Homeowners Condominium Owners and Renters Insurance – Protecting Your Valuables

Great-Grandma’s heirloom china, the silver you received as a wedding gift, that beautiful watch you saved for and splurged on – when shopping for homeowners insurance quotes, condominium owners or renters insurance insurance quotes, be sure the insurance you purchase will protect your valuables.

So, you bought homeowners insurance, condominium owners insurance, or renters insurance to cover your belongings. Everything you own is protected, right? Not so fast. Homeowners, condominium owners, and renters insurance policies often contain relatively low limits when it comes to coverage for jewelry, silver, artwork and other valuable personal items that are stored in your home. In addition, some policies exclude certain categories of items, including antiques. Therefore, when shopping around for homeowners insurance, condominium owners insurance, or renters insurance, it is important to take your valuables into consideration. You can obtain a “personal articles floater” which specifically insures your individual valuable items for which there may be limited or no coverage otherwise. Yes, you’ll pay a little more now, but you’ll pay a whole lot less later. All it takes is one fire, one burglary, one loss and you’ll be glad you did.

In order to insure your individual valuables, you will want to provide the insurance company with receipts and certificates of appraisal to ensure that the items are insured for the proper amounts. If it has been a while since you have had your valuables appraised, you may want to consider doing that before purchasing insurance. It is a good practice to keep all receipts of valuable items. It is also a good idea to take pictures of all of your items and keep them in a location away from your home, in case of fire. Pictures should be as detailed as possible, showing different angles of the items, as well as any signatures or labels. The more you have to prove what you had, the better off you will be. In the event of a loss, you’ll be glad you took these steps to protect your valuables.