You might choose to buy watch insurance if you are worried about paying for any repairs that your watch needs if you accidentally damage it, or the cost of replacing it if its lost or stolen.

This blog post aims to provide you with a simple guide to how it works.

Firstly, a quick disclaimer: The Watch Collectors’ Club is not a registered insurance broker. This article should not be seen as advice – it is designed as a simple guide to help you to start thinking about how you might want to insure your watches. Before buying watch insurance, it’s important to speak to a registered insurance broker. You must buy a policy from a firm that is registered with the FCA. This provides you with a variety of consumer protections.

How does watch insurance work?

When you look to buy watch insurance there are some key terms you need to understand:

• Policy holder – the owner of the watches, or the person that will receive any money from a claim

• Coverage – this is what the insurance policy covers. This will typically be a combination of monetary amount, and events that this money should be paid out in (eg, theft)

• Premium – how much the insurance company charges for the policy

• Exclusions – reasons why the insurance company will not pay a claim

• Conditions – things you must do to ensure the coverage will pay out

• Excess – the portion of a claim that you are expected to pay yourself
  Breguet Classique 5157Below we will explain some of these key terms, and what they mean for you.

Coverage and excess

When you buy watch insurance, you will need to choose how much coverage you want. This will depend on which watches you want to be covered by the insurance policy, and the type of insurance policy you have already, or choose to buy. Sometimes, watches are covered under your home insurance. You should speak to your existing home insurer to check whether your watch or watches are covered under your home policy.

If you choose to add watches to your home insurance, the insurers will probably charge you an additional premium to provide cover. Most insurance companies will require you to declare explicitly which watches you have, and how valuable they are.

The premium they charge will be calculated by a few factors, including where you live, how you store the watches (more on that later) and what coverage you need. For example, it will be more expensive to insure a Patek Philippe Nautilus if you live in London, than if you live in the Lake District.

It is vital that you buy enough coverage for the watch, or the watches, that you want covered. You will also need to understand the conditions of the insurance policy, as they could affect how much money you receive if you make a claim.

Conditions and exclusions

A watch insurance policy will contain a variety of conditions that you will need to meet.

One of these is that you will need to declare, and be able to prove, the full replacement cost of what you want covered. If you have a £10,000 watch stolen, but only insure it for £5,000, it is unlikely that you will receive £5,000 in the event of a claim. Because you had under-declared the value by 50%, you’d likely only receive 50% of the coverage (ie, £2,500). It is really important to make sure that you speak to the insurer to ensure that you understand what you are covered for – insurance is complicated and each policy is different.

Large safe with watch winders and drawers for watchesA Large safe with watch winders and drawers for watches. For sale via our partner Secure Safe

Another vital condition to consider is how you store your watch(es). If you have luxury, or multiple watches, then your insurer will probably require you to store your watch(es) in a safe when you are not wearing them.

The safe you store your watch(es) in will need to meet various requirements set out by the insurance company. The first is the insurance rating. This determines what value of items you should put in the safe. If the safe has an insurance valuables rating of £30,000 the insurance company will only cover you for £30,000 of losses if the safe is broken into. 

The same under-insurance example used above also applies here. If you insure £50,000 of watches, but store them in a safe that’s only insurance-rated to £25,000, you are unlikely to receive the full £50,000 from the insurance company.

Our partner, Secure Safe specializes in the security industry and offers comprehensive information about anything you need to know about safe cash/valuables rating. Feel free to contact them for further details. Members of The Watch Collectors’ Club qualify for a 5% discount on all safes from Secure Safe.

Your insurance policy may also have exclusions which will void the policy and lead to a declined claim. This might include travelling abroad with your watch or not having a sales receipt. You may find that you struggle to insure very rare or covetable watches.

Where can you buy watch insurance?

There are lots of companies that offer watch insurance in the UK. Many retailers offer insurance when you buy a watch, but it is always worth shopping around the make sure you buy the most appropriate product for you. A quick google search will deliver lots of websites that you can use to obtain a quote.

Make sure that you buy any insurance product from an FCA registered firm, and ask lots of questions from them so that you understand the coverage that you require. You can find reviews of most firms online, which will give you a good idea of which ones are easy to deal with, and fair in paying claims.

A group of watches arranges on a book shwlf with their straps hanging over the edge, with book spines facing outwards behind themConclusion

As a reminder, our members receive a 5% discount at Secure Safe. You can sign-up to our membership here. As well as a wide-range of useful discounts, membership gives you access to all of our events, a collection review, and buying advice. We are here to help you get the most from your interest in watches.