What is Personal Property?
If you’ve ever purchased home insurance, renters insurance or even business insurance, you’ve probably heard the term ‘personal property’. A good way to think about personal property is that it’s your ‘stuff’. Personal property consists of your clothes, furniture, electronics, food in your kitchen and fridge, pots, pans, CDs, DVDs, cell phone, and much much more. Imagine you could flip your house upside down, everything that falls to the ceiling, would be your personal property. In my experience, most people greatly underestimate the amount of personal property they have.
Personal Property Limitations
As you might expect, there are limitations to how much of your personal property will be covered by your insurance policy. If you look at your insurance policy, you will see a line item for personal property. This can normally be found on the declaration page, or dec sheet. If you have a renters insurance policy, you probably have around $20,000 in coverage. Maybe more, quite possible less. With a renters insurance policy, you are allowed to pick whatever limits you need. Sometimes if you choose much higher limits than are common, underwriting approval may be necessary.
If you have a home insurance policy, your personal property is normally included in the cost of your home insurance. Most company provide somewhere between 60%-80% of the dwelling coverage for personal property. Let’s say your home is insurance for $500,000, you likely have between $300,000-$400,000 in personal property coverage. Most companies will allow you to increase your personal property coverage on a homeowner policy beyond the limits that are included.
Personal Property Sub Limitations
Your insurance policy quite likely has even more limitation on your personal property. Almost all insurance companies limit certain items. These items tend to be things that are often stolen. Common sub limits are found on refrigerated foods, automobile parts, jewelry, watches, furs, firearms, business property (items you use to make money), tools, money, gold and silver. Some companies also apply limitations to CDs, records and other music. If you have personal property that is capped with a sub limit, it might be a good idea to inquire about a floater.
If you have questions about personal property, chat with us, text us or call. 303.922.1002.
