What Is an Insurance Floater?

Floater insurance is a type of insurance policy that covers easily movable personal property. A floater provides additional coverage beyond the standard coverage from homeowners insurance policies. Also known as a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:personal property floater, it can cover anything from jewelry and fu𓄧rs to expensive stereo equipment.

How Floater Insurance Works

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Homeowners insurance typically includes coverage for all perils in your policy, such as fire, windstorm, theft, and vandalism. The coverage also extends to jewelry and other precious items like watches and furs. However, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:jewelry and other small valuables are easily stolen🥂, posing a higher risk to the insurer.

As a result, insurance companies usually place limits on the dollar amount of coverage for certain valuables. These limits help keep a standard homeowners policy affordable and usually provide about $1,500 in coverage for personal valuables. In other words, the insurer won’t pay more than this established dollar limit for each item.

If you want full coverage, you must buy a floater policy—also called a personal article floater. The floater assures the homeowner will receive the full value when replacing the item in the event of theft, loss, or damage. These policies generally cover one individual item with a detailed description. If you have several items for which you want full coverage, you must buy a floater for each one.

Flജoater insurance typically covers the followi𒈔ng:

• Fine Art: Antiques, books, china, crystal, collectibles, fine arts, furniture, glass, lithographs, mirrors, rugs, tapestries, paintings, pictures, sculptures, and silverware
• Firearms: Both antique and modern
• Jewelry: Necklaces, earrings, rings, luxury wristwatches, and more
• Cameras: Cameras of any type, projectors, and audio-visual equipment for personal use only, not professional use
• Sporting Equipment: Golf clubs, surfboards, tennis racquets, or other types of equipment for personal use only
• Musical Instruments: Pianos, guitars, electronics, and other types of music equipment for personal use only
• Postage Stamps: Postage stamps and related items
• Collections: Collectible coins (including gold and silver), baseball cards, comics, LPs and CDs, and other collections

If you have an outstanding mortgage loan, your mortgage lender will require you to buy a standard homeowners insurance po🎶licy but will not require you to purchase a floater for your personal valuables.

Special Considerations

For those who own jewelry, furs, collectibles, or other costly or irreplaceable items, there are two ways you can increase insurance c🥂overag𓆏e to levels more in line with the value of those items. 

Floater Policy

Purchasing a floater policy involves listing, or scheduling, your individual valuables to obtain the broadest protection for your valuables. Floaters cover losse💜s෴ of any type, including those your homeowners insurance policy will not cover, such as accidental losses—losing a ring down a drain or leaving an expensive camera in a hotel room. Before you can purchase a floater, items intended for coverage must be appraised by a professional.

It’s important to revisit floater policies and have your items appraised every o🌼ne to three years to ensure the valuations are current. Also, be sure to add new purchases, such as birthday and holiday gifts.

Raised Liability Limits

Increasing the liability limit can be a less expensive alternative than purchasing a floater policy for each valuable item. However, coverages 🍬ar🦋e limited for both individual pieces and overall losses. For example, the coverage limits for an individual item could be $2,000, with a total limit of $5,000.

Example of Floater Insurance

Susan has just bought a new piece of jewelry worth $50,000 and has decided to buy a floater insurance policy꧒ to guard against theft and dama𒊎ge to the piece.

As part of the insurance process, a reputable jeweler appraises the jewelry to determine its value and whether it's genuine. Subsequently, the insurance company puts a premium price on the item of 1% of its ✱assessed value, or $500.

There are two types of claims available for the piece. The first will pay꧂ for repairs to the piece, while the other will replace it at actual value. Because jewelry value does not depreciate with time—and can increase in some cases—the insurance company establishes a cap on the amount they will pay Susan in either case.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Bottom Line

Homeowners can extend their existing homeowners insurance coverage for easily movable property by purchasing floater insurance. A floater usually covers only one item, such as a piece of jewelry. You can also boost the coverage of your existing policy by raising the liability limit for personal items instead of buying floaters.