In the past, only wealthy collectors purchased endorsements called personal property riders, to cover valuable items. Many insurers offer policies specifically for this purpose. It is important to discuss the limitations of your homeowner’s policy with your agent. Many people are under the false assumption that their HO insurance will reimburse them for anything that is stolen or destroyed. It’s a rude awakening to discover your $15,000 engagement ring gone and that you are only covered for $1,000. Those old baseballs that were autographed by Mantle and Mays that got soaked during the hurricanes? Don’t expect your insurer to get all nostalgic and reimburse you for their full value.
Without a personal property endorsement, regardless of whether you’ve kept an inventory and photos of your valuable stuff, when disaster strikes, you might as well hand the adjuster a blank sheet of paper. You’ll only receive the policy limit and that’s all.
From “Insurance for Dummies”: To get what you deserve for your collections at claim time, you need to document every item to prove its existence for the claims inventory and to prove its condition for the valuation. You need to authenticate the originality of items whose value depends on their originality. You need to make sure your policy limit on belongings is high enough to cover all your collectibles and all other, normal, personal property. And, finally, you need to make sure that the kinds of losses that can damage your collections (breakage for sculptures, water damage for books) are covered.
The most important part is to make sure you obtain adequate coverage.
Next, provide an appraisal to your insuror.
Then, go and get a good night’s sleep.
