Personal property coverage can help you pay for the personal items in your home that may be damaged or destroyed by a covered cause of loss, which could include your furniture, clothes, sporting goods and electronics. Special limits of liability may apply to certain items.

How to Insure Personal Property? Personal property is an important part of homeowners insurance, condo insurance and renters insurance because it protects your belongings that are part of your home life – both inside and outside of your home.

You can insure your personal property through these three insurance policy types – homeowners, condo and renters – by asking your independent agent to explain the protection that comes from these policies.

Consider personal property protection to help ensure that all the things that make your house a home are protected from the unexpected.

How Do You Calculate Replacement Cost of Personal Property? Under most policies, covered personal property losses are settled based on actual cash value at the time of loss, but not more than the reasonable amount required to repair or replace the damaged item. In most instances, actual cash value is the reasonable cost to repair or replace the damaged item, less a deduction for depreciation. Offers an optional coverage – personal property replacement cost loss settlement – that provides for settlement of covered personal property losses based on replacement cost at the time of loss, with no deduction for depreciation. When purchasing your homeowners policy, you’ll need to decide whether you want the actual cash value personal property coverage, which is typically included in a homeowners policy, or the optional replacement cost coverage. Both are subject to applicable policy limits and deductibles. Typically, standard homeowners policies pay you the actual cash value of your personal property after it is destroyed. That means you will receive payment for the property up to its value, minus however much it depreciated since purchase. For example, a computer you bought for $1,000 eight years ago has significantly depreciated in value, let’s say to $200. If you have an actual cash value policy, the maximum amount you would be paid would be the lesser of the cost to repair it, or $200. If you have a replacement cost policy, the amount you would be paid would be the lesser of the cost to repair or replace the item with a similar new computer. If you want to be fully insured for your personal property, you may want to purchase personal property replacement coverage on your policy. Replacement coverage means you are getting the exact amount to replace the same object for current market price. If that computer was $1,000 then, you will get $1,000 to replace it. This may also cost more than the actual cash value version.

Optional Scheduled Personal Property Available Some classes of personal belongings, such as the examples below, may have a limited amount of coverage available based on the type of claim:

• Money or related property, coins and certain precious metals.
• Watercraft, including trailers and equipment.
• Jewelry, watches and semi-precious stones.
• Silverware, goldware or pewterware.

Additional coverage may be available for these items using scheduled personal property, optional endorsements or separate policies. Personal property protection is highly recommended for items such as these. For example, you can insure jewelry, golf clubs, silverware, and other possessions on valuable items plus endorsement or on a personal articles floater policy.

What Is Not Covered Under Personal Property Insurance? Keep in mind that certain damage is not covered by homeowners insurance, as the policy contains terms, conditions, and exclusions. For example, if your personal property is damaged in an earthquake, the damage is typically not covered under your home insurance unless you have purchased earthquake coverage. Similarly, damage from a flood is not covered unless you have purchased a separate flood policy. Special limits may also apply to certain property.

Loss of use coverage can help pay your additional living expenses if you must move out of your home temporarily while it's being restored. This is typically subject to coverage terms and limits.

What Is Additional Living Expenses (ALE) Insurance?
ALE insurance reimburses homeowners for additional living expenses stemming from temporary relocation after a covered loss. For example, if your house is severely damaged by a fire, your loss of use coverage would reimburse you for the cost of a hotel up to your coverage limit. Many homeowners insurance companies include loss of use coverage in their policies and place a limit as a percentage of your dwelling coverage. For instance, if your limit is 30% and your dwelling coverage limit is $200,000, you would be covered for up to $60,000 under your loss of use coverage. Policy limits vary by insurance company and by policy, so if you have questions regarding your specific loss of use coverage limit, contact your insurance representative. Typically, you can increase your coverage limit for an additional cost. Loss of use coverage only applies to damage caused to your home by covered perils. For instance, if your home is flooded and you don’t have flood insurance, your loss of use claim would not be covered as a result of this type of loss.

What Does Loss of Use Protection Cover?
As previously mentioned, loss of use insurance typically provides coverage for additional living expenses resulting from a covered loss. In simpler terms, this means you would be covered for expenses you wouldn’t ordinarily have if you were living in your own home. For example, let’s assume you typically spend $100 on gas per month, but that amount has increased to $150 because you live in a hotel that is farther from work while your home is repaired. In this scenario, you would be reimbursed $50, which is the incremental cost. A list of common additional living expenses that are typically covered under loss of use insurance is provided below.

