Experience with insurance on rings AND positive claim filing experience?

I have mine listed on my homeowners as a separate item - and got it insured for the cost of the appraisal value. All I had to do was send in a scanned copy of the appraisal that my FH received. I haven't had to make a claim, but my mother recently had her rings stolen and she was capped by the jewelry cap because she didn't insure separately (which is a lot less than value). Never had to make a claim but if I do (not just for theft or fire it also covered losing the ring) I'd get the full appraised value back.

I would talk to your insurance agent/company, they should be able to schedule your ring separately which would cover it for pretty much anything. I know the company/agent I used to work for also allowed you to have a separate deductible on any scheduled items so you could have no deductible on the ring instead of the $1000 or whatever you have for the dwelling and belongings.

I recently had a damage ring (in a garbage disposal fiasco) and had to file a claim with my renter's policy. I have State Farm insurance and I literally can't say enough nice things about them. The ring was damaged on a Sunday night, I contacted my agent on Monday and the claim process started. I sent in pictures. On Tuesday we went to the jeweler and sent in a letter from them saying it was a total loss, as well as the original appraisal from when my fiance bought the ring. By Thursday I received a call saying it was processed and a check was issued. The check came a week later - 10 days after the initial contact. Honestly, it made what was a pretty awful experience so much easier, just knowing how understanding and quick they were.

Definitely get a rider on your ring. Normal policy does not cover if it's lost. They are not that expensive

Mine is insured through a personal article policy rather than through our homeowners policy, which would be a better option for you.

Definitely get a rider if you keep it through your homeowners! That's what I have. While I haven't had a personal experience with needing to file a claim (yay!), I'm a jeweler and we work pretty closely with Jewelers Mutual. Their clients always seem to be pretty happy, and they make it easy for us to be able to do our job in a timely manner. Some big insurance companies (I won't name names) are sooo slow to approve a claim and it sucks for the client because we can't do anything until they say okay.

Personal lines account manager, at your service!

There are a couple of different ways to insure your ring. There is "special limits" coverage - which covers your valuables up to x amount (typically $1k-$3k) under your basic homeowners policy. This is susceptible to your homeowners deductible which in today's industry, is about $1,000 average for a single family home. From the sounds of it - this might be what you are referring to in your post.

There is blanket coverage - this is a designated 'blanket' amount & type (jewelry, firearms, fine arts, etc) specified by you (the insured). There is typically not a deductible for a blanket. Blanket coverage limits could be any amount - $1k - $20k. This is ideal for people who have several pieces that aren't all extremely valuable, because typically there is a per piece limit - typically around $5k - $10k. Ex: If you have a $20k jewelry blanket, and the engagement ring you lose is valued at $12k, but your insurance carrier has a $10k per piece limit, they are only going to cut you a check for $10k. The problem with blankets are - your carrier is typically not going to request to keep an appraisal on file, but to get the full amount you paid for the piece, you will need to provide a proof of purchase or an appraisal at the time of loss.

Then there is a schedule. Depending on your insurance carrier, this might be a completely separate policy (ie "personal articles floater" or "inland marine") OR it could be added right on to your homeowners policy. Either way, the coverage is typically written without a deductible. Often times your agent/CSR will obtain a specific description of the piece, along with a proof of purchase or an appraisal. We tend to encourage people to obtain appraisals as the value is often times higher than the purchase price. Whichever you provide is what you will be insured for, and what you will receive in the case of a loss. This is the most efficient way & the way I personally like to insure valuable items for my clients. Having documentation on file makes it very easy for our insured to call in, have us submit a claim and forward the appraisal - the company should literally just cut you a check for the insured amount. Although I don't work for an insurance company, (we "broker" through several carriers) I've seen many-a jewelry claims. The more info you provide the easier it's going to be at the time of loss.

Sorry for the novel!

Thank you all! That was super helpful! It sounds like what I need to do is talk to my homeowner's to verify what I have. I believe it is "blanket" with a $10k jewelry blanket, so I need to get a copy of my appraisal (I have that right here...) and get it to them so I can have a ... rider for it. Actually, maybe I need to get appraisals on a few different pieces and do this all at once.

Thank you again. This was super helpful!!!

@JulyPittsburgh bride - if you have a jewelry blanket, that is a rider and you should have sufficient coverage! I would still forward an appraisal for them to document, and depending on the value of your ring, I would ask them if there is a "per piece" limit. This is probably much better for you if you have multiple pieces. However, if the per piece limit is lower than the value of your ring (or any of your other pieces), definitely "schedule" them!

Thanks for this thread! I just texted FH to verify if we had mine on as an individual item or not and he was like "Yes, why what happened?" Lol, oops. Didn't mean to freak him out!

Mine is a personal property policy all by itself.

If you have blanket coverage, ask what the per item limit may be. If you have $10k in coverage, you could have a per item limit of $2500 -- it most likely is not the full $10k. Schedule your rings and other Jewelry so they are properly insured and make sure you can file a claim without a deductible in the event your items are lost, stolen or misplaced. Your insurance agent can confirm your coverage, limits and deductibles with you. Another important thing is to ask whether or not you can use your own jeweler. Sometimes insurance companies make you go through their vendors.

They said our jewelry coverage is $10k. We had to pay an extra, I think, $34 a year for that. It wasn't much, but now I have to take additional steps (sending appraisal, for instance) to raise that.