Homeowners insurance and renters insurance cover many of your belongings in the case of theft, fire, or other disaster. The only problem is that they don’t cover everything. These insurance policies usually do not cover particularly expensive items such as jewelry, artwork, antiques, or other items with high value. Riders (or add-ons) to your policy can protect these items in case of a mishap.
The first thing you need to do is to check and see how many high-value items of yours are not covered by your homeowners insurance. If you have many items not covered, then you will need a higher-value homeowners policy. This can be expensive, but if these items were to be damaged, you’d see that a policy like this could actually save you money in the long run.
However, if you only have one or two items of particularly high value, then you might only need one or two insurance riders. These will cost you very little in premiums while covering thousands of dollars’ worth of items.
Jewelry is the most common valuable to insure. In fact, homeowners insurance usually covers around $1,000 dollars’ worth of jewelry. However, as you probably know, jewelry can be much more expensive that that. Perhaps you bought an engagement ring
for your fiancée. You happened to have a good chunk of change when you went shopping and, next thing you know, you just dropped $5,000 on a diamond ring. It happens. The good news is that a policy covering that kind of ring will only run you around $20 or less a month!
Adjust this for a more affordable ring, and you can see how little the extra premium could be.
Another type of item you might want to insure is art or antiques. These two are grouped together because these items usually become more valuable as time goes on. This makes insuring their worth difficult, because most policies cover their value at the time of their loss. When insuring these items, make sure you discuss this in detail with your agent and understand the exact parameters of the claims settlement. It is also important to have these items appraised and certified as authentic.
Homeowners insurance may or may not cover your rugs. If you have any expensive oriental rugs, then it is suggested that you get a rider. These rugs can be enormously expensive and take up a lot of the money your house is insured for.
This only covers three common high-value items, but if you have inherited any items like expensive sterling silver utensils, fur coats, or anything else of high value, talk to your agent and find out how much a rider will cost you. One thing it definitely won’t cost you is thousands of dollars’ worth of lost rings and rugs!
At Kamm Insurance Group, we focus on providing you with personal and business insurance for all your needs. To find out more about the services we offer, reach out to us by phone or here on our website.
