Page 36 - Delaware Medical Journal - January/February 2020
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Consider These Insurance Questions for Holiday Gifts and Summer Vacation Planning Kimberly A. Matthews, CIC, CISR
Now that the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over and all the decorations have been put
gifts you may have received and whether your homeowners policy properly covers everything. You may need to add additional coverage to your insurance policy and
in some cases, it may be necessary to purchase a completely separate policy.
Many unendorsed or “basic” homeowners policies have special limits of coverage
for theft of certain classes of personal property. For example, the industry standard limit for theft of jewelry is $1,500, and theft of silverware may be as much as $2,500. This means that if your diamond ring that is valued at $3,000 is stolen, the maximum you would receive from your claim would be $1,500. Additionally, with an unendorsed homeowners policy, you will not have any coverage for a mysterious disappearance or loss of a jewelry item. In
this case, if you leave your diamond ring on the kitchen counter and it goes missing, but you know it wasn’t stolen, that is considered a “mysterious disappearance.”
There are a few different options that are available to make sure your possessions are covered appropriately:
Increase special limits: In many cases, you can increase the dollar amount of the special limits on your policy. If you decide to do this, typically the increase is done in $500 increments, so you would increase the value accordingly. One thing to consider: when you itemize a valuable pair of earrings, you need to make sure that you have Pair & Set coverage. This will allow you to be paid for the set of earrings when only one is lost.
Purchase “blanket coverage:” Blanket coverage eliminates the need for individual details and values of items to be insured.
amount you estimate would be the value for all valuables; however, there may be
a per-item limit within this coverage.
For example, your total coverage may be $5,000, but there may be a $500 per item limit, which means if you have a $1,000 ring that is stolen, the maximum coverage you have is $500.
Itemize your valuables: Itemizing your valuables will provide you with a detailed possessions. You will have to provide
your insurance carrier with a detailed description and value and, in some cases, can help you with this process. Due to
gold, diamonds, silver, and other precious gems and metals, we recommend that you
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Del Med J | January/February 2020 | Vol. 92 | No. 1
