photo of a diamond ring for an insurance blog about extra protection for your valuablesYou may have heard about insurance riders and endorsements, umbrella insurance and excess insurance and wondered if you need them. These are all similar concepts that provide extra protection beyond your regular homeowners insurance policy, either in terms of broader coverage or increased amounts.

If you have valuables worth more than the maximum coverage allowed in your homeowners or renters insurance policy, extra protection is definitely something you should talk about with your agent.

Protection for High-Value Items

Your homeowners or renters insurance includes coverage for your belongings, such as clothes, furniture and appliances. However, there are limits in terms of coverage amounts and types of loss.

For example, say you have an expensive diamond ring that’s a family heirloom. Your $100,000 personal property coverage limit may only allow a maximum of $1,500 for jewelry coverage.  If that’s not enough, you’ll want to add a rider to your policy with extra coverage for the ring.

For the same ring, you may also want to expand coverage for different types of loss. A regular homeowners policy may cover theft of the ring, but it won’t cover the replacement cost if you lose it. That requires additional coverage.

Items to Consider

Beyond expensive jewelry, talk to your insurance advisor about any luxury items with a value that exceeds the amount of your homeowners coverage. This includes artwork, antiques and heirlooms, high-end home theater and stereo equipment, collectibles, fine wines, etc.

If you aren’t sure about your coverage limits, the types of scenarios you are covered for, or what items should have additional coverage, we can walk you through your policy and make recommendations.

This is another reason we recommend an annual insurance review; many people acquire items over the course of the year that they may not think to add to their policy. An annual review will help us spot any gaps in your coverage and allow us to customize solutions based on your specific needs.

Give us a call if you have any questions or if you’d like to schedule an insurance review.