Jewellery insurance: A claiming and record keeping guide

By AAMI 28 April 2025

We’ve all heard horror stories of engagement rings disappearing down drains. But what happens next? Would you be able to cover the cost of your engagement ring – or other sentimental pieces if they were lost or stolen?

Sometimes, the things we own mean more to us than their dollar value. That’s why getting cover for them can offer peace of mind.

If you’re interested in insuring your engagement ring, or any other piece of jewellery, AAMI can help you get cover in three ways:

Contents Insurance, for your items at home.
Extra Cover Portable Valuables, an optional cover which gives you coverage on a range of items at home and while you’re out and about.
Accidental Damage at Home, a Home and Contents Insurance optional cover, for unforeseen loss or damage at home.

Get a Home and Contents Insurance quote

Why it’s a good idea to keep an inventory of your contents

A home inventory is another name for a list of the things in your house, along with proof of ownership and their value.

Accurate sum insured

Estimating the total value of everything you own can feel very overwhelming. A home inventory list makes this easier, whether it’s a simple record of your belongings or a more detailed doc with receipts and photos.

It’s important to make sure you’re not underinsured. Underinsurance can creep up on you over time as you add items to your home.

If you’re unsure how to calculate how much insurance you need, AAMI’s Home Contents calculator can help.

Efficient claims process

Having a pre-prepared list of items, along with their value, can make the claims process more efficient.

This can also help identify certain items that may have flexible limits. For more info on limits, refer to the PDS.

How to keep records

Record important details

Keep track of important info for each item by adding these details to your home inventory:

the date you bought it,
where you bought it,
how much it cost, and
how much it would cost to replace the item today.

If you’ve inherited jewellery, or bought an antique piece, you can take it to a jeweller or professional valuer for a valuation certificate. A certificate of valuation will provide a detailed description of the item and how much it’s worth. If it’s a special piece, you’ll want to have it assessed every few years, given the cost of precious metals and stones can change.

Having photos, short videos or 3D scans of unique items can be useful for insurance purposes. Make sure the images are clear and that you’ve recorded any distinct features or markings.

Record high-value items

For particularly valuable items like watches or jewellery, or even something like an old family heirloom (which you might not have any receipts for), getting in touch with a valuer may be helpful.

By getting items of value verified by an expert, you’ll know exactly how much to insure them for. This can make them easier to replace, if necessary. Plus, it’ll be easier for you to know whether you need to specify items on your certificate of insurance.

Keep proof of ownership and value

If you’re claiming an item of jewellery that’s been damaged, lost or stolen, you’ll need to provide your insurer with proof of ownership and value documents when requested.

Allowing us, a repairer or an expert appointed by us, to look at what’s damaged, is usually all that’s needed to prove your loss. Though, sometimes we might ask you to produce recent photographs of your contents or other evidence that proves the extent of the loss you’ve experienced.

For lost, damaged or stolen items that are no longer available for inspection (e.g. because they were stolen or destroyed in a fire), you must validate your claim by giving us details of when and where they were purchased, and proof of ownership and value.

The type of proof we might ask for includes:

proof of purchase (e.g. a sales receipt that has the item description or code, a purchase price, date purchased and where the item was purchased),
a valuation from a qualified professional valuer,
the original operating manual,
the manufacturer’s box,
a certificate of authenticity,
a close-up photograph,
proof of inheritance,
and a full description of the item (e.g. brand, model etc.).

For more valuable items, including jewellery, watches, paintings, pictures, works of art and sculptures, we will ask for more evidence to substantiate your claim than we might for less expensive items. For an individual item over $3,000, we will ask for proof of purchase (e.g. a sales receipt), a valuation from a qualified professional valuer and a close-up photograph of the item at minimum.

For more details, check out the PDS.

What jewellery items do AAMI customers need to specify to be covered at home?

If you have pieces of jewellery valued over $2,000 that you want covered for their full value, you'll need to individually insure them under your AAMI Home and Contents policy. If you decide not to, each item or set will only be insured for a maximum of $2,000 (up to $5,000 in total). That means, that's the most you can be paid out if you ever make a claim for them – even if they’re worth a lot more.

To add items like jewellery to your existing Home and Contents policy, give us a call – we’re more than happy to help. Simply call 13 22 44.

If you’re a new customer, simply get a Home and Contents Insurance quote online and add these specified contents items to your quote. You can also call us on 13 22 44, to ask us to insure your specified contents.

Extra Cover Portable Valuables

Extra Cover Portable Valuables is an optional cover with AAMI Contents Insurance, which provides cover, at and away from the insured address, anywhere in Australia and New Zealand.*

For an extra premium, it provides additional cover for items you're likely to take outside your home, such as, but not limited to, your handbag, jewellery, laptop, and mobile phone. There are two types of Extra Cover Portable Valuables cover. Read the PDS for full details.

Portable Valuables – unspecified items

With this cover, you don’t have to individually list items to be covered. But there are only certain items we cover as an unspecified item, and we'll only pay up to a maximum of $1,000 per item, pair, set or collection.**

Portable Valuables – specified items

Some items, including laptops and mobile phones, need to be individually specified on your policy, as they are not covered as unspecified items. Also, if you want to cover individual items worth more than $1,000 (e.g. an engagement ring) away from home, you’ll need to specify them. If you decide to cover your specified items under AAMI Extra Cover Portable Valuables, they’ll be shown on your Certificate of Insurance along with the amount for which they are insured.

For more details on Extra Cover Portable Valuables cover, check out the PDS.

What happens in the event of accidental loss or damage?

With most home and contents insurance policies, you’re generally not covered if you accidentally damage or lose something around the house. But thanks to AAMI’s Accidental Damage at Home optional cover, you can be! Accidents happen no matter how careful we are. That’s why it could be worth adding this optional cover to your AAMI policy (for an additional premium). Please read the PDS for the full details.

Explore Accidental Damage Cover

Make a claim

*Jewellery and watches are covered for up to 30 consecutive days overseas, but only while being worn by you or while in a secure safe.

** You can choose a sum insured from the options we offer for unspecified items ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The most we will pay for all extra cover unspecified items in total is the sum insured shown on your certificate of insurance.

Insurance is issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 AFSL 230859 (AAI) trading as AAMI. Any advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it. Please read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision regarding this product. Go to aami.com.au for a copy. The Target Market Determination is also available.

The information is intended to be of general nature only. Subject to any rights you may have under any law (including the Australian Consumer Law), we do not accept any legal responsibility for any loss or damage, including loss of business or profits or any other indirect loss, incurred as a result of reliance upon the information. Please make your own enquiries.