You’re engaged (or preparing to be)! This is exciting news, congratulations! Getting married is such an incredible milestone, and we wish you all the best as you embark on this journey. But, now you might be wondering how to best protect this new ring. Let’s go through everything you need to know about insuring your engagement ring.
The sooner you insure it, the sooner you protect it.
Your ring can be insured as early as purchase day. Similar to how you get insurance for a new car before you leave the dealership, you can get insurance coverage for the new ring. Important tip: if you do add the ring to your policy before you’re engaged, make sure that your S.O. doesn’t see your insurance documents!! So how do you go about getting insurance?
Contact your insurance broker
Your insurance broker is there to help guide you through this process. The coverage for your ring comes from your property insurance policy, but there are a few different routes to consider.
- Almost all home and renters policies include a base amount of coverage for jewelry. This is called a “limit”. Your policy will have a pre-determined limit for the value of jewelry that it will cover in the event of a covered claim. This method pays out for a covered claims using actual cash value for the ring (this means that your insurer will take into account how much the ring has depreciated in value since you bought it). Your broker will help you decide whether that limit is sufficient for the jewelry in your home, or not.
- If it isn’t, the ring will be added to your policy using a “personal floater”, also known as a “rider” or “scheduling”. This kind of acts like a policy within a policy, where it is used only for your engagement ring. This means that there is usually no deductible (you don't pay anything at the time of the claim) and it covers you for mysterious disappearance. You will pay extra premium based on the value of the ring, but this ensures that you get the Replacement Value (the value determined by your appraisal) should your insurance policy need to pay out for a covered claim.
Get an appraisal
We highly recommend getting a formal appraisal of your ring’s value (this is often required by your insurance company). A professional appraiser will examine your ring and provide you with a document containing an unbiased opinion of the identity, composition, quality and market value of your ring. This will also ensure that the value of the whole ring is known, instead of just the diamonds.