While owning personal property is an important part of your landlord’s insurance, it is a good idea to carefully review your policy to understand what can help protect that insurance. You may find that additional coverage, called expected personal property, can help protect some of your most valuable items.
To properly protect your belongings, you need to know a little more about the differences between the two types of coverage.

Is Standard Personal Property Insurance Enough?

While a standard policy for homeowners usually covers your personal property, you can set a dollar limit on the amount you pay for certain categories of valuables such as jewelry (sometimes there is even a limit per item ).
For example, there may be a sub-limit of $1,500 on what your insurance will pay for jewelry after theft, although the overall limit for your personal property is much higher. So if you complained about the theft of a $500 jewel, you would probably be in good shape. However, if the stolen jewelry was worth $2,500, it will likely only be covered up to the floor of $1,500 (assuming, of course, that it is a loss covered by your policy).

HOW PLANNED PERSONAL PROPERTY CAN HELP

This is where planned coverage for personal property comes in. This is an optional addition to your home insurance which covers more risks and may increase coverage limits for certain high-quality items.Here are some things to consider when planning to cover personal property:

• Jewels and furs
• Art and antiques
• Stamp or coin collections
• Firearms
• Musical instruments
• Expensive cameras

In order to receive the intended items, you generally need to present your insurance company with an up-to-date receipt or professional evaluation, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III).