If it’s in your house or on your property, you’re responsible for it.
That means that you might need to be sure that things you don’t actually own are covered by your homeowners’ insurance. Obvious? Not as much as you might think. While the process of taking inventory is about documenting what you own, figuring out what to insure is different. Home as storage unitThese days, many American households include a mix of generations and that means a mix of possessions. You don’t own your son’s collectible guitar or your cousin’s boat, so those items would not be included in your household inventory. But if you regularly help others out by letting them live with you or by storing their things, you’ll need to sort out what your policy covers and what might need to be covered by the owners of things you are storing or borrowing. Owners may need a tenants policy. Often-overlooked items that might be in your home but that you don’t own include:
Value in the heart, not on the spreadsheetMeanwhile, sort your possessions into three categories: things that probably require additional insurance; things that definitely are not worth insuring and things that are probably worth adding insurance protection. This will streamline your conversation with your agent. Your spreadsheet may look something like this: Probably worth insuring:
When in doubt, hire a licensed appraiser to review your collections. While it’s tempting to simply use online auction sites as a gauge of value, such services won’t give you a defensible estimate of value. Your home is full of things and memories. Realizing the difference lets you concentrate your insurance investment on the things that matter most.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
SPI Reflections BlogOur blog is about educating our customers and the public about important insurance information that we feel is meaningful. Categories
All
Archives
November 2019
|