Consider Common Types of Insured Items

Valuable items that warrant insurance coverage can include jewelry and watches, pieces of art, musical instruments, furs, cameras, collectibles, electronics, and any other high-value items.

 

Understand What Coverage You Already Have

Homeowners’ insurance policies generally include insurance for your personal items up to a certain value. This cap usually ranges from $1500 to $5000, meaning that many people may own items with values exceeding that limit. If you have valuables you want to insure, start by looking at your homeowners’ insurance policy. If you rent your home, add additional insurance coverage as rental policies usually have lower caps.

In addition to the amount of coverage, also check the types of loss or damage your policy protects against. Some plans only cover damage from specific types of losses. Further, this may be different for the actual structure of your home and your personal items.

Consider the Value of the Item

When deciding whether you should insure an item, consider both how much it is worth and how that amount fits into your overall financial situation. A good way to determine whether an insurance policy makes sense for a particular item is to consider whether you could comfortably afford to replace it immediately. If you can easily afford to replace something, it’s probably not worth insuring.

When determining the value of your items, have them professionally appraised. Appraisals offer an accurate value that insurers often required to insure the item. This is also a good time to consider whether the item you’re looking to insure will increase or decrease in value over time. Most insurance plans pay out the actual value of the item, but plans that pay the replacement value are available. These are a good option for items that depreciate.

Consider the Likelihood of Damage

Different types of items have different levels of vulnerability to damage. For example, a coin collection stored in your home is unlikely to be lost or damaged. In contrast, an engagement ring is much more susceptible to damage and at greater risk of being lost. Insuring an item that’s especially valuable to you is still a worthwhile decision even if the item is unlikely to be damaged, but less vulnerable items may need less comprehensive coverage.

Understand Your Options for Increasing Valuable Items Insurance Coverage

There are several options for insuring your valuable items. First, you can add a rider to your homeowners’ insurance policy, which increases the coverage limit for a specific category, such as jewelry. The other option within your existing homeowners’ insurance is a floater policy, which covers a specific item. These policies require an appraisal for the item, but also provide very broad coverage that includes misplacing or accidentally damaging the item.
A separate insurance policy on a specific item is also an option. These specialized policies are most commonly available for jewelry. Use this option for items used for business purposes, as homeowners’ and renters’ policies usually exclude them.