Jewellery claims - missing rings

Particularly in winter, pulling globes off in a restaurant or after a dog walk can sometimes remove more than just the glove - and by the time the discovery is made it can easily be too late. Rather surprisingly there is actually a free National Ring Recovery Service, but the chances are that may not be appropriate or successful and an insurance policy will need to be relied upon.

After all it is for this type of loss that insurance is normally bought, and where the search has proved fruitless the policy will invariably respond. But for any loss which falls within a general jewellery sum insured, being able to establish the correct value is crucial to gaining a satisfactory settlement. We do encourage all our clients to have up to date valuations and specify pieces individually, but in reality this is often overlooked.

However, we had a client, who on losing a ring, managed to locate the original purchase invoice from 1995. Armed with this and a description of the piece, he was able to get a quote for a replacement at its current value. He was fairly shaken to discover that this had escalated by a mere 600% and was most relieved to find his insurers agreeing the claim by return at this value, all because he had hung on to the original invoice.

This does bring in to focus how jewellery, unlike some other valuables, seems to increase in value consistently year by year. Most insurers do not apply an annual inflationary increase to jewellery, silver, fine art, etc. as they do with buildings and general contents where reference to data published by the RICS and the RPI make this much easier to track. With no one piece the same, most insurers have to leave the owners responsible for making sure that their jewellery sum insured keeps pace with the market and that they are able to substantiate the value of their pieces in the event of a claim. Something to remember when your next renewal comes around.

Identification is everything in estimating a replacement cost accurately. Whilst it is not all of us who can lay our hands on receipts from over 25 years ago, it is a good idea to have a written record as a minimum. With photographs so easy to take on a mobile phone and store securely, this is an event better thing to do.