We just got back from 10 days in Mexico. It was fabulous except that on our second-last day, my wedding and engagement rings were stolen from our room (I know, I should have had them in the safe, but our safe was broken and getting it repaired seemed like a hassle and I’m trusting). Now our insurance company is saying that we have max coverage of $5000 on jewellery, which won’t cover the engagement ring, never mind it and the wedding ring plus the silver Tiffany ring that was also taken. Anybody have any advice or suggestions for negotiating with the insurance company, or the hotel (they basically shrugged and said that they weren’t responsible for anything not in the safe), or anything else? I’m so mad - I actually went back to the room that morning because I’d forgotten to tip the cleaning lady, and she was there so I said hi and gave her some money, and obviously I don’t know it was her but....I mean, it was probably her - I kept the rings hidden in the same pocket of my carry-on every day, so it would have been pretty easy to poke around. Sigh.
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In my experience with both out of country hotels and insurance companies you might be out of luck
but hopefully someone else has advice? And I’m very sorry :(. You don’t have a separate jewelry rider on your homeowners?
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@gotkimchi: Ugh, our old insurance company was fabulous - I once lost a diamond earring in the lake and they were like “no problem, go buy a new pair and we’ll pay the store directly”, and when we switched companies my husband swears that he specifically discussed my rings and was assured they’d be covered, but now they say not.
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@erinbaderin: pull out any paperwork or correspondence you have and check yourself. Or call and see if you get a different rep. Some are great and some are not
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@erinbaderin: ugh. That’s not a fun way to end a vacation...I know we have my rings on a separate rider for insurance.
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Can you escalate to higher management and threaten to write negative reviews, engage a lawyer, etc.? I’d make a huge deal about the safe being broken and thus your not having a safe alternative.
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@tinyperson: Yes, we did too with the last company, and my husband specifically mentioned my rings when we switched and was assured they were covered - we’re going to call again.
@Shantuck: I wrote an email to the manager of the hotel today so I’m hoping for a response soon - we were just dealing with “manager on duty” level people.
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@erinbaderin: The tough part is that technically, your rings are covered, they just aren’t covered up to their full value
So what the insurance rep told him when he bought the policy wasn’t exactly wrong, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Like others, we specifically have a rider on our homeowner’s Insurance for my rings because the jewelry coverage on the main policy was limited. I hope the hotel makes it right! Obviously no one else has access to your room except their staff.
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We also had a rider on our renters insurance when I lost my engagement ring which paid us the value of the ring (which was only $2k so maybe it was also limited). Definitely check your policy including the fine print. Did you contact an adjuster in claims or did you contact your insurance rep/broker/person who sold you the policy? After you review your policy, contact the claims person and CC the person who sold you the policy and site the convo where they said it was covered.
I agree about following up with the hotel. If they didn't fix the safe/made it seem like it would be a hassle, they should be responsible for the loss. They should have moved you to another room with a working safe or fixed it without it being a hassle.
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Oh, and for future reference - my mom always had a "travel" ring and I have the same for trips to places that might not be a great place to leave jewelry and where I'm not going to wear my ring all the time, like the beach/scuba diving, etc. Probably a good idea for the future, but obviously doesn't fix the situation.
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@erinbaderin: If this is a hotel that is part of a chain at all then please escalate it to the parent company. There should be a customer care number that will get you someone not at the actual property.
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I'm so sorry you are going through this. My father in law had his $25K rolex watch lifted from his golf bag at an extremely high end golf course. It was covered for purchase price...not replacement value. Since he has had the watch for more than 20 years it did not come close to covering the current replacement value.
With regards to the hotel - I'd encourage you to reach out and ask to speak with an appropriate level of individual. I always try to express that there is hope to save my opinion as a consumer, this tends to make them want to do more than if you come off as "I've already written you off". Not that I think they will do anything for you but if it is a chain perhaps you can get something from them to help compensate.
As for the insurance company, I'd read your policy and confirm everything they are telling you. And make sure to speak with more than one person...sometimes people make mistakes.
I hope you find some loophole to help you recover the cost.
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Are you able you tweet or Facebook the hotel? Sometimes public scrutiny can really help.
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I’d say the best you can do is to reach out escalate the issue with the hotel’s parent company.
Homeowner insurance policies cap pay outs on jewelry and other things too. You will need a separate policy rider for jewelry and typically a current appraisal to go along with the application.
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@newlypregnantlady: Agreed. I'd write reviews on facebook, tripadvisor, etc. if they don't do anything to make it right. They may come back and agree to cover some of the cost in order to get you to take those down.
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@erinbaderin: when did you switch insurance carriers? I wonder if you had a jewelry rider that may have expired due to not having an up to date appraisal on file.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: No, we switched about 5 years ago, my husband declined the rider because he was told we had adequate coverage without it which turns out not to be true.
The possible good news is that apparently our insurance company works with a wholesaler or something who charges them substantially less than retail prices, so it may not be as expensive as I’d feared. Fingers crossed.
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@erinbaderin: Just want to say sorry, that really sucks. I lost my engagement ring somehow within my apt a couple of years ago (posted here about it!) and it still makes me ill to think about it. I replaced it with an exact replica so that helps. But when I think about it not being THE ring it still makes me sad.
but hopefully someone else has advice? And I’m very sorry :(. You don’t have a separate jewelry rider on your homeowners?
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