Insurance

[UKspeedy72]

Hi everyone, I’m new here. What do you usually do about insurance? I’m thinking about picking up a speedmaster as a 50th present for myself later in the year. My first luxury watch! I know some dealers try to push insurance at the point of sale and assume it’s not usually the best deal. Is it best to just add it to house insurance?

Thanks!

 

[savka]

Congrats on the upcoming purchase! Most people choose one of two options: 1) rider on homeowner policy, or 2) dedicated insurance policy through Jeweler’s Mutual, Hodinkee (Chubb), or some other company.

Hodinkee seems very easy (no appraisal, market value coverage) but I’ve heard that premium increases can be pricy so perhaps others with experience will be better able to chime in.

 

[STANDY]

Just see what your house insurance does.

Plenty of posts

https://omegaforums.net/search/19931677/?q=Insurance&o=date&c[title_only]=1

 

[arno]

This is included in my home insurance, as 'objects of value' (not sure about translation, but that's how it works here in France)

 

[Evitzee]

Most standard US home insurance policies don't cover watches and jewelry except for token amounts. Personally, I self insure. Insurance should be bought to protect you from legal action and catastrophic monetary loss. A watch doesn't fall in to those categories, for me. People tend to overinsure for stuff like this, imo.

A lot depends on where you live and where you travel.

Edited: Jun 30, 2022

 

[PandaSPUR]

I ensure through StateFarm's Personal Articles Policy.
Covers paid value in case of loss, theft or breakage. Appraisal required if you want to cover market value
My premium is approx 1% of the covered value per year.

I haven't had to make a claim yet so I can't common on how good they actually are. I went with them mainly because my house + auto insurance is with them too.

I've got friends who use Hodinkee, theyre easier to use (no appraisal needed), but their premium is about 2-3% of covered value.

 

[Donn Chambers]

Evitzee

Most standard US home insurance policies don't cover watches and jewelry except for token amounts. Personally, I self insure. Insurance should be bought to protect you from legal action and catastrophic monetary loss. A watch doesn't fall in to those categories, for me. People tend to overinsure for stuff like this, imo.

A lot depends on where you live and where you travel.

Same here. If a watch is stolen, then I just have to eat the loss. I don’t have a large collection and I don’t treat them as assets that need to be protected. They aren’t the same as my house, which is fully insured.

But I also don’t go running to my insurance when I have minor damage to the house — a small water leak, damage to a few roof shingles, a broken window. People in Florida tend to use insurance for basic house maintenance (i.e., file a claim when their 20-year-old roof starts leaking), then are shocked their rates go up later. If my entire roof is blown off in a hurricane, yeah, I’ll file a claim. But if a few shingles are blown off in a storm, I’ll pay for the repair out of pocket. And I replaced a old roof out of pocket when we started having leaks without even considering filing a claim.

 

[rkman11]

I used jewelers mutual for years, still do for jewelry but switched over to Hodinkee, a lot easier for watches, better pricing as well. There’s a lot about Hodinkee that annoys me, but so far the insurance is not one of them!

 

[scapa]

Home insurance and bank safe deposit here. Hodinkee doesn't insure in Canada or I might give them a go.

 

[Dan S]

Evitzee

Most standard US home insurance policies don't cover watches and jewelry except for token amounts. Personally, I self insure. Insurance should be bought to protect you from legal action and catastrophic monetary loss. A watch doesn't fall in to those categories, for me. People tend to overinsure for stuff like this, imo.

A lot depends on where you live and where you travel.

I do the same, but I have to admit that I started to have second thoughts when a recent wildfire started 1 mile from me and burned 1000 houses to the ground. Luckily it traveled away from our house this time. I have quite a few watches so the loss would be significant. But that would also make it a logistical nightmare to insure them all.

 

[Bugbait]

I have my watches on a separate, watch only insurance policy. No premiums on claims, don't have to worry about ratings and no special storage requirements. Gets relatively cheaper the more watches you add. Many home and contents policies in the UK require safe storage once it gets over a certain amount. As the collections get larger the specialist coverage can work out cheaper too.

 

[mrmike585]

I’m using jewelers mutual and while
I have not needed then to follow thru on any services.. I liked their coverage model and price

so far so good I guess hope I never need them but wanted some peace of mind

 

[mutanthands]

I'm guessing the OP is UK based, given their username?
Check your house content insurance, if the value is below a certain amount, it should be covered on there.

 

[timoss]

Last time I checked hodinkee quoted me $250/yr for ONE watch. That seemed insane if you have to multiply by a whole collection. Perhaps they give big discounts for multiple pieces?

 

[rand8086]

I just got a quote from Hodinkee for 1.5% of value per year which was much higher than I was expecting. I suspect it's because although I'm living on the beach it's still part of LA county where rampant smash-and-grabs and looting have been on the rise the past two years (11 guys in 3 getaway cars looted a local jeweler near me in Manhattan Beach just a few days ago).

 

[kgb]

My quote from Hodinkee was 1.4% of value. Interesting that their insurance will pay the appreciated value of the watch, up to 150% of stated value and not exceeding total coverage (if I'm reading that right.)

 

[PandaSPUR]

R rand8086

I just got a quote from Hodinkee for 1.5% of value per year which was much higher than I was expecting. I suspect it's because although I'm living on the beach it's still part of LA county where rampant smash-and-grabs and looting have been on the rise the past two years (11 guys in 3 getaway cars looted a local jeweler near me in Manhattan Beach just a few days ago).

1.4-1.5% sounds reasonable to me, and lower than what i expected from hodinkee.
What were you hoping for?

 

[rand8086]

PandaSPUR

1.4-1.5% sounds reasonable to me, and lower than what i expected from hodinkee.
What were you hoping for?

I was hoping for ~1.0-1.2% based on comparative rates elsewhere. All of the example rates they list on their website for various watches are right around 1%. They stated they do it based on your zip code as the sole discriminant, but they actually don't, as I tried plugging various different zip codes into their real-time algorithm, and they don't distinguish at that fine of a level. In my case, it's because I'm part of LA county that the rate was much higher than anticipated.

 

[Lammers]

Bugbait

I have my watches on a separate, watch only insurance policy. No premiums on claims, don't have to worry about ratings and no special storage requirements. Gets relatively cheaper the more watches you add. Many home and contents policies in the UK require safe storage once it gets over a certain amount. As the collections get larger the specialist coverage can work out cheaper too.

Can I ask who you use? I’m also in the UK.

 

[Bugbait]

L Lammers

Can I ask who you use? I’m also in the UK.

I currently use Assetsure.

Not had to make a claim so can't comment further about how good or bad they are yet. There are several negative reviews on Google (good ones as well) but they focus on bicycle claims and others are just gibberish. I would go elsewhere if I wanted to insure a bicycle anyway. The terms for watches seem quite straight forward. Just note that they will not cover cosmetic damage but since my main item is ceramic that's not a major concern.