Hi all. My home insurance single-item limit is £4000. Anything over that can be added separately and anything £5000+ needs a valuation assessment. The only two watches I own that might be over £4k are my CK2998LE (blue) and the Apollo-Suyuz meteorite, the latter the only one that probably goes over £5k. I know I can call around but figured I’d come to the community first as I doubt I’m the only one to need this. I’m based in London. Do you know where a good place to get this appraisal will be? I’m sure I’ve read in the past that OBs don’t do it. Thanks.

 

If you do a search for insurance on this forum you’ll see previous posts that go into great detail on this subject.

To briefly summarize, your currently policy isn’t well suited for watch collecting. The ideal way to insure a watch collection is via a separate “rider” to your homeowners policy which allows you to hold up to a certain value of jewellery and watches without having to have them appraised - for some it’s $20k and I’ve seen significantly higher.

These items are typically insured at full replacement value and the cost for adding this rider is typically not significant (I pay $250 a year for $25,000 - I’m not fully insured but I also don’t store all my watches at home.

 

The rider you describe is exactly what I am doing, they just want specific appraisals for anything over £5k.

I suppose the question is more for the London members and whether they know any good places to get appraisals done. Edited title to make this a little clearer.

 

The rider I have requires no appraisals if total value is less than $25,000.

I’m insured via Chubb which is typically seen as one of the better personal lines insurers (I have no connection to Chubb - in fact I compete with them in other areas). If your broker hasn’t gotten a quote from them, than you should ask for one. Brokers often push business in the direction of certain insurance companies as they receive what are known as “contingent profit commissions” or CPCs from insurance companies based on volume and performance. These are essentially kickbacks that incentivize brokers to deal with specific insurers over others, regardless of what may be optimal for customers.

You may need to push your broker to find a solution for you, or talk to other brokers to ensure you’re getting the best option.

 

I used Direct Line Select in the UK. You have to call them for that policy - you can't get a quote online. My watches were listed on the policy but I didn't need an appraisal. I had 4 of them valued over 5k each plus some artwork. I found them really good to deal with.
In terms of valuation, when I used to have a separate jewellery policy, I got David Michaels in Hatton Garden to do them for me but he had made our engagement / wedding rings so I knew him prior to asking. He's a good guy though so worth a try.

 

Sadly Chubb don't do insurance in the UK.

 

Thanks all, but I’m not really looking for different insurance. My collection is modest with only a couple that may breach the single-item limit, so I’m happy so keep them on the home insurance.
This is the main culprit.

 

I am insured via the Pru (which is now Churchill I think). I have never added a watch over £6k but each time I have added or taken off they do without fuss and with a small addition or deduction depending. Under £2k I don’t have to inform them.
The only caveat is that although it’s insured inside and outside the house, they explicitly don’t cover anything left in a car unattended.
I can’t fault the company, their customer service is excellent and they payed out promptly with a house burglary I had 4 years ago