Why Valuables Insurance Is Better Than Home Insurance

Insurance is a modern-day necessity. Whether you want cover for your car, pets or favourite pastime, it’s important to ensure you’re protected financially should the worst happen.

However, we know that arranging and managing your insurance can be one of those things that slips to the bottom of the list, particularly when you’re busy. It can also be incredibly confusing. So, when your home insurance provider offers you a bundle that covers a range of insurance products on one policy, it makes sense to take them up on it – right?

Maybe not. Although it may seem a no-brainer, covering your jewellery, watches or engagement and wedding rings on your home insurance is often not the best choice.

Let’s look at the main reasons why.

Price

Bundling your home and valuables insurance together can feel like a cost-effective solution initially. But your home contents insurance provider will often significantly bump up your premium if you do so. And – here’s the catch – they’re unlikely to make this very clear at the outset. This means you could end paying more than you should without realising it.

Specialist valuables insurance, meanwhile, is usually far more cost-effective long term as you’re only paying for the specific cover you need, giving you more control.

Moreover, if you do end up making a claim on your home contents insurance, you could lose your no claims bonus causing your premium to increase. If you were to claim on a separate valuables policy, however, your household premium is not likely to be affected.

For additional peace of mind when it comes to price, our valuables cover comes with a Lowest Price Guarantee. Should you take out a policy and find the same levels of cover and terms elsewhere for less, within 14 days, we'll refund the difference.

Cover limitations 

A bigger worry than the size of your premium is whether your cover will be adequate if you need to make a claim.

Many people inadvertently underinsure their home by mis-calculating the value of the items on their policy. It is always tempting to make a rough estimate when taking out a home and contents policy. However, in the event of a claim, if you’ve under-estimated the value of your home’s contents, you’re likely to receive less than individual items are actually worth.

Take Sofia, for example, who contacted the Financial Ombudsman after her house was burgled. Family jewels with a replacement value of £60,000 were stolen but, as she had valued them at just £10,000, her home contents insurer refused to pay out.

The terms on some insurance policies are also restrictive in many circumstances. For example, if individual valuables are not named on your policy, you’re unlikely to be fully covered. What’s more, most home contents insurance policies don’t cover you outside the home at all. We’re guessing you don’t fancy removing all your jewellery before heading out the door –in this case, home contents cover becomes ineffective.

Choosing specialist valuables insurance, however, addresses all of these issues. You’ll individually assess, name and value each item you’d like to insure, which avoids inaccuracies. With our cover, you’ll also be covered out of the home – which, we think, makes much more sense.

Insuring multiple items

It can be a painful moment when, after a loss or burglary, you call your insurer only to be told your home insurance has a single item limit that doesn’t match the value of the valuables in question.

Most home insurers set their individual item limit at around £500 to £1,000. That won’t come close to the price tag on replacing most people’s valuables. For instance, the average cost of an engagement ring is £1,040.58, and many of us spend a great deal more. What’s more, if your engagement ring currently costs £1,000, its value is likely to continue to rise – while your home insurer’s single item claim limit probably won’t.

The single item limit offered by most specialist insurers, meanwhile, will be much more than this. For example, we provide cover for single items of £1,000 to £20,000, with a maximum of £30,000 in total.

Security

Another reason to choose valuables insurance over home insurance is the strict rules home insurers apply to security. Many will simply refuse to pay out on a theft if they don’t consider your valuables to have been secured properly in your home.

What constitutes secure? It varies hugely. But for valuables, it’s often the case that your jewellery or watch is only covered if kept in a locked safe within your home. Which, for most people, simply isn’t going to happen.

Specialist insurance policies are typically more realistic. Jewellery is made to be worn, after all. We cover theft from anywhere in your home, provided there’s clear evidence of forcible and violent entry or exit and any security devices are in operation.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take every precaution to prevent anything happening to your prized jewellery in the first place. We recently put together some top tips to protect your valuables which is a must-read.

Worldwide cover

If you’re going on holiday, the likelihood is that your jewellery’s coming with you. It may be your engagement ring (which, let’s face it, you’re unlikely to remove much), or a favourite pair of earrings or watch.

But be aware: many home insurance policies don’t cover your personal possessions if you go abroad. If they do, it’s an expensive extra with a whole host of restrictions. Others offer it, but limit cover to certain countries. It all depends on your insurer and their policy. 

By contrast, our specialist policy covers you anywhere in the world. As long as you’re a UK resident, we’ll insure you with no geographical limits or restrictions on the number of days you spend abroad.

Accidental damage

Accidents happen. You might fall and knock a diamond out of your ring or scratch a bracelet while doing some DIY. But many home insurance providers won’t cover you for accidental damage, meaning an everyday occurrence like the above might render your policy useless.

However, taking out cover with a specialist insurer like Ripe Valuables will safeguard you financially against everyday accidents like these – both home and away. It also doesn’t matter whether the valuables in question are fully or partially damaged. We’ll cover the cost of repair, replacement or restoration – whichever is applicable.

Specialist Valuables Insurance From Ripe Insurance

Whether you’d like to cover one item or several, you want to know that your valuables are covered against theft, loss and accidental damage. We can give you that peace of mind. If you want to get insured with us, you can build a bespoke quote in just a few minutes.