Your new engagement and wedding rings are beautiful, and your husband paid dearly for them.
You got a new big-screen plasma television for Christmas, with a home theater system.
You bought a new computer so that you can play the latest games (and maybe use it for your finances, too).
These are all major purchases, and they are things of which you are proud. And you should be! But what if something happened to them? Do you know if your homeowners or renters policy will cover them? Do you know if they will be replaced at the full value, or if the payment will be reduced for depreciation? Do you know if they are covered if they are stolen, lost, or broken?
In this article, we will examine jewelry, electronics, and computer equipment separately. As always, you should check with your agent, because each company’s policy is a little bit different.
What does a typical homeowners policy cover?
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Still haven’t made a list of your home’s belongings? What are you waiting for? If you read my other articles, you know it’s not as daunting as it seems. OK, I understand. You just haven’t found the right time to do it. You haven’t found a good enough opportunity to plunge into this task. Well, let’s make a deal. If I give you three good opportunities when you should do an inventory, will you do it? Great! Here are three good times to conduct a home inventory.
During spring cleaning. Now, I know I advise you to clean your home prior to conducting an inventory, so you can logically conclude that any time you are cleaning your home, it’s also an excellent opportunity to make a list of your stuff. Now, when I say cleaning your home, I’m not talking about when you move stuff around, because company is coming over. I’m talking about a thorough cleaning. Spring cleaning is the time when you move furniture away from the walls to mop behind it. While the computer desk is away from the wall, take a moment to copy down the serial number, make, and model of your monitor, printer, and CPU. When the entertainment center is away from the wall, get the information from the back of your DVD player, television, and stereo. You get the point. This is a classic opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
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