Guides

Insuring your valuables

What counts as a valuable?

The definition of a valuable varies across insurance providers. In general, household items or white goods that you would typically expect to find in any home would not be considered a valuable. However, if you own items that would leave you significantly out of pocket if they were lost or stolen, it would be worth considering cover for your valuables.

Home Insurance from John Lewis Finance defines the following as 'valuables':

Jewellery (including costume jewellery)

Paintings and other works of art

Coins and medals

Cameras (including video cameras, camcorders and digital cameras)

Binoculars

Watches

Articles of or containing gold, silver or other precious metals

Collections (including stamps)

Furs

Policy limits and single item limits apply.

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The information we need to know

When taking out insurance on your valuables, the information we need depends on the level of cover that's right for you. For our Specialist Insurance, it will help to have the following:

Professional valuations or original purchase receipts for individual items of art and antiques valued at £25,000 or more.

Professional valuations for jewellery and watches valued at £10,000 or more.

Our other cover levels require a valuation or original purchase receipt (less than 5 years old) for any specified items valued at £5,000 or more.

If you do need to make a claim, it’ll speed things up if you can provide a full inventory of anything that has been lost, stolen or damaged. Providing photographs also helps us process your claim as quickly as possible.

Cover levels

  Essential Plus Premier Specialist
Contents £50,000 £75,000 Unlimited Bespoke
Accidental damage Optional Standard Cover Full Cover Full Cover
Alternative accommodation £10,000 £15,000 Unlimited Unlimited up to 5 years
Personal possessions* Optional Optional £2,500
(option to increase)		 Contents sum insured
Matching sets cover** None £10,000 Unlimited Unlimited for Art/antiques jewellery and watches.
50% for all other contents
Pedal cycles cover Optional Optional £5,000 £5,000
Garden cover Optional Optional £5,000 £25,000
Legal cover Optional Optional £100,000 Optional
Valuables single article limit (unspecified items) £3,000 £3,000 £3,000 £10,000
Replacement cost of total valuables £10,000 £20,000 £40,000 Bespoke

 

*Policy limits apply, including single item and total valuables limits.

**If one item of the living room suite, for example, is damaged and cannot be repaired or replaced we could replace the whole set.

If you’re unsure whether something counts as a valuable, give us a call on 0330 102 2742 (or 0800 916 6880 for Specialist cover) and we’ll be happy to help. Remember, it won’t affect your cover if you let us know about something that doesn’t need to be listed, so it’s always worth checking.

Things to consider

Understanding the value of your possessions

If you own expensive items, we’ll need accurate information on exactly how much these are worth. This way, we can provide you with the right compensation if you need to make a claim.

Whether you collect jewellery, watches or works of art, you’re probably aware that the value of these items fluctuates constantly depending on trends and the appetites of buyers. Many collectors recommend you have your most expensive items valued every 3 to 5 years.

To save you time and money, we’ve arranged preferential fees with leading independent firms of specialist valuers and fine art consultants.

Are my valuables covered outside the home?

Many wear expensive jewellery on special occasions. Others may take an expensive camera to a music festival in the summer.

With our specialist cover, you can have comple piece of mind with your personal possessions covered anywhere in the world.

If you have children who are heading to university, we can cover their valuables up to £15,000.

Keeping your policy up to date

Remember to update us about any new purchases or additions to your home that could increase the overall value of your contents.

While it may not seem especially festive, keeping an eye on the value of your possessions is especially important around birthdays, Christmas, or if you’re getting engaged. You might also want to keep this in mind if you inherit any valuable items, such as jewellery.

 

Insuring your art or antiques

If you’re an art enthusiast, we can provide you with extra cover for your favourite pieces.

If you take out a specialist home insurance policy, we will pay the cost of restoring partially lost or damaged antiques or items of art, together with any residual depreciation in value.

Is there a single article limit?

When it comes to home insurance, almost all policies include a single article limit, which is the maximum amount you can claim on a particular item.

If you require cover for an item above this limit, you may be asked to specify the item individually.

Want to know more?

If you would like any more information or want to double check whether you need to list an item as a valuable, give us a call on 0330 102 2742 (or 0800 916 6880 for Specialist cover).

John Lewis Finance and John Lewis Insurance are trading names of John Lewis plc. Registered office address is: 171, Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5NN. Registered in England and Wales No. 233462.

John Lewis plc is an appointed representative of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc. John Lewis Home Insurance is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc (No. 93792). Registered in England and Wales at St. Mark's Court, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1XL. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register No. 202323). Calls may be recorded and monitored.

John Lewis plc is an appointed representative of Covea Insurance plc. Its Financial Services Register No. is 416011. John Lewis Specialist Home Insurance is underwritten by Covea Insurance plc. The Covea Insurance Registered office address is: Norman Place, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8DA. Registered in England and Wales No 613259. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Its Financial Services Register No. is 202277.

Copyright © John Lewis Partnership
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