If you keep valuables in your home – whether it’s jewellery, or a collection of fine arts and antiques – don’t assume that your current home insurance will cover you for loss, damage, or theft.
If you don’t have the cover you need, you just might find out the hard way…
A Harsh Lesson From a Major Jewellery Theft
They’re calling it “the biggest domestic burglary in English legal history”: Tamara Ecclestone had over £25m worth of cash and jewellery robbed from her London home in December 2019.
In a recent podcast, it emerged that Ecclestone and her husband were unable to make an insurance claim for any of the stolen jewellery. Their home insurance covered them for the necessary repairs following the break-in – around £45,000 in damages. Beyond that, nothing else was insured.
Are Jewellery and Valuables Included in Home Insurance?
This will usually depend on the value of the items. Most home insurance policies set a limit for contents cover. This is usually somewhere between £40,000 and £60,000. Your policy may also set a single item value limit. If any item in your house is worth more than a certain amount, then your policy may not cover it.
We cannot stress this enough, you must not assume that your current home insurance will cover you. Incidents like the Tamara Ecclestone case make it clear that your home insurance policy may not give you all the cover you need.
Can I Insure My Valuables Under My Current Household Policy?
Yes, you can insure valuables on some policies. Some insurers offer “unlimited” contents cover. However, they will still require you to provide an accurate value for your possessions. When it comes to high value items such as jewellery, watches, antiques, or fine art, your insurer will want to know if any item is worth more than £10,000.
There are certainly benefits to insuring your valuable under your home insurance policy. It saves you the hassle of taking out any new policies. And if you ever need to make a claim, you can make a single claim for your entire contents, rather than separate claims for your valuables.
If you have a large number of valuables or own a high-value collection, then a specialist high net worth policy can cover your home and contents while providing specialist cover and advice to keep you and your valuables safe and secure.
How To Get The Insurance You Need For Your Jewellery and Valuables
To ensure you have the cover you need, you should:
- Itemise every high value item in your house.
- Work out the value of your high value items, including the combined value of your entire collection, along with the value of each individual piece. Our dedicated home contents calculator may help here.
- Tell your insurer about your high value items, and their worth. They will then advise on whether these items are covered in your current policy, or whether you will need to take out a separate high net worth insurance policy.
Do I Need Specialist High Net Worth Insurance?
If your current home insurance policy does not cover your valuables for loss, damage, or theft, you may want to consider a high net worth insurance to get the cover you need.
If you’ve got a jewellery collection, or if you keep any kind of valuables or high-value collections, we can help you ensure you have sufficient cover for all risks. As well as advising on how to ensure you continue to have adequate cover as item values fluctuate.
At Anthony Jones, we specialise in helping people protect the items which are valuable to them through specialist high net worth insurance policies and advice on how you can help prevent loss.
For more information, call us on 0208 290 9086, or email personal@anthonyjones.com.
