Your Insurance Policy: What’s Covered & What’s Not?

The standard “Full Coverage” Insurance policies seem pretty straight forward, right? You’d be surprised.

When looking into protecting your property and your personal belongings, it’s crucial to always thoroughly review the ins and outs of what the insurance policy covers. While the typical policy will cover the majority of your personal property and main dwelling, there’s a variety of areas that aren’t traditionally covered or that have specific sub-limits that you may not have known before. The last thing you want to happen is to come to find out your property wasn’t protected after an accident, disaster, or in the case of an emergency.

Think about it for a second…When was the last time you actually read through the literature of the policy coverage specifics and compared that coverage to the very items you own? If it’s been a while, make it a springtime project! Help protect your assets by taking a video or creating an itemized list of your belongings. This simple task of organizing and documenting will greatly help you in the case you have to file a claim and also guides you to an accurate estimate of how much coverage you should purchase.

What’s covered in a standard policy?

• Fire and Lightning
• Hail
• Windstorms
• Theft
• Vandalism
• Riots
• Displacement Costs & Extra Incurred Expenses
• Personal Property which includes:
  • Business Property
  • Jewelry
  • Electronics
  • Sports Equipment
  • Clothing
  • Fine Art
  • Cash, Gemstones, Coins & Bullion

It is important to note that many of these personal property categories listed above have their own individual sub-limits that can greatly impact the overall settlement within that category. For example, if you have a collection of fine watches insured under a standard policy and they are stolen or damaged, unless you have an additional insurance rider, you will only be paid out on a fraction of the total value of the items. That’s one surprise no one wants. To read more about sub-limits, visit our blog Understanding Sublimits on Your Insurance Policy.

What isn’t covered in a standard policy?

• Intentional Loss
• Wear & Tear
• Floods
• Water Backup/Seepage
• Mechanical/Electrical Breakdown
• Pollution
• Landslide/Earthquake
• Cars or Vehicles

Mold, water backup, and pipe breaks in the slab are very limited in coverage, often needing additional riders and sometimes being omitted from the policy altogether. In order to be protected in the case of a flood or hurricane, you’ll have to purchase a separate flood policy to be fully protected. Keep your insurance policy coverage up to date with any routine maintenance or updates you make to the property, so you never experience a surprise that something happens not to be covered. In the case of an emergency, you need to understand if all of your contents and dwelling will be fully protected or not. Unfortunately, too often we hear stories of families who think they were covered but had damages that far exceeded what their policy protected against.

Strategic Claim Consultants led by Brandon Lewis has a full team of professionals dedicated to understanding the specific literature of your insurance and to make suggestions of any needed modifications to that coverage. Call Strategic Claim Consultants at (844) 701-9995 today.