What is Valuable Items Insurance?
Most homeowners (and renters) insurance policies come with personal property coverage, but these policies might not offer enough coverage to fully protect valuable possessions. Massachusetts residents who need more coverage for possessions than their homeowners policy affords may want valuable items insurance.
Valuable items insurance is a specialized form of personal property coverage, and it’s designed specifically to help insure certain valuable possessions. In most cases, this type of policy is bought along with a homeowners or similar policy.
What Massachusetts Residents Need Valuable Articles Insurance?
Anyone who has valuable or expensive possessions may want a valuable articles insurance policy. Whether coverage is needed depends on the type of possessions owned, the value of those possessions and the terms of a homeowners policy.
A Massachusetts insurance agent who specializes in this type of coverage can help determine whether valuable articles insurance is appropriate in a given situation.
Are Valuable Possessions Covered by Homeowners Insurance?
Homeowners insurance policies usually include coverage for possessions through their personal property coverage. There usually are limits to how well possessions are protected by this coverage, however, and some policies may provide very limited coverage for certain possessions. In particular, high-value possessions may have low coverage limits.
(The same is often true of renters, condo and other types of specialized homeowners policies.)
What Sorts of Possessions Can Be Covered by Valuable Articles Insurance?
A wide range of valuable possessions can be insured through valuable articles insurance. Depending on a policy’s particular terms, the insurance might help protect possessions like the following:
- Jewelry
- Artwork
- Collectibles
- Antiques
- Silverware
- Firearms
- Furs
In some cases, people may also use this type of insurance to protect equipment for a specific hobby. High-end photography equipment, for example, might fall within a policy’s coverage possibilities.
Does Valuable Items Coverage Protect One Possession or Multiple Possessions?
Valuable items coverage may be used to insure a single expensive possession or multiple possessions, depending on the particular language within a policy. When it’s used to protect multiple items, those items might be all part of a single collection or they might be unrelated items.
What Type of Coverage Do Valuable Items Policies Provide?
Most valuable items policies provide one of three kinds of coverage:
- Actual Cash Value Coverage, which usually covers up to a possession’s fair-market value
- Replacement Cost Coverage, which usually covers up to the cost of replacing a possession
- Agreed Value Coverage, which usually covers up to a predetermined amount
For actual cash value and replacement cost coverages, the actual amount of coverage is typically determined when a claim is filed. Replacement cost coverage frequently works out to be a higher amount than actual cash value.
Since agreed value’s coverage is set when a policy is purchased, coverage doesn't have to be calculated when a claim is filed against this type of policy. Agreed value coverage can be preferable when determining a possession’s value is difficult or if the coverage needed isn’t in line with an item’s value.
How Much Are Premiums for Valuable Items Coverage?
Since valuable items policies generally insure a limited number of possessions, premiums for these policies are often quite affordable. They’re almost certainly more affordable than what replacing an expensive possession could cost.
An independent insurance agent can help residents find out exactly how much insuring their valuable possessions would be.
How Can Residents of Massachusetts Get Valuable Items Insurance?
If you need help insuring a valuable possession, contact the independent insurance agents at Roger Keith & Sons Insurance. Our agents can show you valuable items insurance policies from multiple Massachusetts insurance companies, and we have the expertise necessary to help you determine which policy will best protect your possessions.
