Over the last 12 months the price of gold has increased by a whopping 47% - in the last month alone by a staggering 12%!*

Even if you remove the volatility of recent times gold has increased a staggering 537% over the last 10 years; far out performing most other assets over the same period.

So what does this mean for you?

Clearly this will have a knock-on effect on the value of your possessions. When was your jewellery last valued? How much are you under-insured?

For specified jewellery, or valuables, insured on an agreed value basis, or with valuations that are getting a little old, it could most likely leave you with a significant short-fall in the event of a loss as your insurer will only pay up to the sum insured as specified on your policy schedule.

Example

A client recently lost a diamond and gold ring valued at £10,000 in 2009. The estimate to replace this item is now £17,500. Had this item been insured on an agreed value basis, and assuming the insurer has not index-linked the jewellery, this client had a short-fall of £7,500.

Another example has seen an item of jewellery valued at £11,000 in 2004 now with an estimated replacement cost of £20,000. And it is not only gold that has been affected. As a commodity, silver has increased by over 50% in the last 12 months and platinum by 25% for the same period.

So what should you do?

You should obtain up-to-date independent professional valuations for jewellery and valuables. We recommend that you do this at least every three years. It will certainly help, if not remove completely, any financial shortfall.

For more information or for a personal quotation please call the team on 0800 093 3011 or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Source: Oak Underwriting