Many people wonder why or if they should insure their wedding or
engagement ring. It is common to insure life, our automobiles, health,
or other large investments. However, wedding jewelery is different
because it is both a monetary and sentimental investment. Ultimately it
is a personal decision, and I'm not here to sell you insurance. It is
difficult to predict the circumstances that might befall your wedding
band, and even household chores can damage the common ring. The most
common reasons most people do choose to insure their wedding rings are
to prevent against damage, theft, or loss.
There are insurance
policies that protect against just these things. A ring can become
damaged and it is possible it might drop a stone, warp out of round, or
have to be removed in a hand or finger emergency. At Wedding Rings
Forever we replace all our tungsten rings, even if they have to be
removed by a medical professional. For others, you might pay a
deductible, but the rest would be covered.
It's no secret that
the first things thieves look for are engagement and wedding rings to
make off with a quick loot. They can be sold at pawn shops or even over
internet and mail systems. Once gone, they are hard to recover. When
the police give up, theft policies help recover the financial loss.
Movies
and sitcoms have always included in the plot scenes about losing
wedding rings. Whether it be down the sink or air vent, it can happen.
Maybe you were swimming in the ocean or just in a pool. Often times
they're just left on a table and forgotten until it's too late.
Comprehensive insurance policies can guard against this.
The 4 most common types of engagement ring policies are: Valued At, Actual Value, Replacement, and Homeowner.
Valued
At policies are few and far between, and the most difficult to obtain.
You can agree upon a value of your ring, and include sentimental value,
time and trouble, heirloom value, and if your wedding ring is ever lost
or stolen you are compensated to this amount. Needless to say, these
are also the most expensive of the bunch.
Actual Value policies
replace the cash value of your ring, minus any depreciation. This would
be similar to buying a new car and insuring its value. This is the
least expensive and the most popular choice for most new couples.
A
Replacement policy would replace your ring with the exact same one,
regardless of what it cost to do so. This can be a good policy if the
price of gold or diamonds rises. As the value of your ring increases
and decreases, so does the value to replace it.
The majority of
Homeowners policies allow you to claim valuable assets which usually
can include jewelry. The disadvantage to this is that it doesn't cover
damage, or anything that happens outside the home. It does cover,
however, fires, tornadoes, and theft from inside the home.
All
competent jewelers should have plenty of references for where to send
you for insurance on your new engagement ring. Remember to have it
appraised when you first purchase it, and they'll usually do it for
free as an added bonus.
By Wade Peterson
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