Does homeowners insurance cover expensive Christmas gifts?
Updated March 26, 2024 | Published November 28, 2023
-
Categories:
- For Homeowners
- Insurance Basics
- Winter
The holiday season is coming up very soon. As you begin buying Christmas gifts for your family, you might be interested in some big-ticket items for your spouse or children. Maybe you’ve been saving up this year to buy your husband that signed memorabilia that you saw floating around online from his favorite athlete. Or maybe you want to get your wife a nice new piece of diamond jewelry to show her how much she means to you. Regardless of the item, these gifts often have a big-ticket price along with them.
At WebFirst Insurance, we want to make sure that your expensive Christmas gifts are covered in the event of an unfortunate accident. If your husband’s signed sports memorabilia is ruined, we want to make sure that you’re financially compensated for the loss.
Increase your homeowners insurance limit
Unfortunately, any big-ticket items are not immediately covered under your homeowners or renter’s insurance policy. In order to ensure that your new gift is covered, you should talk to your insurance agent or company to make sure that the value of the new gift is added on top of your existing homeowners coverage limit.
In the event that there is a fire, flood, theft, or other type of event in your home or rental property, then your possessions will be protected for as much as your policy allows, which is why if you buy an expensive Christmas gift, you’ll want to report that to your insurance agency so they can add more coverage to your policy.
What items can be covered under your homeowners insurance policy?
There are lots of big-ticket items that can be covered under your homeowners insurance policy. Items should fall into one (or more) of these categories:
- Art
- Firearms
- Instruments
- Jewelry
- Sporting gear
- Watches
- Unique luxury items
Check with your agent to determine what would fall under the “unique luxury items” category.
What happens if you don’t insure your expensive Christmas gifts?
If you don’t insure expensive items in your home, it can lead to big financial losses down the road if the item gets stolen or damaged. We recommend purchasing a bit of extra coverage to ensure that all of your assets are covered.
Though insuring your items is a good idea, the hard work doesn’t end there in protecting your assets. We recommend that you take extra steps to ensure you are able to replace your assets exactly as they were. Doing things like:
- Taking a photo
- Keeping the receipt
- Appraising the item
Ensures that your insurance company is able to reimburse you for the exact value of your item. Often, if you don’t include this information, your insurance company can end up reimbursing you for the depreciated value of that item, or a product of similar quality, because they can’t verify the exact details of it.
Looking to purchase an expensive Christmas gift for one of your loved ones? We encourage you to contact your insurance agent or company as soon as possible to lock in that extra coverage. We hope you have a safe and happy holidays!