Valuing your possessions for insurance

Having built a life from your hard work and success, you presumably buy insurance to help protect your possessions and the items that matter to you. But effective insurance can’t be taken for granted. You may find that some insurance products are really only designed to cope with the furniture and fittings found in a standard property; others may place restrictive limits on the amount of protection they offer for items like jewellery.

Even with specialist insurance cover, as your life changes so too does the type and amount of cover you need.  While your policy may cover small fluctuations in value, if you make a major purchase or your treasured possessions rise significantly in value, you may consider reviewing your insurance cover to ensure it remains suitable.

The value of collectibles changes over time as the market for them fluctuates. If a painting sells at auction in New York for a record-breaking price, or a well-known wine expert declares a certain vintage to be the best of its kind, prices can rise sharply. These changes can have an impact on insurance protection requirements.

When you buy insurance from Chubb, we’ll send one of our team of risk consultants to review your property and possessions. If they identify items of particular value, or very specialist items, we may ask you to get the items valued professionally.

From rare prints, rare watches or the work of a particular sculptor, we can recommend skilled and independent valuers to assist with reviewing your valuable collections.

The benefits of a professional valuation include:

• Valuers are experts in their fields and will give you an accurate market price for your item.
• Valuers will advise you on how to care for your item and keep it secure.
• Valuers can review the item’s provenance to check all is in order.
• You’ll receive a written report and valuation.
• Chubb will commit to an ‘agreed value’ on your item under the Valuable Articles coverage, which means in the event of a claim, you’ll receive its full value, or even more in certain circumstances.
   

Regular valuations matter because market prices fluctuate, so Chubb recommends you have your items valued regularly. In some cases, such as when valuing expensive items of high-end jewellery for example, this could be done annually. In some cases, valuations will identify that prices have fallen, so you may be able to reduce the amount of insurance you need.

At Chubb, we insure luxury items as part of our Masterpiece Home and Contents policy. Learn more about how our Masterpiece policy can help cover the special pieces you’ve acquired over the years.