Study finds 41% fail to insure one of their biggest life purchases

by Judy Stringer

It’s no secret that an engagement ring can be a serious investment.

A recent survey by jewelry insurer BriteCo found 60% of respondents who purchased engagement rings in the last 10 years spent from $2,500 to upwards of $10,000 with a median price overall of $3,250.

What’s more, buying an engagement ring ranked as the number one biggest purchase outside of a home or vehicle for 38% of respondents, ahead of wedding, honeymoon, medical or college costs.

Two out of every five respondents (or 41%), however, did not get insurance coverage for those rings, saying insurance was too expensive or they didn’t know how to get a policy.

According to BriteCo, confusion between warranties and insurance are partly to blame. Warranties, it said, don’t typically include coverage that only jewelry insurance provides such as protection for loss, theft, damage or what’s known as mysterious disappearance.

Of those who bought jewelry insurance, most (52%) got it through general property and casualty insurers such as Allstate, State Farm and Geico. Though almost as many (48%) chose a specialized jewelry insurance company such as BriteCo, Jeweler’s Mutual and GemShield. ∞