Insurance and Your Wedding Rings

Photo courtesy of Ringspotters

You just got that sparkling new engagement or wedding ring and may think that it's loss or repairs are covered under your renters insurance or homeowners insurance. Think again. Not all insurance policies cover the loss of your rings or the repair of your rings. And while you may think, "hey diamonds are really strong, they never need repairs" you could be wrong. Generally it's not the diamond itself that needs repair, it's the prongs  holding it in place. Or if you have smaller diamonds surrounding a larger center stone these are more likely to get loose and end up lost.

Face it, none of us can afford to replace diamonds no matter how small they are! So be sure to read all your insurance policies carefully and talk it over with your insurer. You may need to purchase a jewely rider to cover your rings. 

What is a rider? A rider is an addendum to your policy that you pay a small additional amount for that covers specific items. Sometimes jewelry, sometimes collectibles. Although the cost of purchasing the rider may not be high, the cost of not having a rider may be. Often you can put all your jewelry on one rider, so you will just need one for all the jewelry in your household, not one for  your rings and one for his.

Where can you get a rider? Your personal homeowners insurance company or renters insurance company may sell them or you can purchase one through your jeweler who may sell policies by Jewelers Mutual that protect your rings.

Depending on your personal risk tolerance and the cost of the rider and your ring, your better bet might be to put money away monthly in an account set up as an 'in case of' loss or damage account instead of paying your insurance company, sit down and figure out which is the best choice.

It's way too easy to take off your ring and set it next to a sink when you are washing your hands and oops! there it goes down the drain! You may not ever realize it's gone until it's too late. While some drains may catch your ring, I wouldn't want to depend on it.

Or you could walk away and leave it behind. Unfortunately a less than honest person might find it and be wearing your sparkler as I write this. Or one of those little prongs break and your diamond literally falls out. No more diamond! So cover yourself with a rider on your homeowners or renters policy.

So read your policies. Talk to your agent. Get that rider. And you can relax and enjoy wearing that gorgeous ring.