Do You Need More Personal Property Coverage?

Your tenant or homeowner policy is useful when there’s a theft or other loss. But remember, it does limit losses for certain personal property items.

Generally your personal property limit under your homeowner’s policy, known as Coverage C for contents, covers movable property such as televisions, clothing, furniture and other household items.

Coverage C should represent 50% of the insured value of your home: If your home is insured for $250,000, your contents coverage should be $125,000, which is known as a coverage “limit”. You can add extra coverage, or “endorsements”, which vary according to the insurance company.

There are also restrictions to coverage known as “sublimits” that limit the amount your insurance company will pay on specific personal property. Here are some typical sublimits under a homeowner policy:

• $200 for cash, gold, silver, platinum and coins
• $1,500 for securities, deeds, evidences of debt
• $1,500 for theft of jewelry, watches, furs and semiprecious stones
• $2,500 for theft of flatware in silver, gold, platinum and pewter
• $2,500 for theft of firearms
• $2,500 for business property on premises
• $500 for business property off premises
• $1,500 for portable electronic devices in a vehicle
• $1,500 for watercraft and related trailers and equipment
• $1,500 for trailers not used with watercraft

These coverage limits may still be inadequate; with the price of gold increasing, the theft of just one piece of jewelry can seriously erode those limits.

Items or lists of items can be covered by “scheduling” them, or you can purchase a separate policy if, for example, you have a boat that is worth far more than the sublimit.

The cost to schedule items or purchase a stand-alone policy is reasonable. You may find it well worth the extra to protect the items most valuable to you.