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.

Hurricane Irene--Or Why You Need Wedding Insurance

Wedding Insurance--the one thing many couples forget or decide isn't something that's a priority in their budget.  Until...a disaster strikes.  While this weekend's Hurricane Irene is not an everyday, or even every year occurrence (at least in Pennsylvania where I live), I suspect many weddings up and down the east coast scheduled for this weekend will end up cancelled.  Those couples will be wishing they'd opted for that small extra expense of wedding insurance.  Couples who have wedding scheduled in venues in areas hit may wish they'd opted for insurance as well since some venues may suffer extensive damage that may result in the venue not being repaired in time for their wedding. By running a search for wedding insurance companies you can find the average cost for the insurance you want. 

Wedding insurance is not that expensive, and considering what you are investing in the rest of your wedding day, it's a good idea to add it your wedding budget.  So no matter when your wedding is scheduled for, consider shopping for wedding insurance as a must have for your wedding.

Do You Need Wedding Insurance?

Wedding insurance is one of those small details that many brides overlook. The costs range from $125. to $300. Wedding insurance and riders you can add to them cover a myriad of disasters that you can't control. If your wedding has to be postponed due to rain or bad weather, your insurance will cover the cost of rescheduling. It will also cover the expenses involved in postponement for the illness of essential people (read your fine print for the definition of essential). If you minister/rabbi or justice of the peace is a no show you'll get back some of your costs. If a vendor essential to your wedding disappears or goes out of business you can get back some of the cost, although how much depends on the specific policy. If the location of your wedding or reception doesn't carry their own insurance, your policy will cover damage to the building due to electrical and mechanical problems, fire, or if they go out of business. You can get riders to cover the damage to or theft of gifts if your rental or homeowners insurance doesn't cover them. A rider can also cover a spouse who is suddenly called to active duty in the military and if your gown store or the tuxedo store goes out of business or sustains damage. If you are having a wedding in your home be sure to carry liability insurance. Last of all, if you need to postpone your honeymoon due to bad weather, illness or other circumstances there is a rider to cover it. For companies offering wedding insurance go to: http://www.webanswers.com/bridal-weddings/snowstorm-concerns-for-our-wedding-904789.
Now that you know all the things that could go wrong you need to weight the pros and cons of your investment in your wedding to decide if it's a cost effective purchase.