You’ve lost your engagement ring!

Romantics hoping to hear a resounding ‘YES' to their marriage proposal this Valentine's Day might be lucky in love, but one in three men who go down on bended knee might reflect on the fact that their partner is set to lose their engagement ring sometime in the future.

According to new research from Allianz Insurance, 33 per cent of women who are engaged or married have lost their engagement ring.  It found the top five engagement ring mishaps are:

1. Fell off doing  the gardening or washing up
2. The ring was accidentally thrown away in the rubbish
3. Was lost on holiday
4. Went missing whilst exercising
5. The ring fell off whilst shopping

With the average engagement ring now costing £3,083, according to Allianz Insurance's database, replacing a lost or stolen ring can put a substantial dent in any budget.

Of the British women surveyed, 22 per cent said they would have to save up to buy another engagement ring if theirs was lost or stolen and a further one in six said they weren't sure they could afford to replace it.

Mark Bishop, from Allianz Insurance said: "The loss of an engagement ring can be very upsetting and while you can't insure against the sentimental loss, there are ways you can minimise the financial damage. We found that one in three people don't have their engagement rings insured even though it's easy to add a ring to a home insurance contents policy or take out specialist cover when you buy."

There is often considerable anxiety amongst British men around getting the proposal right. To help them Allianz Insurance has asked British women to reveal key trends for  ‘proposers' to reflect on:

1. People are moving away from yellow gold (42% of respondents)
2. More men are proposing without a ring and then choosing one together with their bride to be (37%)
3. The price of engagement rings is rising (36%)
4. Sapphire engagement rings will become more popular due to Kate Middleton's engagement ring (33%)
5. Proposing using engagement rings that are handed down through the family is becoming more popular (26%)

Mark Bishop continues: "With general perceptions being that engagement rings are becoming more expensive and our customer average reaching just over £3,000, we recommend newly engaged couples get their rings properly insured as soon as they are purchased. With 72 per cent of women admitting that they do not know the accurate value of their engagement ring, we suggest having your engagement ring valued at regular intervals to make sure it's insured for its full replacement value."