How Much Personal Belongings Coverage Does a Typical Home Insurance Policy Offer??

How Much Personal Belongings Coverage Does a Typical Home Insurance Policy Offer?

Take a minute to look around your home. In your mind, consider how much each individual piece of furniture cost you when you bought it. Consider other items such as electronics, art and day-to-day items such as dishes and bowls. Each item may seem inexpensive. In a large incident, however, they might be very expensive to replace. Having enough home insurance is critical. How much should you have in personal property coverage? 

The Standard Home Insurance Policy 

Home insurance typically provides between 20 and 50 percent of the coverage limit to cover personal property. That may seem like a lot, but it may not be depending on the coverage you select. For example, if you have a home with $300,000 worth of coverage for the structure itself, this means you might have less than $150,000 of personal property coverage. That assumes 50 percent or less coverage for personal property. Be sure to check your policy carefully before you assume this is enough. Does that really represent the value of your belongings? 

When It Isn’t Enough 

There are some situations where the amount of personal property coverage at 20 percent is not enough. This coverage usually includes your appliances, your home’s furniture and all electronics. It includes your clothing, your children’s toys and your rugs.  

In other words, depending on how much you own, it may have limitations. You can work with your home insurance provider to increase your coverage here. Doing this is not difficult and you can do it at any time. 

Very Expensive Items Need Special Protection 

If you own items that have a value of $1,000 or more, pay close attention to those items on your home insurance policy. It may limit how much you can claim per item damaged. If the per item claim is over the value of any asset, you may need to add more coverage for that particular item. An add-on or rider is necessary here. Again, your agent can help you do this. It simply adds on specific coverage for high-end valuables you own. 

Are you unsure if you have enough personal belongings coverage? Talk to your agent to find out how much you have right now. Then, work through your home considering the value of each of your items. Determine if you have actual cash value or replacement value, too. This is in your policy. Then, increase your coverage if you need to do so. This can give you peace of mind in case a large incident occurs.