If an accident happens, watch insurance with Brookfield

Text: Britta Rossander

Watches in the higher price range are most often not covered in an adequate way when it comes to traditional home insurance but Brookfield Underwriting are specialised in helping customers with expensive watches, both new and vintage, in their collection. 

To for example fall off the bike with the nice watch on the wrist so that the case gets scratched and the crystal smashed, just because you are enjoying looking at the watch instead of at the road, can be devastating without the right insurance cover. But it is a bit tricky to know what applies so I had a chat with Leonard Münz CEO at Brookfield Underwriting to be able to understand a little better what applies.

What is your speciality?
– Insuring valuable property for owners. Whether it is watches, jewellery, art or homes. We are the leading specialist in the Nordics in this area.

What do you get when insuring with you that other companies cannot offer?
– A special insurance in cooperation with the shop so that the customer partly gets help straight away if damage occurs and partly protection at replacement value over time, without deductions or excess.

Is it common that insurance is included at the time of purchase of a watch.
– For the dealers that we cooperate with the answer is yes. If the customer is over 25 years old and lives in Sweden insurance for one month is included free of charge. The customer only needs to ask to make use of the offer.

Why should you insure your expensive watch separately is the home insurance not good enough?
– No, not for this type of watch with high values. Partly the compensation amounts are generally too low and there is a big difference in the quality of the terms between different home insurances as well as in how the compensation is calculated.

What kind of costs are there – is there any example?
– It can differ a lot depending on among other things the value of the watch and the customer’s age. A watch for 80 000 kr can in premium cost anything from 2 000 kr per year and upwards. It is a bit reminiscent of car insurance, to draw a parallel.

How did you ”locate” that there was a need for your type of insurance on the market?
– The need exists internationally so we established that the same ought to apply in Sweden. We looked at the range of insurances on the market and talked to the shops.

How do you view this business of customers’ willingness to insure – is it good or bad
– Good, the interest is big and we see that it is increasing.

Do you wish that the customers were more informed on the subject?
– Yes, for the customer’s sake. When the damage occurs the amount in the home insurance is not enough or else the excess eats up the compensation for example with a scratch in the crystal. Extra sad for a customer who has just bought their new watch or managed to bid in their dream watch at auction.

Is there anything else you think your customers ought to think about when it comes to insurance of watches?
– Most of the time some form of insurance is included for the first month when buying a watch in the higher price ranges. There is a big point in asking the seller what there is and what is included. You should remember to add newly bought items to the insurance and adjust the insured amount when needed. It is for example not unusual that certain steel watches after a while rise a lot in value which many owners who follow the auction prices are well familiar with and then it is a must that the insurance ”keeps up”.

More about Brookfield’s offer for watches you find here. If you want to get to know Brookfield a little better and have the concept of watch insurance explained further then we recommend a listen through of Urbildningsradion’s episode with Brookfield which you find here.