What’s Included in Personal Property Homeowners Insurance?

Homeowners insurance protects your home and its contents. Personal property coverage helps you repair or replace belongings damaged, destroyed, or stolen in a covered event, allowing you to restore your living environment.

Understanding Personal Property Coverage

Personal property coverage protects items not permanently attached to your home’s structure, including furniture, clothing, electronics, and kitchenware. It is a percentage of your dwelling coverage, often ranging from 50% to 70% of the amount your home is insured for. For instance, if your home’s structure is insured for $300,000, your personal property coverage might be set between $150,000 and $210,000.

When a loss occurs, your policy will determine the payout based on one of two valuation methods: Actual Cash Value (ACV) or Replacement Cost Value (RCV). Actual Cash Value policies reimburse you for the depreciated value of an item, considering its age and wear and tear. In contrast, Replacement Cost Value coverage pays the amount needed to replace a damaged item with a new one of similar kind and quality, without deduction for depreciation. While ACV policies typically have lower premiums, RCV coverage offers a more complete recovery by providing funds closer to the cost of purchasing new replacements.

Standard homeowners policies cover personal property on a “named perils” basis, meaning coverage applies only to losses caused by specific events listed in the policy, such as fire, theft, or vandalism. Some comprehensive policies, such as an HO-5, offer “open perils” coverage for personal property, which covers all causes of loss unless specifically excluded. This broader coverage comes with a higher premium.

Items Typically Included

Standard personal property coverage extends to common household items. These include furniture, clothing, electronics, appliances not built into the home, kitchenware, and general household goods. Coverage is subject to your policy’s overall personal property limit and any applicable deductible.

A notable feature of personal property coverage is its “off-premises coverage,” which means your belongings can be protected even when they are temporarily away from your insured home. This could apply to items stolen from your car, luggage lost during travel, or personal effects in a college dorm room. However, some policies may limit this off-premises coverage to a percentage of your total personal property limit, commonly around 10%.

Items with Special Coverage Limits

Certain categories of personal property have specific, lower sub-limits within a standard homeowners insurance policy. These limits exist due to the items’ high value, increased theft risk, or difficulty in valuation. This means the payout for these items may be capped at a much lower amount than your overall personal property coverage.

For instance, jewelry, watches, and furs often have theft limits around $1,500. If a $10,000 engagement ring is stolen, a policy with a $1,500 sub-limit would only pay out $1,500, minus your deductible. Other items with special limits include cash, bank notes, and precious metals, which have limits around $200. Securities, deeds, passports, and other valuable papers may be limited to $1,500.

Firearms often have theft limits ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 for the entire collection. Collectibles like stamps, coins, comic books, art, and antiques also have limits between $1,000 and $2,500 per category. Business property stored at home has very low or no coverage, often capped at $2,500 for items used in a home-based business. Silverware, goldware, and pewterware may also have sub-limits, such as $2,500 for theft. These specific limits can vary significantly by insurer and policy.

Boosting Coverage for Valuables

For items whose value exceeds standard sub-limits, policyholders can enhance coverage. One common approach is “scheduling” personal property, also known as adding a personal articles floater or endorsement to your policy. This involves listing specific high-value items individually, often requiring a professional appraisal to determine their agreed-upon value.

Scheduling offers several advantages, including broader coverage that extends beyond named perils, sometimes even covering accidental loss or mysterious disappearance. Many scheduled items also benefit from having no deductible applied to claims, and coverage is provided for the appraised value, ensuring a more complete reimbursement. While scheduling increases your premium, it is a cost-effective way to fully protect significant assets. Other endorsements can also increase limits for specific categories, such as business property or firearms, if individual scheduling is not preferred or applicable.

Common Exclusions

While homeowners insurance provides extensive personal property coverage, certain types of property are excluded from standard policies. Understanding these exclusions is important to avoid unexpected gaps in coverage. Motor vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, boats, and aircraft, are not covered under personal property and require separate, specialized insurance policies.

Property belonging to renters or boarders living in your home is excluded from your personal property coverage, unless specifically added through an endorsement. Animals and pets are excluded from personal property coverage. Land and the home’s permanent structures are covered under different sections of a homeowners policy, not personal property.

Property primarily used for business purposes, beyond minimal specified limits, is excluded from personal property coverage and requires a separate business insurance policy. Items stolen from a vehicle may have limited coverage, often depending on whether the vehicle was also stolen or if the loss occurred from an unlocked car. These exclusions exist because other insurance products or policy sections address the unique risks associated with these types of property.