Coulter Hurst & Co - Insurance & Risk Management

The rising price of Gold could affect a claim

The news has been gloomy on the stock-markets in recent weeks, but a few areas for investment have seen incredible increases; including gold which has increased from 1,245$/oz to 1,831$/oz in the last twelve months – that's a whopping 47% increase.

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 own possessions. When was your jewellery last valued? Are you under-insured?
If you have specified jewellery, or valuables, insured on an agreed value basis, or with a valuation that is getting a little old, it could leave you with a significant short-fall in the event of a loss as most underwriters will only pay up to the sum insured as specified on the policy schedule.

However some insurance companies will give the financial benefit of an uplift to 150% of the original sum insured if you have an independent professional valuation which is less than 3 years old at the time of the loss. It is worth noting that given the price movements in the current gold and bullion markets that even with this benefit there could still be a potential short-fall at today's prices.

So what should you be doing?

If you think that your assets may be undervalued please contact us and we can arrange revaluation of your jewellery and valuables. Although there will be a cost involved this is small compared to the loss if you have to make a claim. In general valuables should be revalued every 3 years.

For further information please contact Lisa Roberts on 0151 280 3522