What items should I schedule on a Georgia homeowners policy?
An item is commonly scheduled when it is worth more than a homeowners policy will pay under its built-in limits, or when it would be costly to lose. Scheduling means listing a specific valuable on a personal articles floater, an add-on that covers that item for its full appraised value with little or no deductible. The reason to do it is that a standard homeowners policy caps certain categories of property at low amounts.
The most common items Georgia homeowners schedule are:
- Jewelry, including engagement rings, wedding bands, and watches
- Fine art, antiques, and collectibles
- Firearms and gun collections
- Furs
- Cameras and professional photography gear
- Musical instruments
- Silverware and high-end flatware
- Coin, stamp, and trading card collections
Why schedule them? Most home policies limit theft of jewelry to around $1,500 to $2,500 total, and they limit firearms and silverware in similar ways. Worse, the base policy often will not pay at all if a ring is simply lost rather than stolen. Scheduling removes those caps for the listed item and adds coverage for accidental loss, mysterious disappearance, and damage.
To schedule an item, you usually provide a recent appraisal or a detailed receipt showing its value. The floater then covers that exact item for the stated amount, frequently with no deductible, which is the dollar amount you would otherwise pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in.
For example, an Athens couple owns a $9,000 watch and a $6,000 diamond ring. Their home policy would pay only about $1,500 if either were stolen, and nothing if the ring slipped off and was lost. After scheduling both on a floater for roughly $130 a year, the full $15,000 is protected against theft, loss, and damage with no deductible.
Scheduling fits anything that cannot easily be replaced from savings, or that exceeds the policy category limit. It also helps to revisit your scheduled items every couple of years, because values change. Gold and diamond prices rise over time, and an appraisal from a decade ago may understate what a piece is worth today, which would leave you underinsured even on a scheduled item. Updating the appraisal keeps the listed value in line with replacement cost.
We can review your valuables and tell you exactly what is worth scheduling, and at what amount, with a free coverage review at our coverage review page.