Doesn’t my homeowners policy already cover my valuables?

Yes, but only up to strict dollar caps that often fall far short of what your valuables are actually worth. Your homeowners policy does include your personal belongings under what is called contents or personal property coverage, but for certain categories it applies special internal limits known as sublimits. A sublimit is a smaller cap that sits inside your larger coverage, and it is where many Georgia families get an unpleasant surprise after a theft.

On a typical homeowners policy, theft of jewelry is usually capped around $1,500 to $2,500 total, no matter how high your overall contents limit is. Firearms are often limited to about $2,500 for theft, silverware to around $2,500, and money to a few hundred dollars. So even if your policy lists $300,000 of personal property, a stolen $10,000 ring may only bring a $1,500 check.

There is a second gap. The base policy generally pays for jewelry only when it is stolen or destroyed by a covered event like a fire. It typically will not pay if a ring is simply lost or a stone falls out, because that is accidental loss rather than theft.

For example, a Marietta homeowner has a burglary and loses a $12,000 watch and a $5,000 ring. Her policy applies the $1,500 jewelry sublimit and pays only $1,500 for both combined, leaving more than $15,000 uncovered.

Scheduling those items on a personal articles floater lists each valuable for its full appraised value, usually with no deductible and broader coverage that includes accidental loss. We can spot your gaps and close them with a free coverage review at our coverage review page.