Rolex and Patek Philippe owners watch for underinsurance

Some luxury watches have more than tripled in price – even for second-hand watches – meaning that many clients are at risk in the event of a loss of a huge gap between the insured value and the replacement cost. This is called Underinsurance.

The economy has been hit hard but you may find your luxury watch has likely increased in value. The period of lockdown caused the temporary closure of many watch production sites*, which means it is very likely we will be seeing a price increase due to long waiting lists for these desired watches.

Not only this, it’s likely luxury brands and retailers will increase their prices as an attempt to make back their losses. This may mean you face underinsurance if you do not have a new valuation.

Some of the top names in the luxury watch sector, to name just a few, include Rolex, Patek Phillipe and Audemars Piguet. Rolex is one of the most prevalent luxury watch brands and they certainly hold their value, which make them a great investment. Not only will prices increase due to the pandemic, but Rolex increased their prices in 2022 by an average of 3.7%. The price rise of 3.7% is not uniform across all models, with steel sports models having the most significant increase of up to 11% while the precious metal models only seeing relatively smaller price increase of around 2.5%

Rolex Price increase 2022 analysis – Watchnerd.com | Discover your perfect watch

Patek Philippe 2022 Price Increase – Watchnerd.com | Discover your perfect watch

Audemars Piguet 2021 Price Increase – Watchnerd.com | Discover your perfect watch

Whether you have an extensive watch collection made up of a variety of brands, or you have a single watch that might be a family heirloom, you should always make sure your watches are insured to the correct value to avoid disappointment in the event of a claim. In order to ensure you are correctly insuring your valuables, a valuation is paramount. We recommend that your watches are valued at least every three years to avoid underinsurance.

Visit our specialist home insurance website

If you bought and insured a watch several years ago and have not had it revalued, in the event of a claim you may not be able to replace the watch with the same make and model and you may find yourself out of pocket.

Most of our high net worth specialist insurers offer Extended Replacement Cover on items of jewellery that are supported by a valuation from within the last three years. This means that you will automatically benefit from an uplift on the sum insured ranging from 25% to 50%, depending on the insurer. For example, if your Rolex was valued at £8,000 in 2018, but following a theft claim, you find that it will cost £16,000 to replace, your insurer will cover the difference at no additional cost to you.

But if you are covered with by a standard household policy then in the event of a loss, you will find yourself with one of the following problems (or all):

• Underinsured - insurers offering a fraction of the replacement cost
• No cover - due to single article limits now bring exceeded

Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact one of our team.

matthew.collins@ascendbroking.co.uk  | Office: 01245 449060