[C991]Consumer Reports Homeowners Insurance

Jewelry can be a very important investment, or it can be something special that has been handed down for years. Whatever the reason why it is in your possession, it is important to protect it when you are not wearing. While you're not wearing it, there is a place in which you must keep it and that is usually within the home, if you are not one to put such belongings in a safety deposit box at the bank. No one expects anything to happen to jewelry while it is safe and sound in the home, but there are certain things that can happen beyond our control. Such events are:

Being robbed

House Fire

Flood

Some kind of wind event such as tornado or hurricane

Hopefully none of these things would ever happen, but it is a sad fact that they do and precious things can be lost and jewelry can be one of them. You can actually cover your jewelry through your homeowner's or renter's insurance, but there is a trick to it

Homeowner's insurance

Homeowner's insurance typically covers the structure of the home and some of the personal belongings in it. For example: If your house were to catch fire, you would be compensated for the value of the home and a certain percentage of the worth of the items within the home. When this occurs, you have to list as many items as you can and what the worth of each item is. However, some of the higher value items such as jewelry and coins may not be covered.

Renter's insurance

Since the renter does not own the structure, the insurance company will usually send a representative to the home to estimate the worth of the items within the home. The renter may also be required to list a number of the belongings to be included with the policy. Once this is done, the policy can then be underwritten to protect the renter's belongings in the case they are robbed or the homes contents are destroyed due to fire, flood, or another tragic event. However, they will not receive 100% of the value, but the estimated value at the time the insurance representative inspected the home.

How can jewelry be protected?

There is actually what many call a "floater" that can be added onto their insurance policy to cover such high dollar items as jewelry. Many times these items exceed the policy limits, but these "articles floaters" can be added on. These rates can vary provincially and for the particular item that is being insured. Sometimes these additional floaters can cost a mere $30 extra per year to insure the most valuable possessions within your home. The amount of money received in the case of loss will most likely be whatever the current purchase price is or the appraised value of it. These floaters are most often used for such items as jewelry and even electronics, so it is a great thing to have added onto a policy if the original policy does not cover it. There is usually no deductible with them and they will sometimes cover a broader range other than simply being lost within the home. Some floaters will cover jewelry if it is lost outside of the home, so that is certainly something to look into.

So as you can see, even if a policy is not written to cover a particular belonging, that doesn't mean you can't have it added on to your home insurance policy. This makes for a great way to protect your investments and give yourself peace of mind.