Mysterious Disappearance Can Mean Loss of Insurance Coverage

Many of us enjoy a good mystery — unless it involves our insurance.

If you lose a valuable piece of property, your insurance reimbursement — or lack of it — may depend on whether your policy includes coverage for mysterious disappearance.

A Mysterious Disappearance Clause is just what the name says. If your property, renter’s or homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover mysterious disappearance, then your insurance company won’t cover a loss that can’t be sufficiently explained and documented. In short, if the loss is considered a “mysterious disappearance.” Luckily, many of the carrier we work with offer an endorsement to cover mysterious disappearance.

You leave an expensive piece of jewelry on your kitchen counter or in a public bathroom, for example, and it isn’t there when you go to retrieve it. Did it fall into the trash and get thrown out by mistake? Or did someone take it? What proof do you have there actually was a loss?

The majority of insurance policies don’t cover mysterious disappearance and all insurance companies will cap jewelry losses at a lower limit than your personal property limit. There is a way to protect yourself against mysterious disappearances. You can add a floater or rider that covers a specific item named in the floater.

The floater is either separate from your homeowner or tenant policy or a rider or endorsement to your policy which amends the coverage and generally covers one item. So, if you have several items you want covered, you may need a floater for each.

Another reason for covering valuable items with a floater is to make sure you’re fully covered even in cases where the loss would be covered by your homeowner or tenant insurance. These policies often limit the reimbursement for certain valuable items, like jewelry. These limits help keep the price of these policies more affordable. But they can prevent you from recovering the full cost of some items, even if your loss is covered. A floater can be written to provide coverage for the full value of these items.

Do you need a floater for your valuables? Give us a call at 303.922.1002, and we can help you decide.