At first glance, it appears your homeowners’ insurance policy has a lot of personal property coverage. Not all of your personal belongings are covered in the same way. We recommend reviewing your homeowners’ insurance policy and all of its coverage. Personal property coverage for homeowners insurance is typically a set percentage of the dwelling coverage. Most homeowner’s insurance policies offer worldwide coverage for your personal belongings.  There are special limits for personal property; these are set limits for certain types of belongings. Most standard homeowners insurance policies offer either replacement cost, or actual cash value. Depending on your insurance carrier and policy, you can elect to broaden the coverage to your personal belongings.

When was the last time you took an inventory of your personal belongings? It is surprisingly easier than you’d imagine. Start by recording a video on your smartphone. Walking through every room, closet, drawer and cupboard, and narrate the video and talk about the contents of your home. After you have taken the video, save it electronically to the cloud. In the event of a claim, having an inventory of all of your personal belongings will help with the claim process.

Not all personal property is covered the same way. Some items have special limits that are separate from your personal property aggregate limit. That means in the event of a loss, the insurance policy has a set maximum payout, which is separate from your personal property limit. Most of these items can be specifically listed on your homeowners’ insurance policy for an additional premium, as scheduled personal property. Some of the items with special limits are, but not limited to, money, debit and credit cards and checks. Jewelry, watches, furs, precious stones, silverware (including all serving ware) and rugs all have separate limits.

How is your personal property covered? There are a few different variations on how personal property is covered. It is important to review this with your insurance agent. We are only going to cover two major differences in personal property coverage, actual cash value and replacement cost.  Replacement cost offers full replacement to your personal belongs, that are not subject to special limits, with no deduction of depreciation. Actual cash value takes what you paid for the item minus depreciation. In the event of a loss, your actual cash value policy will leave you on the hook for depreciation if you are replacing damaged items with new ones.  A replacement cost policy typically is more expensive but offers more coverage in the event of a claim.

When was the last time you reviewed your homeowners’ insurance coverage with your agent? Reach out to us today for a review of your insurance portfolio.  We would love to help you decide what options fit you best, and to make sure you are properly covered.