you lose the ring, am accurate valuation would help you when you specify for a replacement to be made.

For the sake of spending the £200 to £300 on a valuation, you could end up losing considerably more than this if you make a claim

youngretired

My sister has a diamond ring which 1 of the diamonds fell out and was lost. She has this covered under her home insurance and the insurance company was happy for it to be repaired by the diamond being replaced.

She has had the ring valued for insurance purpose by Safeguard via a jewellers last October. The company LMG jewellery (insurance company used) who has repaired the ring have said that it was over valued and have given another valuation.

What does she do? Does she go back to the original company and ask them if they were wrong (as they quoted on a number of pieces of jewellery) or get another valuation by someone else?

She is concerned as she didn't expect to be told this and wonders if all the other items have been missvalued.