Insuring Belongings - The Three Things You Need to Know

How much coverage is provided - is it enough? 

By inspecting your policy you can see how much coverage is provided under your policy for belongings.  The first concern - is there enough coverage to provide replacement of all of your belongings.

First - We want to establish what personal belongings are not covered under a home insurance policy.  

What is a belonging in the eyes of the insurance company?

We insure the contents of your dwelling or unit and other personal property you own, wear or use which is usual to the ownership or maintenance of a dwelling, while on your premises. We do not insure property of roomers or boarders who are not related to you. 

They then exclude specific property.   Note:  These may be different for each company.   If any of these are a concern you will need to address it with specific coverage.  

Property not insured;

We do not insure:

1. property illegally imported, acquired, used, kept or transported;

2. property away from your premises for the purpose of exhibition or display, or any time your property is being held for sale by others;

3. books of account and evidences of debt or title and documents or other evidence to establish ownership or the right or claim to a benefit or thing;

4. business property including samples or goods held for sale except as provided under Special Limits of Insurance;

5. property lawfully seized or confiscated unless such property is destroyed to prevent the spread of fire;

6. sporting or hobby equipment where the loss or damage is due to its use;

7. contact lens unless the loss or damage is caused by a “Specified Peril”, theft or attempted theft.

8. a) motorized vehicles or their equipment, except for watercraft, motorized lawn mowers and other gardening equipment, snow blowers, golf carts, motorized wheel chairs or scooters having more than two wheels and specifically designed for carrying a person who has a physical disability; electric bicycles with pedals, not more than 500 watts and not exceeding 32 km per hour, electric or battery powered children’s toys with a maximum speed of 8 km per hour, and personal transporters;

  b) trailers, (except unlicensed boat trailers) camper units, truck caps or their equipment;

  c) aircraft or their equipment.

Equipment includes audio, visual, recording, or transmitting equipment powered by the electrical system of a motor vehicle or aircraft, but does not include spare automobile parts

We then want to know if any items that we own may be limited in coverage.  

The insurance company lists a number of items that have specific limits of coverage and items that have limited coverage.   Note:  Each company has different limits and may have other items with limits that are not listed here.   Again, if any of these are of concern you may purchase specific coverage for them.     Also, there is an option to purchase enhanced special limits that substantially increase the limits indicated below.    If you have a high deductible under your policy you can add coverage for certain items with a much lower deductible by scheduling them on the policy.  

 We insure:

1. Books, tools, instruments, office furniture and office equipment pertaining to a business, profession, trade or occupation including farming for an amount up to $2,000. in all, but only while on your premises in a fully enclosed building. Other business property, including samples, supplies and goods held for sale, is not insured.

2. Computer hardware pertaining to a business, profession, trade or occupation including farming, for an amount up to $2,000. in all, but only while on your premises in a fully enclosed building.

3. Computer software pertaining to a business, profession, trade or occupation including farming for an amount up to $2,000. in all, but only while on your premises in a fully enclosed building. We do not insure the cost of gathering or assembling or recreating information or data.

4. Securities up to $5,000. in all.

5. Money or bullion up to $500. in all. Money includes gift cards, cash cards and gift certificates.

6. Watercraft, their furnishings, equipment, accessories, motors, jet propulsion personal  watercraft and boat trailers that are not required to be licensed, up to $2,500. in all. These are insured only for “Specified Perils” and theft or attempted theft.

7. Animals, birds and fish up to $1,500. in all for the death or destruction made necessary within 30 days of injury caused by fire, lightning or smoke.

8. Spare automobile parts up to $1,000. in all.

9. Motorized lawn mowers, other motorized gardening equipment or snow blowers, including attachments and accessories, up $10,000. on any one item.

10. Trading and collectible cards (including, but not limited to, sports cards), comic books and sports memorabilia, up to $2,500. in all, but not exceeding $200. on any one item.

11. Cemetery property anywhere in Canada up to $5,000. in all.

12. Belongings of each unmarried student while going to school and residing away from your dwelling up to $10,000. in all.

13. Belongings of an unnamed person as defined under “you” and “your” while residing away from your dwelling in an approved nursing or care home up to $10,000. in all.

The following special limits of insurance do not apply to loss or damage caused by a “Specified Peril”. We insure:

14. Jewellery, watches, gems, up to $3,000. in all.

15. Fur garments and garments trimmed with fur, up to $3,000. in all.

16. Numismatic property (such as coin collections) up to $500. in all.

17. Manuscripts, stamps and philatelic property (such as stamp collections) up to $2,500. in all.

18. Up to $1,500. on any one bicycle, tricycle or unicycle including its equipment and accessories.

By reviewing these limits and exclusions you can quickly determine if any of these things need additional attention.  (For example;  If you have a boat and motor you can insure it under a different policy or add it to your home policy).  If you have not discussed these limits with your broker now would be a good time to do so.   Some policies have higher limits than the limits given here.   We encourage you to call to verify coverage with us.

Now we have be concerned about where our property is insured.  The particular policy states;

We insure your personal property you normally keep throughout the year at your premises while it is temporarily a way from your premises anywhere in the world.   Personal property usually kept throughout the year at any location you own, rent or occupy, other than at the location(s) specified on the Coverage Summary page, is not insured, but personal property in storage is insured as long as it is not in a vacant private dwelling, vacant private garage, or vacant farm outbuilding. Personal Property stored in a commercial building you rent or own is also insured but personal property in a vacant commercial storage building is not insured.  If you rent a commercial storage unit it would be best to consult your broker to make sure your policy will cover it as not all policies the same.  

So now we know
         What a belonging is.
         What belongings are excluded or limited.
         Where the belongings are insured

The No Hassle Insurance Guy Phone 780-872-5566