Personal Property, Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth?
Did you know that most standard home insurance polices have limits of theft coverage for high end items like jewelry, guns, china or cash? The start of a new year seems to be a time when people take stock of their lives. It is also a great opportunity to take inventory of your valuable objects. Whether it’s a new piece of jewelry you received for Christmas or Valentine’s Day, or a family heirloom you’ve had for a while, now is the perfect time to update your home inventory.
Most standard policies limit coverage to:
- $200 on money, bullion, gold, silver and platinum
- $1,000 on unscheduled jewelry and furs
- $500 on credit card forgery
- $2,500 on unscheduled silverware, gold ware and pewter ware
- $2,000 on firearms
If you have had, or received any of these items this holiday season and want to have full replacement coverage on them, schedule the items on your homeowners’ policy. To schedule an item, have an appraisal done stating the replacement cost and the date the appraisal was completed. You’ll want to make sure that your appraisals stay current; most insurance companies suggest getting updated appraisals at least every 3-5 years. This is important especially for jewelry since the price of gold can fluctuate from year to year.
Once you add this separate coverage, you will have full coverage up to the amount of the appraisal, generally with no deductible. Scheduling an item also means that your item will be covered if it is lost, not just if it is stolen. This type of loss is generally not covered on an unendorsed policy.
If you have any of these items, make sure you inform your representative so that there is appropriate coverage added to your policy.