Contents insurance covers the items within your home in case they are damaged, lost or stolen. This can include furniture, electronics, clothing and other personal belongings. 

Contents insurance is essential for anyone who owns valuable items, as it helps protect you should a potential loss occur in your home. The cost of contents insurance varies, depending on the value of your contents and the level of coverage you choose.

It's important to note that contents insurance differs from homeowners insurance, which covers the physical structure of your home. In contrast, contents insurance covers the things inside your home—like furniture, clothing, electronics, and yes, jewellery.

What Does Contents Insurance Cover?

There are two types of contents insurance coverage:

• Named perils
• Open perils

Named perils policies only cover damages caused by incidents specifically named in the policy—like fires or theft.

On the other hand, open perils policies will cover any damages not specifically excluded in the policy document—like water damage, mould growth and others. 

There are also two types of reimbursement when it comes to contents insurance:

• Actual cash value
• Replacement cost value

Actual cash value reimburses you for the current market value of your belongings when they're damaged or stolen—minus depreciation. So if someone steals your equipment, an actual cash value policy would reimburse you for its current resale value, minus depreciation. 

Replacement cost value reimbursement doesn't account for depreciation when reimbursing you for damages or theft. So if your bracelet is stolen and you need to replace it, a replacement cost value policy would reimburse you for the total cost of buying a new one—regardless of how much its resale value has decreased since you first purchased it.

How Does Contents Insurance Work?

Usually, contents insurance is purchased as an add-on to a homeowners insurance policy. 

But if you're a renter, you can purchase contents insurance on its own. And if you live with roommates, each of you can purchase your policy to cover your belongings. However, check with your insurer to see if there are restrictions on what can be listed on the policy.

If you suffer a covered loss, like a fire or break-in, your contents insurance will reimburse you for the cost of repairing or replacing your damaged belongings. 

Most policies have a limit on how much they'll pay out per item. For jewellery, it's typically around $2,500. This leads us to the question of the hour. Should you protect your jewellery with contents insurance?

Home and Contents vs Jewellery Insurance for Jewellery 

Whether you're buying a diamond engagement ring, a pair of diamond stud earrings or a gold necklace, you're making a significant investment.

So, how can you best protect that investment? Should you insure your jewellery under your home contents insurance policy or take out a separate jewellery insurance policy? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of both options.

Home and Contents Insurance

Most home contents insurance policies will cover your jewellery—up to a particular limit. That limit is typically around $2000 to $5000 per item. 

So, if you have an engagement ring that's valued at $5000, it would be fully covered under a home contents insurance policy with a $5000 per-item limit. However, if you have a collection of jewellery that's collectively worth more than the policy limit, you'll need to insure your jewellery separately.

There are a few things to keep in mind with home contents insurance:

• First, home contents insurance only covers your valuable items when they are ‘inside’ your home. If your valuables are lost or damaged while you’re on the go, contents insurance will not cover you.

• Second, many policies require you to list each item of jewellery separately on the policy. So, if you have several pieces of jewellery, individually worth less than the policy limit, you'll need to list each.

• Also, home contents insurance typically has fairly high deductibles—somewhere in-between $500 to $1,000. So, if you do need to make a claim, you'll likely have to pay quite a bit out-of-pocket before the insurer steps in.

Jewellery Insurance

Specialised jewellery insurance is designed for insuring jewellery. It provides coverage for loss, theft or damage to your jewellery, no matter your location.

There are no limits to specialised jewellery insurance and no need to list each item separately on the policy. So if you have a large and valuable collection, specialised jewellery insurance gives you peace of mind that it's all properly covered. 

If you’re thinking of getting specialised jewellery insurance, JewelCover has rich features like:

• Agreed value policy
• The choice to return to your preferred jeweller
• Dedicated in-house claims consultant
• No impact claims
• Annual revaluation
• Worldwide coverage
• Natural disaster coverage
• Theft coverage
• Damage coverage
• Loss coverage

and much more. All to give your jewellery adequate cover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Home Contents or Specialised Jewellery Insurance: Which Option is Best?

It depends on what you’re looking to achieve. 

If your jewellery is always at home, you don’t wear it anywhere, and it’s not too expensive, you can insure it under home contents.

With a standard contents insurance policy, you're only covered for loss or damage to items ‘inside’ your house. But if your expensive jewellery gets lost or damaged outside your home, home contents insurance wouldn’t cover it. Only specialised jewellery insurance will provide such coverage. 

No matter where you are, specialised jewellery insurance travels with you. 

What Should I Look for When Comparing Contents Insurance Policies?

There are a few things you should look for when comparing contents insurance policies:

• Coverage limits: Make sure the policy you're considering covers all your belongings and that there is no coverage limit.   
• Deductibles: The higher the deductible, the lower your premium will be. However, you'll also have to pay more out-of-pocket if you need to make a claim. 
• Discounts: Some insurers offer discounts for things like having a security system or being claim-free for a certain period.

Conclusion

Choosing the right insurance is an important consideration for any jewellery buyer. Whether you're insuring a brand new piece or an heirloom passed down through generations, it's crucial to understand how insurance works and what it covers.

Take the time to assess the value of your jewellery and the risks associated with not having it insured adequately. If you do decide that insuring your jewellery is well worth it, then specialised jewellery insurance will provide complete peace of mind for you and your jewellery.

At JewelCover, we always go the extra mile to protect and provide backup for your jewellery. Get a free online quote to start, or contact us to learn more.