The obvious answer to what your personal property section does, is that it protects your stuff. But there’s more to it than that.
For example, does your stolen furniture cost the same now as when you bought it? Are your recently scorched Pop vinyls covered? If your stuff is stolen from your car, who takes the buck – home or car insurance?
Let’s break this stuff down.
The coverage.
Personal property coverage can help you repair or replace your stuff when damaged by a covered loss. (Yes, that means there are uncovered losses.) Read your specific policy to see which losses are covered, though. We can’t do all your homework.
The most common uncovered losses, though, are floods and earthquakes. So, would your Walking Dead Pops be covered from a fire? Possibly. Would they be covered if they’re washed away in a flood? Probably not (without flood insurance). Just make sure you have a home inventory to account for them.
Also, your jewelry and secret fine art gallery may not be fully covered by your policy either – there’s often a very small limit for valuables. So, check into that.
ACV vs. RCV
There are two different types of personal property coverage – actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cost value (RCV). ACV can help you pay to replace your stuff minus the cost of depreciation. RCV can help you pay to replace your things at today’s prices. It’s like the difference between an item’s “brand new” price on Amazon and its “slightly” used price on Ebay. So, if your personal property is covered for its ACV, your insurance may only reimburse you for the used price. If you’re insured for your stuff’s RCV, you could get your stuff replaced at the price it costs today.
Car or home/renters’ Insurance
Personal property coverage can also cover items you’ll carry outside of your home. So, if you come back to your car with a newly broken window and a bunch of missing stuff, your home/renters’ insurance could cover the cost of replacing it. (Your car insurance would have to handle the broken window, though.)
So yeah, personal property coverage is pretty nifty, and included in most home/renters’ insurance plans. Of course, the best way to find out is to get home insurance or renters insurance quotes with our super helpful experts. So, go ahead and chat us up!