What is a Personal Articles Policy?

 

If you're a homeowner, chances are very good that you already have a homeowner's insurance policy covering your home and the personal property in your home against loss from things like fire, storms, lightning strikes, vandalism, burglary and more.

Know Your Limits

It's important to understand exactly what your homeowner's policy covers and what limits are established for each of the benefits provided.  You'll have one limit for a loss claim on the structure should it be damaged or destroyed, and another limit for the personal property found in the home.  This second limit is typically set at a certain percentage of the first limit.

There will also be a limit on the liability coverage your policy provides and a special limit on certain valuables such as jewelry, furs, artwork, guns, collectibles, etc.  This special limit on valuables is separate from the limit on your personal property and should be considered if you have any high-dollar valuables in your home because these special limits are typically relatively low.  A limit of $1,500-$2,500 is not uncommon, which obviously won't go far in compensating you for lost, stolen or damaged jewelry, artwork, furs, etc.

Personal Articles Policy Floater

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), there are two ways to boost your insurance coverage for high-dollar valuables:

1. Raise the limit placed on the liability of these items found in your standard coverage.  Doing this, however, will only give you a relatively modest amount of added coverage that will still not cover the full amount of most losses.
2. Buy a floater policy, also called a personal articles policy, to more fully cover losses of high-dollar valuables.  This policy will cover all types of losses, including some not covered by a standard homeowner's policy, such as accidental losses.

Personal Articles Policy Defined

A personal articles policy is advised to cover any of your expensive personal property whose loss would be far above the limit of your standard policy's personal property protection.  While jewelry and guns are the items most typically found covered by this type of policy, you may also want to include:

• Fine Art
• Furs
• Silver/Gold
• Collections such as coins, stamps, baseball cards
• Camera equipment
• Musical instruments

These items are typically covered world-wide and claims usually require no deductible.  Items may be individually listed (or scheduled) or a blanket policy may be taken out to cover all your valuables without individually listing them.