Rings falling through home insurance gap
Wednesday, 05 Mar 2008 10:30
Home insurance: Rings unprotected
Forty-two per cent of engagement rings are not insured and 16 per cent of people do not know if their rings are covered.
Some 1.8 million Brits are getting engaged in the coming year – meaning three-quarters of a million rings worth £900 million could be at risk.
On average an engagement ring now costs £1,200.
Home or contents insurance policies should cover an engagement ring – wherever it is lost or damaged – but a tenth of Brits have no such cover.
Furthermore, high-value rings may need special insurance cover – although informing your insurer about the ring and its value should suffice.
Abbey Insurance, which is behind the figures, is also warning rising commodity prices mean the replacement value for engagement rings and jewellery in general is increasing.
Lloyd Wilson, head of Abbey Insurance, mentioned: "The number of people who don’t think about insurance for their engagement rings and other precious items is quite staggering.
"With the average engagement ring costing around £1,200, it’s important to arrange insurance immediately if you’re one of the 1.8 billion planning to propose this year.
"Rising precious metals prices could also result in lack of full cover, so we would recommend that people review their home contents insurance at least every six months to ensure that all their valued items and heirlooms are fully covered."
Britons have some £1,785 worth of jewellery each – or £44 billion in total – tucked away at home.
However, a fifth of people do not review their home contents cover to make allowance for new purchases and the rise in value of items such as jewellery.