Every where we look in Dallas-Ft Worth there seems to be self storage units. The agents at Insurance For Texans frequently get calls from customers asking us if they should buy the insurance that the storage facility is selling. As per our standard operating procedure the answer is it depends. Many Ft Worth Home Insurance policies have provisions included in them for personal property items not at your home. Let's take a look at what that means for you.
If you have purchased a homeowners insurance policy from a standard company such as Travelers, State Auto, or Mercury, you will a provision included in your policy for Personal Property Off Premises. This line item coverage is included as part of the policy and is not considered an optional coverage for our standard carriers. As a result, you will be afforded coverage for your possessions off premise from your home. However, this coverage is typically limited to 10% of your personal property coverage in most instances. That means if you have $250,000 in personal property coverage on your Burleson home insurance policy, you will have $25,000 in coverage "off-premises".Some insurance companies do allow you for to buy additional coverage as an endorsement. How much extra coverage beyond the 10% is completely up to the insurance company that you have the policy through and does come with an increase in premium.
So the 10% is definitely good around the world. There really isn't a catch, but there are some things to consider. First and foremost is that your All Other Perils deductible will be applied to the claim prior to any payout. This means that any loss to the personal property that is away from your home will need to be more in value than that deductible amount for you to receive any benefit.
The other main consideration is going to be what the personal property are used for by you away from your home. If you are using your tools for work, they will not be covered off-site by most homeowners insurance policies without an endorsement for business use. Anything that is being used for work situations needs to be placed on what's known as an inland marine policy, which is considered a commercial insurance policy. The good news is that they can be an economical form or coverage for most people.
One additional limitation on the coverage of off-premise personal property is the subject of sub-limits on specific classes of property. Things like guns or fine art will typically have a maximum amount of coverage that is provided on the base form of the policy. That means that the amount of coverage available for your claim may be below the 10% limit for total personal property. This is because the sub-limit would be below the 10% amount. Outside of that, there is really little to worry about. Definitely get a police report if you are subject to theft. It is difficult to get a theft claim approved without it.
If you aren't sure what you do or don't have, speak with a local independent insurance agent like Insurance For Texans. Out skilled professionals have the policies and training to make sure that you don't wind up with a mess in a storage unit.