Texans either have decorated for Christmas or are doing it this weekend. In many homes, you begin to see Christmas scenes pop up that are acquired over time. They are a great example of collectibles that we accumulate and don't always consider when we evaluate our Home Insurance. When we bring this up with homeowners, the question becomes do I really need to do anything special for them. Let's see how that works.
Document Your Collection
The first step in insuring your collectible items is to document exactly what you have in the collection. Do you have a vintage Les Paul Gibson? Do you have every Disney Christmas character for your village? Do you have two Mickey Mantle rookie cards? Do you have a vintage Titanium Moots bicycle? Being able to document these items with pictures, sales receipts, certificates of authenticity, etc will allow you to appropriately prove to an insurance company that you have the item that needs to be insured. It sounds tedious but is completely necessary.
How Big Is Your Collection
Texas Home Insurance policies cover your personal property. but we have to consider what is known as a sub-limit when it comes to collectibles. A sub-limit is cap that is put on the amount of money that an insurance company will payout on a claim that is made for a given item. Often times, when looking at collectibles like musical instruments, guns, art, jewelry, fine china, or other items the home insurance company will have a maximum amount of money that they will payout for those items. So the next step to determine if you need any sort of additional insurance coverage for your collection is to determine the value to compare it against any sort of sub-limit. And while appraisals do typically cost you some money, it can make the difference between being able to get the entire collection replaced or not if something does happen.
Will My Home Insurance Cover It Or Do I Need Separate Coverage
After you document and quantify exactly what you have, the final step will be to determine if your Texas homeowners insurance policy will cover your collection. The home insurance policies that we sell have the ability for us to list items under special provisions to provide you extra protection needed. These provisions can allow for sub-limits to be eliminated, deductibles to be waived, and special situations to be covered beyond the typical coverage your home insurance policy provides.
However, some not all options are created equal on these home insurance policies. Depending upon your collection and it's value, it may be best to consider a stand alone policy for your precious items. Insurance For Texans works with many different companies as an Independent Insurance Agency and that allows us to have access to different solutions for different needs. If you would like to have a discussion about your items and what you need to do, schedule a time to talk to one of our agents today!
