A tale of watch insurance (UK)

[Osrus]

Thought others may be interested in my experience since purchasing my latest new PM Rolex.
Rang my home insurance company to add my new pride and joy the the home content policy.
When I told them the replacement value the rep said she would have to speak with her supervisor, could I hold the line.
When she returned I was told very politely that due to the change in contents value exceeding their limit they were giving me 21 days notice that they intend to cancel my cover.
This came as a bit of a shock as I was only after the cost of adding the watch to my policy.
I have since taken out a new high value policy with a different company so no probs.

Moral of tale is if you want to add a high value item to your home policy don't tell them you have made a purchase until after you find out if they will cover it.

[Osrus]

As an added note, the cost of insuring the watch under a stand-alone watch policy was quoted by several companies at a higher rate than a new high net worth building and contents policy.

My original policy was with M&S with a £10,000 unspecified limit for individual items.

[Etschell]

my insurance dropped me this year on homeowners as well. nothing to do with watches everything to do with house value appreciating.

[Shaky]

As I am UK based and starting to think about home insurance and watch insurance either together or separate, has anyone got any advice or recommendations who would be a good starting point.

I see the OP used M&S with a 10k limit on unspecified items.

[harvey]

...just make sure the insurance is to cover like for like, and not receipt cost.

[AshAP]

You need to try Hiscox. Best cover possible.


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[Osrus]

I tried Hiscok but for some reason they said they could not offer cover for my post code.
Finally went with Highworth Insurance Brokers, best price I could find and very nice to deal with.
The policy is Covéa Insurance, Sterling Executive Home policy.

[Skittman]

TH March for watch cover standalone.

I use Hiscox for home and watches combined

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[Clasper]

Hi just as a further note here's a couple of important points.

If you have a couple of high value watches then insurer's will often ask that you have a safe, obviously because not many people wear more than one watch at a time.

Secondly if you get a safe you can't just go and get any old safe, you need a safe that covers an insurance value e.g. £30,000 of value or £40,000 etc. It's no good going out buying one of those big chunky fire proof safe's from Costco as they don't have an insurance value.

If you shop around there are many good insurer's who will insure watches, a lot of AD's will give you a replacement value certificate either for free if you deal with them or at low cost, don't make the mistake of getting a full valuation as long as you have just a straightforward replacement value you are fine.

Finally remember when their is a price rise from Rolex like late last year then you need to get a new certificate and inform the insurer otherwise it will only be covered at the old value amount.

Hope this helps

[The Sub-lime One]

Originally Posted by Clasper

Hi just as a further note here's a couple of important points.

If you have a couple of high value watches then insurer's will often ask that you have a safe, obviously because not many people wear more than one watch at a time.

Secondly if you get a safe you can't just go and get any old safe, you need a safe that covers an insurance value e.g. £30,000 of value or £40,000 etc. It's no good going out buying one of those big chunky fire proof safe's from Costco as they don't have an insurance value.

If you shop around there are many good insurer's who will insure watches, a lot of AD's will give you a replacement value certificate either for free if you deal with them or at low cost, don't make the mistake of getting a full valuation as long as you have just a straightforward replacement value you are fine.

Finally remember when their is a price rise from Rolex like late last year then you need to get a new certificate and inform the insurer otherwise it will only be covered at the old value amount.

Hope this helps

That's quite helpful, thanks for sharing.

[Shaky]

Cheers guys some great advice as ever. I have got a safe luckily and it's not Costco special. Would have to check but I think it's either £25 or £30k for property.

Will give Hiscox and some of the others a try over the next month in prep for renewal date

Keep the advice coming.

[SC11]

Interesting thought, what happens if you had said watch covered by a seperate policy and god forbid your were broken into and the house/contents insurance company found out about the watch covered by a third party could/would that void the house/contents insurance?!

[Shaky]

Originally Posted by SC11

Interesting thought, what happens if you had said watch covered by a seperate policy and god forbid your were broken into and the house/contents insurance company found out about the watch covered by a third party could/would that void the house/contents insurance?!

That is an interesting question.

My experience is insurance companies will always look to not pay out so like you say, what would happen.

[SC11]

Based on what the OP's has stated he didn't get the option with M&S to not have the watch covered and then having to sneak seperate insurance on this item they have just cancelled his policy, which begs the question if the watch wasn't declared and insured seperately or not all all would this void the main policy.

[Osrus]

Originally Posted by SC11

Based on what the OP's has stated he didn't get the option with M&S to not have the watch covered and then having to sneak seperate insurance on this item they have just cancelled his policy, which begs the question if the watch wasn't declared and insured seperately or not all all would this void the main policy.

You are correct, the first question they asked me was "have you already bought the watch?" No option to not have it covered, they obviously think having a high value item makes me a bad risk.

Originally Posted by Skittman

TH March for watch cover standalone.

I use Hiscox for home and watches combined

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I did try T.H.March, they were very nice and professional up to the point of quoting just short of £1000 for 12 months cover for just the watch.

