Protect Your High Value Items

Ask us about adding a Personal Articles Floater

A typical homeowner’s policy provides all encompassing coverage for your furniture, clothing, appliances, etc., but only limited coverage for some of your more personal belongings. All losses are subject to a deductible, and certain items may have a specific limit. On many policies, this limit can range from $3,000- $5,000.

High value items such as jewellery, silverware, furs, cameras and coin collections, may require additional coverage. As your insurance broker,we can easily provide you with a Personal Articles Floater at a “guaranteed” peace of mind price. With a Personal Articles Floater, you get protection for those items that hold great importance to you, both in value and sentiment.

A Personal Articles Floater (depending on the item) can be purchased with or without a deductible and provides coverage for specific items on an all-risk basis subject to reasonable exclusions. If you lost the stone out of your engagement ring or accidentally broke an antique statue, a personal articles floater would cover what otherwise could be excluded.

Peace of mind can also be bought for other collectibles such as paintings, oriental rugs, rare books and manuscripts; stamps and even wine collections to name a few.

Take time to review your personal property policy and talk to us about protecting your cherished assets with a Personal Articles Floater. When in doubt, just ask – we are here to help.

Take an inventory of your high value possessions

Hire the services of a qualified appraiser to establish the value of your items. A valid appraisal should include eight basic elements:

• Your name and address.
• Purpose of the appraisal or its intended use: donation, estate, insurance, etc.
• Type of evaluation used: Replacement Value or Fair Market Value (for insurance purposes, Replacement Value should be used).
• Market in which valuation is applied (CDN, U.S. dollars).
• Statement of professional qualifications of appraiser.
• Date of Appraisal.
• Statement of physical inspection or method used in determining value, noting all qualifications (description, cut, clarity, size, weight, etc.)
• Statement of belief in authenticity.

Appraisals should be updated at least every five years to ensure that values are not over or understated.

(Copyright: Staying in Touch 2008 – Volume Eighteen, Number Two)

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