• Cost of temporary housing, such as a hotel or a motel
• Taking public transportation
• Boarding a pet
• Additional food expenses

If you’re renting your home or part of your home, and it becomes unlivable due to a covered loss, Travelers would pay the fair rental value for the rental income you’re missing out on. Keep in mind that your insurance company won’t cover expenses that are not incurred during this period, such as utilities.

What Is Not Covered by Loss of Use Protection?
Loss of use protection does not cover expenses that you were already responsible for before the loss. You will still be responsible for paying your mortgage, insurance, child care expenses and so on. The important thing to remember is that loss of use protection is for additional expenses you become responsible for because you can’t live in your home.

For example, if your family normally spends around $200 a week for food, but now you are staying in a hotel without a kitchen, you may need to eat out for most of your meals. Eating out is costing you $300 a week. Under loss of use coverage, the $100 additional expense per week would be covered.

Do I Have to Pay a Deductible on Loss of Use Insurance? You may be responsible for a deductible for other parts of your claim. Your homeowners insurance representative can explain your deductible further and help you explore other coverage you may want to add to your homeowners policy. The goal is to make sure you have coverage that fits your needs.

How Much Loss of Use Coverage Do I Need? Everyone’s insurance needs are different. Loss of use coverage is typically based on your dwelling coverage and calculated at about 20% to 30% of the dwelling coverage limit. Consider whether this is enough to cover any necessary increases in your living expenses if your residence is not habitable while damage is being repaired or replaced.

Personal liability insurance is about financial protection – for you and your family. The personal liability coverage within your homeowners policy provides coverage to pay for claims of bodily injury and property damage sustained by others for which you or covered residents of your household are legally responsible.

For example, if someone falls down your stairs, or your child accidentally throws a ball through a neighbor's window, breaking an expensive vase, you may be held legally responsible for the damages caused.

Many homeowners insurance policies provide a minimum of $100,000 in personal liability coverage, meaning the insurance company can pay up to that amount in total to injured persons per occurrence. If you feel you need more protection, higher limits are available. You can also purchase an umbrella policy that enables you to extend your liability coverage beyond the limits of your primary liability policy.

What Does Personal Liability Insurance Cover? Personal liability insurance covers a variety of situations where you may be legally responsible to pay for something that happened to someone else on property that you own or, in some situations, on property that you don’t own. Some examples of common personal liability claims are:

• Medical bills that result from a visitor’s injury at your home
• Legal expenses resulting from lawsuits that seek to recover damages that are potentially covered by the policy
• Bodily injury or property damage that results from your negligent acts or omissions
• Bodily injury or property damage caused by your pets

Medical Payments Another type of personal liability coverage typically included with your homeowners policy is for medical payments to others. Typically, homeowners, renters or condo policy provides for the payment of necessary medical expenses for persons who are accidentally injured on your property. This is regardless of whether you are legally responsible. Typically, medical payments coverage limits start at $1,000 per person. Higher amounts of coverage may also be available depending on the type of coverage you choose.

What is Not Covered by Personal Liability Insurance? Your homeowners or renters insurance will cover certain personal liability claims, but there are other claims that may not be covered. A few common examples include:

• Liability that results from a car accident. These claims should be covered by your car insurance.
• Bodily injury or property damage caused intentionally by you or a family members
• Injuries or damages sustained by you or other covered residents in your home.
• Bodily injury or property damage arising out of any business conducted by you or arising out of your professional activities. Claims that arise while you are engaging in any business-related activities should be covered by a business insurance policy.

Other Liability Coverage Exclusions A homeowners, renters or condo policy does not cover all situations of bodily injury or property damage for which you or a covered member of your household may be legally responsible. Most policies contain exclusions and exceptions, so it’s important to understand the details of your specific coverage.

Your home insurance deductible is the amount of a covered claim that is your responsibility to pay before your insurance starts to cover costs. When choosing your insurance deductible, consider how much you're prepared to pay should you have a covered claim.

Your home insurance coverage limits (the dollar amount of homeowners insurance coverage you buy) starts with your dwelling coverage. The limits of coverage for the other standard coverage in your homeowners policy are typically calculated as percentages of the dollar amount of your dwelling coverage limit.

The following coverage can typically be added to a primary homeowners policy and provide a great way for you to work with your insurance representative to customize your policy to your specific needs.

Special Personal Property Coverage This special coverage for personal property or contents can provide broader protection for your possessions in the event of a covered loss. It can cover your personal property in more situations than a homeowners policy.

