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A lot of homeowners do not realize that standard homeowner insurance policies issued by nationwide insurance companies do not automatically cover every little piece of jewelry they own in the event that they get stolen.

In order to avoid being in a situation where the insurance carrier refuses to pay for the entire cost of your stolen valuables, you should do the following actions:

• Inspect your homeowner policy – it is only smart to determine what your policy actually covers in terms of jewelry and up to how much. It is also important that you check the circumstances in which the carrier will pay for the loss of your jewelry. Although most nationwide insurance companies do cover stolen jewelry, the amount could only reach up to $2,000.
• Consider getting a rider – also known as floaters, riders are actually additional policies. You can get one to specifically cover the total cost of your collection. Usually, carriers just charge a small percent of the item’s value. For example, State Farm Insurance would charge about $175 annually for a jewelry collection in New York City valued at $10,000. The amount can vary from city to city.
• Insure your favorite items – many people fail to see that wearing a particular jewelry everyday increases its chances of getting lost or stolen. For this reason, it is important that you also insure items valued at $1000 or more as well as those which you think are irreplaceable or holds a sentimental value.
• Get everything appraised – before you decide to take out a rider for your jewelry, it would only be logical to have them appraised to know their current value. This way, you know how much coverage you will need. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, it is best that you have your jewelry collection appraised every couple of years since its value can change.
• Put it in writing – protecting your valuables is not only the job of nationwide insurance companies. You should also be responsible about keeping the important insurance documents including the appraisal and policy receipt. Make sure that you have made copies of the original and keep them in separate places. Of course, you should ensure that your jewelry are stored somewhere safe.

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Homeowners insurance policies cover different perils so you need to make sure that all the possible perils in your location are covered by your home insurance policy.

If there is a peril in your state that is not covered by your policy, you need to call your insurance agent or your insurance firm about why you were not informed about the omission of the peril and how you can add coverage for the peril in question.

Generally, there are three types of house insurance policies based on the number and kind of perils covered: HO1, which covers your home from 11 basic perils; HO2, which covers your house from 18 perils, including 11 perils covered by HO1; and HO3, which covers your home from a lot of perils, including some perils not covered by HO2.

The 11 basic perils covered by HO1 are loss of house or damage to house due to fire or lightning, vehicles, windstorm or hail, smoke, explosions, theft, malicious mischief and vandalism, riot or civil disturbance, aircraft, breakage of glass that constitutes part of the structure and loss of property within the premises due to fire and the other covered perils.

Under the HO2 type of homeowners insurance, the perils covered are the 11 perils covered by an HO1 policy, in addition to 7 more perils: collapse of the building; weight of snow, sleet or ice; freezing of heating, air conditioning or plumbing systems and house appliances; falling objects; accidental discharge or leakage of steam or water from a heating, air conditioning or plumbing system or from a house appliance; accidental breaking, bulging or burning of a hot water system or a water heating appliance.

Meanwhile, the HO3 covers all the perils covered by HO1 and HO2 in addition to all other perils listed in the policy, except earthquake, flood, war and nuclear accident.

In all the three types of house insurance policies, the coverage for your personal property such as art, antiques and jewelry have limits, so if you believe the limits are not adequate to cover your valuables, increase your limits for personal possessions for an additional charge.

Home insurance policies issued by insurance companies may differ in the kind of perils or in the names of perils covered.

When choosing a homeowners insurance policy, look at the list of exclusions and ask your insurance agent or company for a quote if you like to cover a particular peril.

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Find house insurance that protects you from all possible losses, such as the loss of your home, loss of personal belongings, losses arising from personal liabilities and losses from disasters not covered by standard home insurance policies.

A standard home insurance policy covers your house and its contents in case of damage, theft and losses due to fire and other natural disasters except flood and earthquake. Your standard policy also covers your personal liability in case someone gets injured while staying within your property.

Since there are natural disasters that are too costly for insurance firms to cover, these risks are not covered in a standard house insurance policy. Policies that cover these risks should be purchased separately from the same insurance firm or an insurance agency tasked by the federal government to cover such risks.

If your house is located in an earthquake-prone area, purchase a separate earthquake insurance. Likewise, if you live in a flood-prone area, get a separate flood insurance. Buy your flood coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA covers your losses due to floods after your community is declared a federal disaster area.

If you live in Florida, a state often battered by hurricanes, buy a separate hurricane insurance, although many Florida home insurance policies already incorporate hurricane coverage.

There are also other natural-disaster risks such as tornadoes, blizzards and windstorms that are not covered in many standard policies so if your area has these risks, find house insurance that cover these special risks. Always check with your state insurance commissioner before buying special insurance policies because your state may have a program that helps residents about purchasing these special policies.

If you live in a place where there are lots of vandalism, theft, riots and other kinds of crime or if you live in an area where it is often battered by severe weather conditions, most insurance companies do not like to insure you. If you decide to stay in the area for a longer time, ask for information from the Insurance Information Institute about the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plans. This program allows residents in high-risk places to get home insurance policies.

Additionally, you can also contact the Institute for Business and Home Safety on how to reduce property losses from adverse events if you cannot find house insurance company to insure your house because of your location.

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