Did You Get an Engagement Ring or Other Expensive Piece of Jewelry for Valentine’s Day?

The I.I.I. Offers Insurance Tips to Financially Protect Your New Gift

February 11, 2011

INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE
New York Press Office: (212) 346-5500; media@iii.org

NEW YORK, February 14, 2011 — If you receive an engagement ring or other expensive piece of jewelry this Valentine’s Day, who are you going to call to tell about it? Your mother? Your best friend? Maybe you’ll post your good fortune on Facebook? While these may be your first impulses, if you want to protect your sparkling new gift, the most important call will be to your insurance agent or company representative to make sure you have the necessary insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

 

Standard homeowners and renters insurance policies include coverage for personal items such as jewelry and other valuables. However, many policies limit the dollar amount for the theft of valuable personal possessions such as jewelry, furs and precious stones to $1,000 to $2,000.

 

“To properly insure jewelry, consider purchasing additional coverage through a floater or an endorsement,” said Jeanne M. Salvatore, senior vice president and consumer spokesperson for the I.I.I.

 

In most cases, this would also be covered you for ‘mysterious disappearance’. This means that if your ring falls off your finger or is lost, you would be financially protected. Floaters and endorsements carry no deductibles and frequently provide the option of having the insurance company replace the item for you.

 

Floaters and endorsements are available as additions to homeowners and renters insurance policies. Some companies also offer a stand-alone policy to cover jewelry without having to purchase a full homeowners or renters policy.

 

“While there is no way to insure the sentimental value of jewelry, at least having it properly insured will provide financial protection in the event it is lost or stolen,” noted Salvatore.

 

To make sure your jewelry is adequately protected, the I.I.I. suggests the following:

• Contact your insurance professional immediately
  Let your agent or company representative know that you are now in possession of an expensive piece of jewelry. Find out how much coverage you have and if additional insurance is needed.
  
• Have the item appraised
  Heirlooms and antique jewelry will need to be appraised for their dollar value. Ask your insurer for recommendations regarding a reputable appraiser. It is important that expensive items be appraised properly—if you purchase a floater or endorsement, you will pay a premium based on the appraised value and in the event of a claim, will be compensated for this dollar amount. 
• Keep a copy of the store receipt
  Forward a copy of the receipt to your insurer so that the company knows the current retail value of the item. Keep a copy for yourself and include it with your home inventory. 
• Store valuables in a secure location
  Protect your jewelry by storing it in a secure location in your home. If you do not plan to wear the item regularly or are holding it for a child, consider keeping it in a safe deposit box. You may save money on the cost of insuring it, as some companies offer ‘in vault’ coverage. If you want to wear the jewelry for a special occasion, many insurers will offer the option of purchasing additional coverage for the time it is out of the bank. You would, of course, have to notify your insurer ahead of time.
• Update the value of your jewelry
  Expensive items can go up or go down in value. Talk to your insurance professional about how to make sure the dollar amount of your floater or endorsement reflects these changes. Prices for floaters and endorsements will vary depending on the type of jewelry, the insurance company you choose, where you live and where the item will be kept.
• Take a picture of the item
  Get into the habit of keeping a visual record of all of your personal possessions. This helps to document your loss and speed up the claims process. It is also useful to document antique and unusual pieces of jewelry
• Add the item to your home inventory
  Everyone should have an up-to-date inventory of their personal possessions. An inventory can help you purchase the correct amount of insurance and speed up the claims process when there is a loss. The I.I.I. has created free, online software, Know your Stuff® - Home Inventory, to make creating a home inventory easier. You can also add a digital photograph of your new gift and save scanned receipts. Computerizing your inventory makes updating easier and more efficient.

How can I locate a lost life insurance policy?

If a family member dies and you are unable to locate his or her life insurance policies, there is, unfortunately, no national or statewide database of all life insurance policies that you can consult. However, you can try to determine:

• which insurance company might have issued the policy
• which agent or broker might have sold or serviced the policy
• whether the deceased might have had insurance through an employer, union or trade association, or other group to which he/she belonged.

Here are some strategies that might turn up useful information:

1. Look for insurance-related documents.
   Search through files, bank safe deposit boxes, and other storage places to see if there are any insurance-related documents. Also, look through address books to see if the names of any insurance agents or companies are listed. An agent or company who sold the deceased their auto or home insurance may know about the existence of a life insurance policy.
2. Contact current and prior financial advisors.
   Contact current or prior attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, bankers, business insurance agents/brokers and others who might have known about the deceased’s life insurance.
3. Review life insurance applications.
   The application for each policy is attached to that policy. So if you can find any of the deceased’s life insurance policies, look at the applications for them. The application will have a list of all other life insurance policies owned at the time of the application.
4. Contact previous employers.
   Former employers may have a record of a past group policy or policies.
5. Check bank books and canceled checks.
   See if any checks have been made out to life insurance companies over the years.
6. Check the mail for a year following the death of the policyholder.
   Look for premium notices or dividend notices. If a policy has been paid up, there will no notice of premium payments due. However, the company may still send an annual notice regarding the status of the policy or it may pay or send notice of a dividend.
7. Review the deceased’s income tax returns for the past two years.
   Look for interest income from and interest expenses paid to life insurance companies. Life insurance companies pay interest on accumulations on permanent policies and charge interest on policy loans.
8. Contact all relevant state insurance departments.
   The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a “Life Insurance Company Location System” to help you find state insurance department personnel who might help identify companies that might have written life insurance on the deceased. To access that service, go to the NAIC's Life Insurance Company Location System.
9. Check with the state's unclaimed property office.
   If a life insurance company knows that an insured client has died but can’t find the beneficiary, it must turn the death benefit over to the state in which the policy was bought as “unclaimed property.” If you know (or can guess) where the policy was bought, you can contact the state comptroller’s department to see if it has any unclaimed money from life insurance policies belonging to the deceased.
10. Contact a private service that will search for “lost life insurance.”
    Several private companies will, for a fee, contact insurance companies for you to find out if the deceased was insured. This service is often provided through their Web sites.
11. Do you think the life insurance might have been bought in Canada?
    If so, you might contact the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (phone: 1-800-268-8099).
12. Try the MIB database.
    There is a database of all applications for individual life insurance that were processed during the last 12 years. There is a $75 charge per search. Many searches are not successful: a random sample of searches found only 1 match in every 4 tries. For more information, go to MIB's Consumer Protection page.

Carjacking - What Not to Do

The victims of an attempted carjacking in Austin, Texas caused a collision with the assailants' car before the assailants could flee the scene. Four males pulled up beside the victim's truck. Two men exited the vehicle and pointed a gun at the driver demanding him to get out of the truck. The driver of the truck attempted to flee in his truck and a shot was fired. The suspects followed and eventually cornered him in a cul-de-sac. As three of the men got out of their vehicle and approached the truck, the driver rammed into their vehicle and pushed it up against an embankment before escaping. "Suspects Arrested in Failed Carjacking," KXAN (Sept. 21, 2010).
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