Contents Replacement Cost Personal property replacement cost coverage helps cover personal property losses based on their replacement cost at the time of loss, with no deduction for depreciation. The coverage is subject to applicable policy limits and deductibles and special limits apply to certain items such as jewelry and watches.

Additional Replacement Cost Protection Coverage Additional replacement cost coverage helps provide an additional amount of coverage to help repair or rebuild your home if the dwelling coverage on your home is not enough to cover the cost to repair or rebuild after a covered loss.

Jewelry and Valuable Items Homeowners' insurance may provide limited coverage amounts for lost jewelry or valuable items based on the type of item and cause of loss. Valuable items coverage may provide the protection you need for your valuable possessions in the event of covered loss from, for example, theft or fire.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Engagement Rings and Wedding Rings? Homeowners insurance alone may not sufficiently cover your engagement rings and wedding rings. People who own valuable possessions may need broader coverage than a basic homeowners policy provides. The good news is that there is additional protection available that may help cover the cost of a lost or stolen engagement ring or wedding ring.

You can add engagement ring insurance or wedding ring insurance through two options that Travelers offers: You can purchase a “Valuable Items Plus endorsement” or a “Personal Articles Floater (PAF).”

With a Valuable Items Plus endorsement, your homeowners insurance coverage is expanded to protect your valuables from loss caused by additional perils (subject to a few common exclusions). For jewelry, paintings and other fine art, you can purchase up to $50,000 of coverage; for silverware, you can purchase as much as $20,000 coverage. The maximum payment for any one item is either $10,000 or $20,000, depending on the state. You pay no deductible.

If you own valuable, rare or irreplaceable items, such as collectibles or antiques, you may want to consider the comprehensive protection offered by a PAF. In case of a covered loss, this coverage allows you to recover the value of an item (based on a recent bill of sale or appraisal). This policy provides coverage for fine art and jewelry at an amount you and Travelers agree upon. For other items, the policy provides either actual cash value, cost to repair, cost to replace or up to the insured amount, depending on the cause of loss and its current value.

What Does Jewelry Insurance Cover? Jewelry insurance covers valuable items from jewelry to collectibles if they are stolen or damaged in a covered event. A typical homeowners insurance policy may not cover, or provide enough coverage for, those valuable items. Jewelry and valuable items coverage can help give you peace of mind.

A personal articles floater is a separate valuable items policy that is available should you need coverage or higher amounts of coverage for specific valuable items. Personal Articles Endorsement or Floater This itemized coverage can give you some peace of mind knowing your belongings and jewelry may be covered at the time of a loss. Offered as protection for valuables, policies can be purchased separately. There is no deductible for most classes or types of property and the coverage insures against many risks. Consider a Personal Articles Floater policy for:

• Engagement rings and wedding rings
• Jewelry
• Watches
• Silverware, china and crystal
• Antiques
• Fine art
• Stamp and coin collections
• Bicycles\
• Trophies
• Sound equipment (recorders)
• Sports equipment (archery, camping, fishing, skiing)
• Wedding gifts
• Cameras
• Computers
• Musical instruments
• Golf equipment
• Pedigreed dogs
• Garden tractors
• Political campaign collections

Adding Jewelry to Homeowners Insurance Available as an add-on coverage to homeowners insurance, a Valuable Items Plus endorsement can offer higher limits on certain types of valuables, and expanded protection. Unlike the PAF where items are individually listed, the Valuable Items Plus endorsement provides blanket coverage that affords protection for a class of property collectively, such as jewelry insurance coverage, up to a certain amount. This coverage insures against many risks, such as lost jewelry.

Water Backup and Sump Pump Discharge or Overflow Does home insurance cover water damage? If water backs up from a sewer or drain within your home, or if water discharges or overflows from your sump pump, this coverage can help cover the loss up to a specified dollar amount. This does not include coverage for flood or surface water backup.

Green Home Coverage Green home coverage from provides additional protection that can help cover the costs to repair, replace or rebuild with green materials after a covered loss occurs.

Multi-Policy Discount you can save on home insurance when you have an auto policy and 3 other policies These can include an umbrella, boat, or a personal articles floater.

Home Buyer Discount Available to customers who have purchased their home within 12 months prior to the policy effective date.

Loss-Free Discount Offered to eligible customers who have not experienced a loss within a specified time period.

Protective Device Discount You can save by having devices such as:

• Smoke detectors and fire alarms;
• Interior sprinkler systems
• Home security systems
• Smart or connected home technology, which alerts the customer that a fire or burglar event is occurring.

Green Home Discount You can save up to 5% if your home is already certified “green home” by the Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization.