INSURANCE ON JEWELLERY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 5, 22 August 1911, Page 6

INSURANCE ON JEWELLERY.

Two recent case's in the Old Country have brought the subject of insurance on jewellery into prominence. The first was the case of Lieutenant Cameron and his wife, who wore convicted of endeavouring to defraud an insurance company by insuring a very valuable necklace, and then pretending it had been stolen in tho street. The second was the loss at Covent. Garden Opera House, of a pearl necklace insured for £13,500. There is just a possibility that this latter case may develop into something sensational. An anonymous letter has been received, in which the writer tolls of having soon it fall from tho neck of the owner and -appropriated swiftly by a lady well-known in society, who is said to make a living (or part of it) by introducing Americans into her set. This £13,500 necklace was insured for £6 15s for a week—or one shilling per cent. The premium may cccra low, but .the time was short, the risks were few, and no company insures such an article without feeling certain of the reputation of the insurer. An average rate for insurance on jewels is 10s or 12s Gd a year, but on jewels deposited in hank only Is Gd is paid. Safe as a bank is from robbers, there is always danger of fire. According to a writer in the “Daily Mail,” an ordinary policy will cover all ordinary risks throughout Europe, save in specified countries, which include Spain and Russia. Experience has shown that expert jewel thieves are more numerous or more expert there than in other places, and that more gems -are lost there. There is a higher premium when a voyage is to be taken and when jewels are sent by post. It is impossible to register a packet for more than. £SOO with the Post Office authorities. The assessors employed by “Lloyd’s” to investigate claims are really private detectives, and have to be men of great technical ability, intuition and tact. The following case illustrates the" need for vigilance. A man insured soiiio diamonds, which were to bo sent under tho care of his son to Holland. A few days later a claim for loss was made, and it was explained that tho messenger had been so seasick that in his spasms he jerked the gems from an inner waistcoat pocket into tho sea. The story was investigated, and it was found that the unfortunate young man must have been so fearfully ill that not only did he throw the diamonds over the bulwarks, but, as he was standing on the upper deck, which was • separated from the bulwarks by a space about seven feet wide, lie must also have projected the diamonds across that space. The claim was not paid.