My old Direct-Line insurance insisted on a safe being fitted when I added a TT Sub to their policy. Current research indicates high value insurance look for a safe with at least £4,000 cash/ £40,000 jewellery rating. Do check to make sure the insurance company accepts your intended model before buying. A safe must also be secured as per manufacturers recommendations to be acceptable.

[AshAP]

Originally Posted by Osrus

I did try T.H.March, they were very nice and professional up to the point of quoting just short of £1000 for 12 months cover for just the watch.
.

For what it's worth Im paying Hiscox £960 p.a just for my AP and that's with a £2500 excess. This was less than the policy offered at the AD.


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[Osrus]

My new policy is approx £450 above old policy, three Rolexes (Rolexi?) covered, just £250 excess upto claims of £10,000 then zero. T.H.March also quoted me £960 for just the Sky-D.

[Clasper]

Hi just some more answers to questions

Firstly yes you can have a separate watch policy and Buildings & Contents, you could only ever claim on one of the plans therefore there is no point having your House insurance with the watch listed as a specified item then a separate plan again as you can only claim once and it costs more to cover the watch twice.

Secondly I would say it would nearly always be cheaper just to add the watch to your contents policy, mine as an example has a £250 excess (sorry I would never agree to a £2,500 excess) and it shouldn't add too much to the premium, like I said just shop around, I think mine with three watches value £28,000 maybe costs an extra £300 a year.

You just need to be sensible get an alarm, get a safe, these are one of costs and of course help to protect your other valuables too.

[AshAP]

Hi Clasper, the excess at £2500 was my choice as it significantly reduced the premium, I can't remember the % reduction but it was a lot and for me the purpose of the insurance is to cover me in the event of a disaster rather than an accident if this makes sense. The current replacement cost of the watch is £58,800 so I really just needed it covering against loss or theft.


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[Clasper]

Originally Posted by AshAP

Hi Clasper, the excess at £2500 was my choice as it significantly reduced the premium, I can't remember the % reduction but it was a lot and for me the purpose of the insurance is to cover me in the event of a disaster rather than an accident if this makes sense. The current replacement cost of the watch is £58,800 so I really just needed it covering against loss or theft.


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Ah that's understandable then and fairly reasonable, not your standard SS Royal Oak then, congratulations

[Richmondmike]

20 percent increase in my premium to cover my Datejust in and out of the house in my new policy :(

[daytonayacht]

Try a company called Towergate insurance,I have mine full risk covered on named items on my home contents insurance!

[ryan.uk]

Just rang my contents insurance provider (Halifax) to get a quote for adding my DSSD as a 'specified item', it cost just an additional £22 to add it on (I've got about 8months left to run in this policy schedule).

That's full cover of the paid price of the watch for loss/accidental damage and theft in and out of the home with a £250 excess.

Really happy with that as direct cover just for the watch through 'Assetsure' was quoting me over £300 for the year (twice the cost of my whole home contents insurance including my watch)!

Feels like money well spent on peace of mind - just read through a fellow TRF member (Dee's) thread yesterday where he had his SD4K ripped from his wrist on a London street at Christmas.

In the same situation I'd much rather be able to take a step back and just hand it over, knowing a new one is just a police report and insurance claim away, than have a compulsion to fight for it with a likely very bad ending.

To everyone; I hope the worst never happens and we all enjoy our watches forevermore. But there are some nasty folk out there, and some situations that can never be foretold - a few steps and a few pounds paid now can pay real dividends later.

[Stevec14]

Originally Posted by ryan.uk

Just rang my contents insurance provider (Halifax) to get a quote for adding my DSSD as a 'specified item', it cost just an additional £22 to add it on (I've got about 8months left to run in this policy schedule).

That's full cover of the paid price of the watch for loss/accidental damage and theft in and out of the home with a £250 excess.

Really happy with that as direct cover just for the watch through 'Assetsure' was quoting me over £300 for the year (twice the cost of my whole home contents insurance including my watch)!

Feels like money well spent on peace of mind - just read through a fellow TRF member (Dee's) thread yesterday where he had his SD4K ripped from his wrist on a London street at Christmas.

In the same situation I'd much rather be able to take a step back and just hand it over, knowing a new one is just a police report and insurance claim away, than have a compulsion to fight for it with a likely very bad ending.

To everyone; I hope the worst never happens and we all enjoy our watches forevermore. But there are some nasty folk out there, and some situations that can never be foretold - a few steps and a few pounds paid now can pay real dividends later.

Absolutely agree with this. My cover is the same, and knowing I don't need to worry about a struggle in the great outdoors is good for me (I wouldn't stand a chance anyway).

I too had to purchase a safe etc. But while it was a pain in the backside, actually I feel better knowing my winder and watches are in there and hidden away. That said, mine are not comparable with the 60k AP mentioned before. Think I'd sleep with one eye open.....

[phez]

Originally Posted by Shaky

As I am UK based and starting to think about home insurance and watch insurance either together or separate, has anyone got any advice or recommendations who would be a good starting point.

I see the OP used M&S with a 10k limit on unspecified items.

I use Hiscox, they have upto £15k unspecified items