Insuring and Protecting High Value Personal Property

At times, you might decide to invest in expensive purchases. As you add more expensive items to your personal property, you will see your asset value increase.

Adding items like furs, art and jewelry to your property means you also increase your loss risks. For example, the loss of a high-value item may mean that you face thousands of dollars in lost property. Even if one item gets lost or destroyed, your financial losses could skyrocket. You therefore need to protect your high-value personal property.

How Homeowners Insurance Can Protect High-Value Items

Most standard homeowners insurance policies come with personal property protection coverage. When you enroll in coverage, you can usually set a limit on how much personal property coverage you want. If personal property damage occurs, you make a claim on the homeowners policy. Your insurance will review your claim. They then may issue payment (up to the policy limits) to help you repair or replace damaged items.

Limits to Personal Property Coverage

Remember, homeowners coverage usually has limits. This means you may not be able to get full coverage for all of your personal property.

In this case, you may have to invest in high coverage limits in order to protect your expensive items. But, don’t just stop there. Some homeowners policies place limits on how much coverage they will provide per item. For example, if you have a $10,000 piece of jewelry, you may only be able to receive $1,000 in payment for damage to this item. You could face $9,000 in excess costs if this is how your home insurance functions.

Adjusting Homeowners Insurance for High Value Items

If your homeowners policy places limits on your high value coverage, don’t panic yet. There are often ways you can augment your coverage to better account for these items.

Talk to your insurance agent about adding a high-value item rider to your policy. These riders can often cover the specific value of the item or items you wish to insure. They may also cover you for more perils than just those covered by your standard policy. To qualify for a rider, you may have to have your item appraised. Always talk to your agent about the appropriate way to insure expensive items.

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