Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Is your jewelry insured?

Funny how things happen, last Saturday night I was walking with my friend, Claudia, and one of the things we talked about was blogging. I said that I really needed to get blogging more, but I was having a hard time coming up with a subject because my life is so busy. Well, last night having dinner with my Uncle AJ & Aunt Bev we did a lot of laughing. One of the things we laughed about was a story I told them in particular that my uncle said I needed to put in writing, so here you go...

Dinner & Drinks - I have a guy friend who LOVES to clean & do laundry (yes, girls they are out there!). I hate to admit this part, BUT this particular guy does my laundry for me because I'm so busy. One night we were meeting for a drink & dinner at one of our favorite places we frequent. We were sitting at the bar, him having a gin & tonic while I'm sipping a club soda with lime, and he belts out proud as a peacock "Sweetie, you'll be happy to know I found your earring when I was folding my clothes." Me, not remembering losing an earring, replied with "oh, really?". Yup, he continues on, it's a heart shaped diamond stud about yay big. With that being said, the barmaid whips around, throws her hands on the bar in front of him and blurts out, "Way to go DUMBa@@!". At this point, I'm smirking because I KNOW where she's going with this. She continues on, "I only know her from coming in here with you, but I can guarantee this girl doesn't even OWN an earring like that. Do you, Ellen?!" It took a split second to respond with "NOPE". After a few minutes of him stuttering, and senselessly babbling about not knowing where it came from, while I'm trying desperately not to laugh, he lets me know we can go wherever I want for dinner. We proceed to have a fun filled evening, I get my laundry and head home, business as usual. End of story, or so I thought...

Cute Little Purse - A few days later my daughter, Syd, and I are getting ready to go out for the day. I decided it was best to bring a little purse that I haven't used in quite some time. While cleaning out the purse, I find an amber colored stud earring. Wondering where that came from, I ask Syd if it would happen to be hers. She responds with.."No Ma, but if you find a heart shaped stud, I did lose one of those." Now I'm curious and ask her what exactly it looks like? Well, it's a clear crystal heart shaped stud about yay big. The last time I wore it, I was wearing those shorts you have on now...oh, boy. Anyone who knows me knows, I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my eyes! Did I bother to tell him? Heck NO!! I'll let him be stupefied!

Only $1,000? - Where does this fit into the world of insurance? While nearly every homeowner insurance policy comes with a provision that pays for stolen jewelry, that provision is very small. Many policies pay up to $2,500 for a stolen item, regardless of how expensive it may be. There are some that pay as little as $1,000 or less.

Often times, people forget about inflation when they think about the value of jewelry. The price they paid sticks in their mind, but almost every year the cost of that same piece of jewelry rises. The value of even a few items could be higher than the minimal coverage. That combined with sharp rise in gold and silver prices lately means replacing jewelry could cost more than expected.

Also, the standard home insurance policy MAY cover the full value of jewelry that is destroyed in a fire or an explosion, or in the collapse of a house. The real problems with jewelry are crime and just plain losing things, or mysterious disappearance. For this types of losses, homeowner insurance companies do sell extra coverage that will pay to replace prized jewelry. Jewelry like the beautiful ring my dear friend, Debra, got for her birthday this past weekend from her husband. When she showed me, the first thing I said was to check her homeowner insurance. With that being said, check your homeowner insurance policy and call your agent.

If you have any questions, you're always welcome to call me at (845)725-7380, or email me at equimby@wasmithandson.com.