Special Items Need Special Protection

Only our imaginations limit what we will collect. Antiques, jewelry, stamps and figurines make up some of the most common special property an insurance agent sees, and for this type of property there are specific considerations.

The homeowners policy is designed to provide coverage for the average policyholder because not everyone owns expensive paintings or jewelry. The homeowners policy sets limits on certain types of property that fall outside the normal needs of the average policyholder. For instance, property such as jewelry, stamps and precious metals have minimal limits of coverage. These limits can be found in your policy in a section titled "special limits on certain property."

Antiques present a special situation. When you have a loss to personal property, the homeowners policy pays the depreciated value of the damaged item until it is actually replaced. How do you replace an antique with exactly the same item? You can't. Antiques are very unique and require special coverage considerations.

There is an answer for all these coverage concerns. If made aware of the need, we can add a rider to your policy for handling these types of issues. If you were to look down and see that your $5,000 engagement ring is missing, and you have no idea what happened, there would be no coverage under the homeowners policy since it provides coverage for personal property for specific perils, and mysterious disappearance, is not a covered peril. Not only does the scheduled personal property floater provide special limits for your unique property, it also usually provides much broader perils such as mysterious disappearance. The personal property floater provides coverage on a nearly all-risk basis. If you had that ring scheduled on a personal property floater, there would be coverage.