Interesting conversation with the Insurance Guy

[dxkj]

I told him we needed my wife's 12,000 engagement ring on the home owners insurance, and he said no problem. It ends up being like $10 a month, so $120 a year. (not sure if that is high or low)

I asked him what happens if she loses it, and he says if she doesnt find it in a day or two she can claim the insurance on it. I asked, well what if she finds it 2 weeks later....


He paused for a while, and then said, no one has ever asked me that before. I guess she would just keep it.,..


lol, I mean seriously, how often does this happen?

 

[venk]

Claiming against Home Owners insurance is a sure fire way to get you dropped from coverage so you don't claim unless it is absolutly neccesary.

 

[Cuda1447]

Originally posted by: dxkj
I told him we needed my wife's 12,000 engagement ring on the home owners insurance, and he said no problem. It ends up being like $10 a month, so $120 a year. (not sure if that is high or low)

I asked him what happens if she loses it, and he says if she doesnt find it in a day or two she can claim the insurance on it. I asked, well what if she finds it 2 weeks later....


He paused for a while, and then said, no one has ever asked me that before. I guess she would just keep it.,..


lol, I mean seriously, how often does this happen?

Well, I would assume that you would *legally* have to return the money claimed or something of that sort. But how will they ever know? It would be insurance fraud I would imagine if you didn't report that you found it though.

 

[bleeb]

Originally posted by: venk
Claiming against Home Owners insurance is a sure fire way to get you dropped from coverage so you don't claim unless it is absolutly neccesary.

try it and see what happends...

Just don't keep doing it... that would be an extremely BAD idea.

 

[BlueWeasel]

$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

 

[LordNoob]

If you make a claim and then down the road you want to get home owner's insurance or perhaps even builder's risk insurance on another residence you may be building... well then you are SOL.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: LordNoob
If you make a claim and then down the road you want to get home owner's insurance or perhaps even builder's risk insurance on another residence you may be building... well then you are SOL.

I love it when ignorant fools who have no experience whatsoever in what they are talking about make statements such as this. Grow up little boys, people make home owner claims all the time as long as you aren't doing it in a fradulant manner and it's a once in a blue moon thing it's not going to hurt you whatsoever.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: LordNoob
If you make a claim and then down the road you want to get home owner's insurance or perhaps even builder's risk insurance on another residence you may be building... well then you are SOL.

I love it when ignorant fools who have no experience whatsoever in what they are talking about make statements such as this. Grow up little boys, people make home owner claims all the time as long as you aren't doing it in a fradulant manner and it's a once in a blue moon thing it's not going to hurt you whatsoever.

rahvin, I generally agree with you but not on this one. Lots of people are getting dropped after making claims - some of them didn't even make a claim, they just called the insurance company to ask a question about a potential claim. And the CLUE database insurers use not only track people, they track property addresses also - so that if I file a claim for water damage at my house, the person who might want to buy my house later may have trouble getting coverage. Here's one link.

 

[ISAslot]

When we got robbed our vcr was stollen (early 90's) and we filed a claim for it, and got a new one. A few weeks later we found it outside where the thieves had dropped it. They told us just to keep both of them. And the one that had been outside still did work.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

 

[AdamSnow]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

I love my Fiance... she didnt want an expensive ring, so that we could put more money towards our house and our future...

$12,000 on an ENGAGEMENT ring is a total waste of money.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: AdamSnow

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

I love my Fiance... she didnt want an expensive ring, so that we could put more money towards our house and our future...

$12,000 on an ENGAGEMENT ring is a total waste of money.

Thats what I say about a $20,000 Neon

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

Uh yeah, a car is functional; a ring isn't.

It's JUST A FREAKING RING...I guess if you and you're wife are all about materials then yeah, $12k for a ring is warranted.

I'd rather spend $2k on a ring and the other 10k on, oh I don't know, our retirement fund; kids college fund...etc...

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: AdamSnow

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

I love my Fiance... she didnt want an expensive ring, so that we could put more money towards our house and our future...

$12,000 on an ENGAGEMENT ring is a total waste of money.

If a person has enough to put towards their house (we just purchased a new one 3 months ago) and their future...does that make it wrong to buy a ring that is expensive?

A total waste of money..maybe on your income..but on someone who makes that kind of money?

fyi: mine was a wedding ring that I gave her. It's a custom ring with a unique setting. Large diamond in the middle..flanked by two diamonds. it's hard to describe the rest.

 

[chowmein]

theres engagement ring and then theres wedding ring

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

'Never depreciate' is a rather ambitious statement, given that that the value of diamonds is almost entirely extrinsic.

$12k is pretty much overboard, but I suppose if you have the money to spend, more power to you.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
$12K on an engagement ring...are you nuts?

Uh my wife's ring cost that much. You'll purchase a car that cost 20K and last 5 years...but you won't spend 12K on a ring that will last a lifetime and never depreciate?

'Never depreciate' is a rather ambitious statement, given that that the value of diamonds is almost entirely extrinsic.

$12k is pretty much overboard, but I suppose if you have the money to spend, more power to you.

True but people don't bat an eye at purchasing a 20K car they will run into the ground in 5 years...to turn around and buy a new one. But someone says its a waste to buy something for your wife that will last a lifetime. Thats my point. It's not self serving to them.

