Most of our watch 'collections' are probably worth more than we think. The small print on most household policies limits total and individual values dramatically. So, what solution do you have to this problem, please?
There have been quite a few threads on this subject recently. As already mentioned, a decent home insurance should offer the cover you need.
Unless you have a ridiculously massive collection of very expensive watches.
M & S. I think they'll insure up to 15k per watch and 50k in total from memory with their premium cover plan (not sure of the name).
Hiscox, simply declare the value of your entire collection. Insured "all risks". They have a single item limit of £10k above that they require a complete description of the item. They are not cheap as they gear themselves up to insure high net worth individuals. That will include most people who post on this forum.
AXA. up to £15K one item - no need to list, £30K total valuables. This has been a perennial question
THMarch, no messing, the best.
I have this policy, used them for two years now and all seems good when you read all the small print, save a huge amount over my previous policy premiums.
Just go online and search for AXA home insurance, pick the top policy they offer, fill in the details and get a quote straight away.
When I looked into it, I was advised to use a seperate policy recommended via the authorised dealer, however on closer inspection found that many of these policies will only replace with vouchers rather than cash. They also may stipulate that the watch needs to be serviced as per the manufacturer recommendations.
I changed my household contents in the end and saved hundreds, plus they will pay out in cash and no tie in to servicing.
Hope to never claim but if I have to Id definitely not won’t watch vouchers.
J
Axa for me too. Moved to them from Direct Line as they are much more flexible in cover offered
Another vote for Hiscox, they're great if you have nothing worth over £10k. They won't insure a harp though!
Many insurers try to offer vouchers but as I've advised in other such threads they cannot legally require you to accept them.
The insurance ombudsman explicitly criticised insurers for paying out in tied vouchers rather than cheques a few years ago, though they still do it, as presumably most people just go along with it. Lest it's helpful to anyone:
[1] the Financial Services Ombudsman has ruled that:
“The option to replace jewellery is not properly exercised by offering a policyholder an authority to buy jewellery up to an agreed value at a particular jeweller’s shop. That is wrong in principle, although it seems to have become a hallowed practice. It is, in fact, a denial of true indemnity.”
If you confront an insurer with this, and state that you insist on a cheque rather than vouchers, their Plan B will typically be to try to reduce the payout. At which point you should point out [2] that it states clearly on the FSO's website @
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...ce-claims.html
- that: "Policyholders should be allowed to choose where they purchase a replacement and they are entitled to a cash settlement if they cannot find an acceptable alternative. In such circumstances, we would not regard it as reasonable for the insurer to make a deduction from the cash settlement to represent any discount it would have got if the policyholder had bought a replacement from one of the insurer's nominated suppliers."
[3] Elsewhere they've said:
"We told the insurer we were surprised to learn of the approach it had taken in this case. Our views on what is reasonable - where an insurer has to decide whether to repair or replace an item, or offer a cash settlement - are well-established. Indeed this topic featured in an ombudsman news article as long ago as October 2001 (issue 10). We upheld Mrs W's complaint. We told the insurer to pay her a cash settlement equal to the full cost of replacing the jewellery. We said it should not deduct the 20% discount that it could get from its preferred suppliers. We said it should also pay Mrs W a modest sum to reflect the distress and inconvenience she had been caused by its poor handling of her claim."
Confronted with all this insurers will back-pedal, apologise, and issue a cheque to the value of the initially offered store voucher.
In sum, insurers are emphatically [A] not allowed to insist that you take store vouchers instead of cash, and [2] not allowed to offer you less in cash than they offer in store vouchers.
That’s really useful info, thanks for sharing.
I accepted vouchers a few years ago (happily so at the time). Hopefully won’t be in a position to claim for a stolen watch again, but I’d push for cash if so.
I have mine insured all risks via Nfu mutual home insurance policy. Specified items but no hassle (so far).
You could argue that you don't need to insure 'luxury' goods. They're really just very nice toys and life wouldn't change if you didn't have them.
I have never insured watches, cameras , jewellery and stuff like that.
Stupid? Possibly, but I know this stuff is just trivial fun, nothing more, no matter how expensive.
Last edited by paskinner; 2nd August 2018 at 19:31.
We have a vault which comes with 200k cover for cash and valuables you can also top it up if needed.
Sometimes depending on what you need it works out cheaper.
Trouble is it’s dead mans shoes at our place to even get the smallest box, never mind a wall vault.
You could always ask, if refused you could *** through it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
AXA. About 20 extra to cover the more pricy bits and bobs
You could argue that but - All very well. But I had my Rolex Sub snatched off my wrist in Barcelona and would have been £5k short without insurance - got a new one delivered and paid for - well worth it. Made up a bit for the trauma.
Insurance as above is about £600 per year - not much in the scheme of things. House and contents. I think house insurance is mandatory for mortgages too.
I chose the M&S Premier when renewing my cover the other day.
Wherever you go, it's worth remembering that unless you specifically extend the cover, valuables such as watches are usually only covered whilst in your home or whilst temporarily removed from the home as defined in the policy wording.
Adding cover for valuables outside the home anywhere in the world (i.e. when you're wearing them and they're most likely to get lost, damaged or stolen) significantly increases the premium - in my case adding £8,000 worth of cover took the premium from £76 to £286.
Last edited by DMC102; 9th August 2018 at 10:57.
Aviva home policy for me. Warches are covered on a new for old basis (current equivalent model). Thankfully I havent had to use it but the peace of mind is well worth the extra premium.
Lol, I did the same but added enough to take my two most expensive watches. Then went on holiday taking my trusty speedbird gmt which has been my holiday watch for 5 years and left all the expensive stuff at home. Oh well.
I’d still recommend M&S insurance though. Even adding the extra cover it was very reasonable compared to other options for similar valuables cover. 1/3 or so of Hiscox.
We use Churchill who have always been good. They stipulates watches are covered if in a safe or you are wearing them. So we need to make sure all watches are tucked away other the current one being worn. They probably means I should wear the current watch while sleeping. Back in nineties we had a burglary whilst on holiday and the insurer at time covered the cost of replacing a Tag and an Oris, new for old which was a very big relief.
Sent from my iPad using TZ-UK mobile app
Yes - that’s what I meant - house = building. It’s up to you if you want to insure your contents of course.
I like my AXA contents and personal possessions insurance covers (accidental, theft, loss etc) inside and outside house to £15K one valuable item / £30K total. Contents covers other stuff too of course as well as valuables - but just discussing those in the context of the forum.
Just checked - for 4 bed house its £508 per annum - could vary depending on location I guess. Items don’t need to be specified either.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 13th August 2018 at 07:08.
Any experience with John Lewis insurance ?
Last edited by gaurav_tzuk; 14th August 2018 at 20:56.