Are items such as my coin collection, jewelry and furs covered by my home insurance policy?

A standard homeowner's insurance policy includes coverage for the dwelling, other structures on the property, injury liability insurance, and personal property insurance. With that said, the average home insurance policy only provides coverage of personal property up to about 10% of the policy value. Since the average family owns several thousand dollars in personal property such as furniture, appliances, wardrobes and electronics, the standard coverage is rarely enough to cover everything. If you own expensive items, insuring them separately or picking up a personal property rider will be the best way to protect everything.

In more conventional situations, a rider on your homeowner's policy will probably be sufficient. Simply pick up a personal property rider that includes coverage for the items you want covered. Itemize the inventory of protected items and save receipts that will help you prove the value and condition of your property if a claim has to be filed.

If you have a lot of expensive stuff to protect, you should look into a personal property policy. This would protect your possessions, even when they are being used, without complicating the fine print on your homeowner's policy. Since it sounds like you have some valuable personal property, this type of individual coverage may be required for some items, such as jewelry and one-of-a-kind paintings. As the value of property goes up, the risks associated with protecting it go up as well, and insurance companies may shy away from home policies with an excessive amount of personal property involved.

The worst thing you could assume, where valuable property is concerned, is that it will be "automatically" covered under a home insurance policy. Because of the value of such property, you should insure it separately, with each piece of jewelry or other item listed individually. You should also make certain that you have full replacement insurance, or you could risk not receiving enough settlement to replace any items that are lost or stolen.