Expensive Gifts for Mothers and Fathers Day
Posted on May 27, 2021
It’s nice when your children are able to purchase expensive gifts for your Mother’s Day and Father’s Day festivities. These gifts are from the heart, but they also have a monetary value.
For this reason, it’s important to make sure you get the right type of insurance coverage to protect their investments in your happiness.
While you may believe your property insurance automatically covers these items, that isn’t necessarily the case. If it does, it may only offer protection for a fraction of the item’s actual value. Here’s what you need to know about insuring your expensive Mother’s and Father’s Day gifts.
Depreciation Matters More than You Realize
Depreciation can take a real bite out of the value of items you own — and in a relatively short amount of time. When you buy insurance for the gifts you receive, it’s vital to seek insurance for the replacement values of those items rather than the “actual cash value.” The latter refers to the original price less depreciation, while replacement value protection covers the cost of replacing the item in today’s market.
Theft Coverage is Often Limited by Insurance
In fact, theft coverage for most household items, like jewelry, may be limited to only $1,000 or $2,000 (for all of your jewelry in total and not for each piece) with most insurance policies. If your valuable gift costs more than this, you’ll want to purchase a floater policy or endorsement for the value of that individual item.
This is something you should consider for all your costly items, such as:
- Furniture
- Computer equipment
- Photography equipment
- Furs
- Jewelry
- Sports equipment
- Musical instruments
- Electronics equipment
- Fine art
- Expensive purses/handbags
- Designer sunglasses
- Collectibles
Work with the experienced team at Otterstedt Insurance Agency to determine which items you need to have specialized coverage for and the best way to go about getting that coverage. For the most part, a few dollars each month can net you tens of thousands of dollars in savings when it comes to replacing prized possessions if a covered event occurs.
Provide Your Insurance Provider with Appraisal Documents
One way to be sure you’re getting an accurate amount of insurance protection for your expensive items and gifts is to provide your insurance company with a copy of appraisal documentation stating the worth of those items.
By doing this, you can insure the items for the appropriate amount and know that your items are protected should the unthinkable happen to your home, whether that is a fire, burglary, or windstorm.
Appraisal documentation is always good to have in your personal records. Still, you also want to make sure that the insurance company has a copy of the documentation if your records are taken or destroyed along with your prized possessions. That way, the insurance company has a paper trail to follow up with when evaluating your insurance claim.
Keep an Inventory of Your Possessions and Update it Regularly
It’s even better if you include photographs of these items (and, if possible, scanned or photographed receipts for the purchase of these items). With cloud data storage so widely available, you can easily upload your list and the images so that you can retrieve the information even if something happens to your home computer, files, etc.
It will make it much easier for you to think of all the valuable items you own, make it possible for the insurance company to warn you of things that may require additional insurance protection, and make it easier for you to recall all the items lost if your home is destroyed or burglarized.
If You Don’t Know if an Item is Protected, Ask
It is much better to know you have the insurance protection you hope you have than to find out when you need it that you do not. If you have questions about the coverage of specific items, then you must ask if those items are protected by your insurance policy.
It harms nothing to ask the question. Plus, doing so can save you a world of worry and frustration down the road. This is especially true if you do not have the protection you thought you had. Working with an independent insurance provider, like Otterstedt Insurance Agency, can also help you shop around and compare prices and coverage options.
Otterstedt Insurance Agency has been serving the insurance needs of families throughout New Jersey and surrounding areas for more than 100 years.
We remain as committed today to customer service as we were when our agency was first founded. We understand that the best insurance is about the people who need protection and not about selling policies. This is why we work for you, to get you the coverage that delivers the greatest peace of mind at the fairest prices.