Also the price of diamonds does change...but do you think it'll be worthless in the next 40 years? Not likely.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
True but people don't bat an eye at purchasing a 20K car they will run into the ground in 5 years...to turn around and buy a new one. But someone says its a waste to buy something for your wife that will last a lifetime. Thats my point. It's not self serving to them.

Cars last a lot longer than 5 years, most people just don't like to have old cars. I don't think anyone has a problem buying something nice that will last a life time, but I can empathize with anyone who thinks that spending that much on a piece of jewelry is extravagant.

Also the price of diamonds does change...but do you think it'll be worthless in the next 40 years? Not likely.

You do realize that the price of diamonds is almost entirely based on the health of DeBeers? With the onset of quality diamonds from Canada, Australia and elsewhere, along with better and better man-made stones, the bottom could VERY likely fall out of the diamond market within our lifetime.

 

[Britboy]

You'll think it's a waste if she runs off with the mailman

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: LordNoob
If you make a claim and then down the road you want to get home owner's insurance or perhaps even builder's risk insurance on another residence you may be building... well then you are SOL.

I love it when ignorant fools who have no experience whatsoever in what they are talking about make statements such as this. Grow up little boys, people make home owner claims all the time as long as you aren't doing it in a fradulant manner and it's a once in a blue moon thing it's not going to hurt you whatsoever.

not true. People get dropped all the time IN CA for making ONE Claim. Wither that or their rates go up. Its not unheard of

 

[kranky]

The thing about jewelry insurance is that you can buy a $10,000 ring, have it insured for full replacement value, and if it's lost or stolen they'll pay you $5,000. That's because the insurance company can replace it much cheaper than you can due to their connections, and that's all they are going to pay.

Always get a detailed appraisal for expensive jewelry. It's not the dollar amount of the appraisal that matters as much as the detail of the description. That's how you can make sure any replacement ring will be of exact kind and quality.

If the appraisal says the ring is valued at $10,000 and it says it has a one-carat diamond in a 14k gold setting, with no further detail, they can give you a crappy one-carat diamond in a similar setting and you're stuck with it. For diamonds make sure the grade, etc. is all spelled out. If it's expensive, hand-worked jewelry, make sure you have good photos.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: kranky
The thing about jewelry insurance is that you can buy a $10,000 ring, have it insured for full replacement value, and if it's lost or stolen they'll pay you $5,000. That's because the insurance company can replace it much cheaper than you can due to their connections, and that's all they are going to pay.

Always get a detailed appraisal for expensive jewelry. It's not the dollar amount of the appraisal that matters as much as the detail of the description. That's how you can make sure any replacement ring will be of exact kind and quality.

If the appraisal says the ring is valued at $10,000 and it says it has a one-carat diamond in a 14k gold setting, with no further detail, they can give you a crappy one-carat diamond in a similar setting and you're stuck with it. For diamonds make sure the grade, etc. is all spelled out. If it's expensive, hand-worked jewelry, make sure you have good photos.

LOL. The insurance company cannot go out and purchase you a ring and replace it with an item at half the value of the original. Thats like saying when you wreck your car...the insurance runs out and buys you a pinto in place of your lexus.

They give you the amount in a CHECK. They don't purchase items for you.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: kranky
The thing about jewelry insurance is that you can buy a $10,000 ring, have it insured for full replacement value, and if it's lost or stolen they'll pay you $5,000. That's because the insurance company can replace it much cheaper than you can due to their connections, and that's all they are going to pay.

Always get a detailed appraisal for expensive jewelry. It's not the dollar amount of the appraisal that matters as much as the detail of the description. That's how you can make sure any replacement ring will be of exact kind and quality.

If the appraisal says the ring is valued at $10,000 and it says it has a one-carat diamond in a 14k gold setting, with no further detail, they can give you a crappy one-carat diamond in a similar setting and you're stuck with it. For diamonds make sure the grade, etc. is all spelled out. If it's expensive, hand-worked jewelry, make sure you have good photos.

LOL. The insurance company cannot go out and purchase you a ring and replace it with an item at half the value of the original. Thats like saying when you wreck your car...the insurance runs out and buys you a pinto in place of your lexus.

They give you the amount in a CHECK. They don't purchase items for you.

My point is that you'll get a check for the amount the insurance company would have to pay to replace the item, not what you paid. If they can get a ring just like it for $5,000, that's all you're going to get. So you need to make sure the appraisal is very detailed. If you feel that you can't replace the item for the amount they are offering, then ask them to replace the item instead of giving you a check.

This comes up a lot with jewelry because the markups are so high. People buy a ring for $10,000 and get an appraisal saying it's worth $12,000, and feel they got a good deal. If something happens and they need to file a claim, they aren't real happy to be offered $5,000.

 

[dxkj]

I got a REAL appraisal from a jewler, and Insured it for THE AMOUNT OF 12,000


Not for the amount of 5,000. If it is lost or stolen, they will send me 12,000 because that is the amount Ive been paying for it....



And the diamond was handed down from my grandmother, so I paid 750$ for the ring.... the diamond itself was given to me ....

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: dxkj
I got a REAL appraisal from a jewler, and Insured it for THE AMOUNT OF 12,000


Not for the amount of 5,000. If it is lost or stolen, they will send me 12,000 because that is the amount Ive been paying for it...

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but the key point I've tried to make is that the amount of insurance you paid for does not matter. All that matters is what it would cost the insurance company to replace the item, and that's all you're going to get. So a very detailed appraisal is critical.

Of course, I hope that situation never comes up. But people should be prepared.