Early in my career I met with a client to review the changes we’d made to her homeowner’s policy. She’d completed a remodeling project so we updated the amount of coverage on her home. She gave me a tour of her home and then we sat down at the dining room table to review the policy changes. There were 4 beautiful paintings hanging on the walls and I asked her if they were originals. With pride, she beamed they were. The value of the paintings was about $32,000.00. We had discussed everything else except the artwork.
Does your homeowner’s policy cover artwork, jewelry, or collectibles? Yes, they all provide some level of coverage on these items. Each insurance company differs in the level or type of protection. There are also limits on the coverage provided which fall into two categories;
- Amount of coverage
- Types of loss
Amount limits: Most companies have a cap on the total amount of coverage paid on jewelry, artwork, or collectibles. This typically falls into one of the following aggregate levels;
- $500
- $1,500
- $2,500
- $5,000
Types of loss:Â Carriers may tie the amount of coverage to a specific peril or loss such as;
- If the jewelry or artwork is lost to a storm or fire then the amount of coverage is one amount ($2,500, $5,000, etc.)
- A lower limit such as $500 kicks in if an item is lost to theft
In the second case, there’s usually no coverage for what’s termed mysterious disappearance (the ring was lost and you don’t know how or where).
Scheduled Coverage: The best way to protect these items is to schedule them. Scheduling means providing a specific amount of coverage on a specific item such as;
- $7,500 on a 1.0 carat diamond solitaire engagement ring
- $10,000 on a painting by a named artist
- $850 on a Sandy Koufax rookie card in pristine condition
- $15,000 on a three quarter length mink coat
There are a number of things that should be scheduled including;
- Jewelry with a value of $2,000 or more
- Original artwork and sculpture
- Oriental rugs with a value of $5,000 or more
- Furs
- Silverware, gold ware, and certain crystal
- Stock securities
- Collections such as stamps, coins, trading cards, comic books, & first editions of noteworthy authors
- Porcelain
- Guns
The most important thing to know is;
- What your policy covers
- On a per piece basis
- On an aggregate basis
- What your policy doesn’t cover (limits on theft or other types of losses)
If you don’t know, talk with your agent or even read your policy. Don’t wait until something happens before you find out. I learned from sitting in my client’s house that day to always ask what each client owns. Want to share a story or a question? You can post one in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
