When to get Jewelry Insurance

Standard homeowner's and renter's insurance policies don't offer coverage for expensive jewelry. Here are three things you can do to make sure your jewelry is properly covered.

1. Appraise and inventory your jewelry.

Take your jewelry to an appraiser to determine a true market value, and keep the details of each piece and its appraised value on file. Having this information on file will help you receive a fair payout if you ever need to make a claim.

2. Add a rider.

Most homeowner's policies only offer several thousand dollars for jewelry coverage. You can increase those limits by adding a rider to your standard policy to cover your entire jewelry collection. Riders usually cost $10 to $20 per year for every $1,000 of additional insurance coverage.

3. Consider a separate jewelry insurance policy.

Instead of buying a rider, you could buy a specialized policy from a company that only sells jewelry insurance. This may offer more comprehensive coverage than a traditional home insurance rider.