When we prepare an international property insurance quote for our clients, we need to determine the total value of insurance to provide in each class below:

• Total Value of Regular Property (furniture+clothing+electronics+microwave+socks+toys, etc)
• Total Value of Valuable Articles

There is a tremendous amount of confusion as to what constitutes a "valuable article." Just because an item is expensive does not mean it has to be classified as a valuable article? The slogan above concerning the shopping mall does not apply to jewelry worth over $1,000 per piece which certainly can be bought in a mall or department store.

These items below are lumped in with "regular property" and not considered valuable articles for insurance quote purposes:

1. A $6,000 mountain bike is regular property
2. A $10,000 stereo surround sound system is not a valuable article
3. A $9,000 leather couch and chair is not a valuable article
4. A top-of-the-line computer and laser printer worth $8,500 is not a valuable article

These items ARE valuable articles and in order to be insured for over $1,000 they need to be appraised and "scheduled" to their full value.

1. An antique spoon set with an appraised value of $1,500.
2. A new china and plate collection bought for $8,000 last year that came with an appraised value with the sales receipt.
3. A unique painting with an appraised value of $3,000
4. A diamond ring with an appraised value of $2,200
5. A Rolex watch worth $3,300

As you can see, the value of the regular property IS MORE THAN the value of the valuable articles in this example !

A "valuable article" without an appraised value is not treated as a valuable article and at best, can be insured for up to $1,000 USD if included under the regular property total. In the global property and global liability business, the number on reason for customer complaints stem from valuable articles. A person has a claim, and asks for full value reimbursement for unique items that should have an appraisal. Instead of the $5,000 they may be expecting, they get a check for $1,000 or less because the item was never appraised and "scheduled" with the insurance company. Don't let this happen to you.