Why Consider Personal Insurance?

The question, of course, is where you can turn if you can’t count on your homeowners’ policy to replace all of your stuff in case of a fire or some other worst-case scenario. For individuals who have accumulated a large number of valuable possessions of the years, the answer is a personal insurance policy. Such a policy can provide you with a high level of additional coverage that will supplement your homeowners’ insurance policy and help foot the bill for your most valuable stuff if you have to make a large-scale replacement.

If you are just starting out and only have a small number of assets, then most of your possessions should be covered no problem under your homeowners policy. When you first buy a house, your greatest assets (other than the house itself, of course) are probably furniture and appliances, with laptops, TVs, and other electronics likely rounding out the list. If this describes you, then you are probably okay relying on your homeowners’ insurance policy (and holding off on additional personal insurance) for a little while longer. (Though you should make a point of reading your insurance policy thoroughly and understanding your deductibles and limitations.)

As you get older though, you will continue to acquire valuable possessions, to the point where they may not all be covered under your homeowners’ policy any more due to their value outweighing your insurance limits. When this happens, you will know that the time has come to ask your insurance rep about a personal insurance policy.

Possessions Covered Under Personal Insurance

So which possessions, once you have them, should push you over to a personal insurance policy? A lot of “collection” type possessions fall into this category. For instance, if you’ve been building a library of valuable first print or autographed books, or a gallery of fine art, then those items will probably be worth enough to push you beyond the limits of your homeowners’ policy. The same can be said for an array of expensive computer equipment (or sound equipment, for home-based recording engineers), musical instruments, jewelry, antiques, camera equipment, sporting equipment, and much more.

If you have collections of any of the items above, try to figure out their net value. This will help you to determine where you stand with your homeowners’ policy and whether or not you are at risk for going over it. Just remember that you don’t want your most valuable possessions to be uncovered in the case of a disaster. Sure, a lot of these more collectible items may be one-of-a-kind keepsakes that are difficult to replace, but it’s worth safeguarding yourself anyway so that you aren’t completely out of luck if and when the worst happens.

Want to learn more about what a personal insurance policy can do for you? Contact Linares Insurance today!