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Smaller jewelry business insurance

Jewelry Discussion
#1

Hello all –

I’m in the process of opening my first shop and I’m learning about
all kinds of wondrous things I never anticipated. Like insurance. It
seems that I need not only a safe but also a surveillance camera
company in order for anyone to even quote me insurance. I work
mostly in silver and semi-precious stones and my store will be quite
modest. I feel like they’re trying to sell me a vault when what I
need is a lockbox. Does anyone know of any insurance brokers that
specialize in smaller jewelry endeavors?

Thanks very much!
Hilary Park

#2

We had a burglary/break in at our store last fall. Our practice had
been to put the gold and diamonds in the safe at night and we would
leave the silverout in the locked display cases. Even though the
perpetrator only got silver, it was still a several thousand dollar
loss including the damage to our front door and several smashed
display cases. We had no problem recovering front door and several
smashed display cases. We had no problem recovering from the loss
because we have good insurance that is very reasonably priced. We
are insured by Federated Insurance. Other than the hassle of cleaning
up and repairing the damage, we were open for business the following
day and had a check from Federated one day later. We have a good
security system, but the crime took place in less than 3 minutes, and
the police got there in 12 minutes, a little after the fact. The
perpetrator was caught on our video cameras and that is how he
eventually was identified and caught by the police. All in all a
very good investment. I would not open a store in today’s environment
without the security system, the video cameras or the insurance.

#3

Hilary - I am a very small business. I do not have a shop but work
in a studio in my home fulltime and do artshows and supply some
galleries. I use Jewelers Mutual Insurance. Talk to Pam Reninhold:
phone: #920 426 5202.I have from them a “Craftsmen” policy which is
not the normal. I donot have a store and I have to have a 'real’
safe ~ yes, it is vault like. I have to have a professional security
system that is approved by them in my home. I did just recently
build my house so I did plan on this and all of my studio and
materials are in one room with one door to it which really helps with
security. Owning a store??? That would probably mean even more than
what I have. Jewelers Mutual is very helpful though with this process
but you will probably need all the things that you have already been
told you need. Amazing I know… Good luck and Congrats on a new
store front!!! I have storefront envy… :slight_smile:

joy

#4

Hi Hilary,

Does anyone know of any insurance brokers that specialize in
smaller jewelry endeavors?

Call Jewelers Mutual, they specialize in jewelers and understand
what you need. They will want to know what you coverage level will
be, meaning what the value of your inventory, equipment, customers
merchandise, etc, will be (some of that will be estimations when you
start out). They will then tell you what level of security system
and safe rating you need in order to get coverage. They make it
pretty easy.

If you call them and ask for a recommendation for an agent, they
will recommend an agency that they own. Those agents are very
familiar with insuring all sorts of jewelers.

Good luck and congratulations!
Mark

#5

Hi Hilary I went through the same thing a year ago opening my
gallery. I purchased mine through ACC The company they use however is
Hartford. Their prices were much better than anyone else I checked
with and no security camera required This may have to do with where I
am they rat eyour area for risk and I was on the low end of risk
factor. You can purchase a safe at Lowes or home depot for around
400.00 for a 4 foot safe that can be bolted to the wall.

good luck
Dave Owen

#6

I wonder if it would be worthwhile having some fake jewelry in trays
that are put out every night. I doubt the thieves are jewelry-wise -
it is likely that they believe that whatever they find in a jewelry
store must be precious. The doesn’t mean I wouldn’t also instal the
best anti-theft system I could afford. But I’d love to be a fly on
the wall when they discovered what they stole was plastic.

#7

thanks so much – i’ll check into hartford. i’m ok with the safe,
actually want one, just don’t want the $3000 set up fee for the
surveillance service. i am in new york, so good shot they will
require more, but definitely worth a shot!

#8

yeesh! well i’m glad it worked out for you. that’s somewhat
comforting. i’ll check in with federated along with all the great
recommendations i’ve gotten. it’s so nice to have more than one
option. whatever i decide, i will definitely feel more secure
knowing that i’ve at least done my work. out of curiousity, where are
you located? i’m taking some comfort from the fact that i’m on not
just a residential street but also a residential building. that being
said, 3 minutes is quicker than most people would be able to rile
themselves out of bed even if they were so inspired.

#9 
I wonder if it would be worthwhile having some fake jewelry in
trays that are put out every night. I doubt the thieves are
jewelry-wise - it is likely that they believe that whatever they
find in a jewelry store must be precious. The doesn't mean I
wouldn't also instal the best anti-theft system I could afford. But
I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they discovered what they
stole was plastic."

While a fun idea, this can backfire.

The second part of our burglary story:

We could see from the security video that our thief got angry
because he had a very hard time smashing the laminated glass on our
cases whiich held the silver jewelry. While the police were viewing
our videos with us, we were all giggling a little about how upset
the thief was going to be when he found out the silver jewelry could
not be pawned or traded for drugs. Then it dawned on us that he
might very well double back and try again, and in anger, do even
more damage to our store. The police told us that this is not
unusual to have them come back.

BTW, we have laminated glass on all of our windows and display
cases.

We then hired a security guard to watch the store during the next
several nights. Fortunately, this is an included benefit from our
insurance company.

#10

No it is not unusual for a thief to return to the scene of the crime
– usually they give just enough time for you to have replaced all
the items with the insurance money. Most thieves do not handle
weapons since they know this would increase their prison terms if
caught. It’s a “sneaky and in the dead of night” crime - unless it is
by druggies and then anything goes and there are no rules you can
depend on. In addition to the best video equipment you can buy, the
addition of an English Mastiff or Tibetan Mastiff male dog could be a
deterrent. They usually weight about 200 pounds or more and one woof
of intimidation can put the average person on the run. but you must
be ready to be a big dog owner. Anything can backfire – for instance
the thief could sue you and win if the dog bites. The courts seem
more with the thieves than with the victims of crime.