Personal Property Coverage & How to Take Inventory of Your Belongings
It’s likely that some of your personal property, or contents, can be damaged as part of a Homeowner claim.
Personal property is defined as movable property, belongings exclusive of land and buildings.
If water leaks through the ceiling, a fire breaks out on the stove or someone breaks in a steals your personal items, how will the insurance company know what you had and how to reimburse you?
Personal Property Coverage is part of your Homeowner, Condo or Renters Insurance policy. It provides reimbursement if your contents are stolen or damaged as part of a covered loss.
What is considered Personal Property?
A good rule of thumb we use is to imagine if you were to flip your house upside down. Anything that would fall out is considered your personal property.
It’s important to review your Coverage C-Personal Property limit to ensure that the amount listed on the policy is enough to replace all of your belongings in the event of a total loss, from dinner plates to bedroom furniture to appliances. When doing a rough calculation of this number, don’t forget to include items in the shed, garage, basement and attic!
Insurance carriers generally do NOT require an itemized list of all of the property that you own in order to be reimbursed at the time of a loss. That would be excessive and virtually impossible to keep current and accurate.
We recommend that you annually walk through your home and take pictures of each room. Include in these photos any items of significant value.
This will help alleviate aggravation if you ever have a claim. It will make it easier on you and the insurance adjuster when calculating the value of the items that were stolen or damaged.
You have a policy deductible that is your responsibility any time you report a claim to an insurance company. This deductible applies when making a claim for your belongings as well.
Please call our office with any questions you have regarding your personal items and additional suggestions on how to take inventory of your belongings.
781-826-5161 or Info@insurewithRichardson.com