New Year, New Stuff...New Insurance? Are You Covered?

With Christmas coming to an end and a New Year beginning, it’s time to get organized! I’m sure everyone has an inventory (at least in their minds) of all their newly received toys from the holidays. So what about everything else? If you had a loss (i.e. fire, theft, tornado, hurricane or just lost something, etc.), would you know what you had so you can get it back? Would it even be covered by insurance?

Preparing an inventory for your belongings can help accomplish multiple things. First, it will make the process of filing a claim, should you ever need to, a more organized process. It will also help you to determine whether all your belongings are adequately insured. The limit for theft of guns/firearms is 10% of your contents coverage with a maximum of $10,000. You can add an endorsement to broaden and increase this coverage to include misplacing or losing. Theft of jewelry/watches/furs is also limited. In some cases policies only allow for $1500. THAT’S IT!  This can be endorsed to broaden and increase coverage for the actual value of the items and will also included misplacing or losing.

So “what’s next” you ask? Here are a few things you can do:

·         Make a list of your belongings and include any purchase receipts if you still have them (especially for big ticket items like refrigerators, TVS, etc.).

·         Photograph and/or videotape your belongings by room. This will allow you to see details of items you may not remember from a list of that you don’t have purchase receipts for.

·         Keep a copy of our disk, tape, photos, etc. in a separate fire proof, locked location.

·         Get a copy of these inventories to your insurance agent.

·         Update your inventory at least annually and if you need to, purchase additional insurance for those items valued higher than your policy maximums listed above.

If you have questions or are unsure if you have enough coverage, call your local agent to discuss your coverage in detail. From everyone here at Darden, Miranda and Associates, Happy New Year and happy “inventorying”!

-Caroline Miranda