When it comes to protecting your home, property insurance is a must-have. However, many homeowners are unaware of the additional benefits that property insurance can provide beyond just coverage for the physical structure of their home. From personal property protection to identity theft protection, property insurance can offer a wide range of protections for your assets. In this article, we'll explore the surprising benefits of property insurance and show you how you can use it to protect more than just your home.
Without further ado, here are 4 property insurance covers beyond your home:
1. Personal Liability Off the Property
While most people are familiar with liability insurance on your property, some may not know that this extends outside of the home. Liability on your insurance property would cover damage that occurs to someone else's person or property. A very Canadian example of this is if someone were to slip and fall on your driveway. If they were injured or had some kind of property damaged, they would seek damages against you. In this case, your property insurance would cover those damages.
What about someone else's property when it's not attached to your physical home? An interesting example that comes to mind is when children inadvertently cause damage to someone else's property. Imagine you take your family to a nice afternoon trip to the local art museum. Before you go in, you of course remind your children to look with their eyes and not with their hands. Of course they listen very intently and promise to not break anything. Not 5 minutes go buy and you hear a group of people gasp loudly. You turn to see the commotion only to see your child triumphantly standing overtop of a $300,000 marble sculpture, crumbled into thousands of pieces. Once the horror and embarrassment have washed over you, you now realize you have $300,000 bill.
Even if it had been an accident, it was a member of your household that was responsible for the damage. It's fairly unlikely you have $300,000 laying around in "destroyed fine art fund". In this case, your liability insurance would financially cover you for the damages caused. Even though this did not take place in your home, you still have liability coverage.
2. Your Personal Property In Vehicles
In the event of a total loss or damage, your auto insurance will only cover the damage that has been done to your vehicle. The things that you have inside of the vehicle are not going to be covered the same way.
Imaging you're trying your hand at becoming a professional YouTuber and decide you're going to do a Vlog touring all of the great monuments in Alberta to show the world. You go an show off the the Vegreville Pysanka (Easter egg), the Mundare Sausage, the Barrhead Giant Blue Heron, and the Fahler Giant Honeybee.
For your trip you have $10,000 in camera equipment, $2,200 in lighting equipment, and $2,800 in computer gear. On your long day of driving you pull over for gas at a rural gas station. You get out of the car and go into the gas station to pay and use the washroom. Within the 5 minutes you were out of your vehicle, someone has hopped in the drivers seat and made off with your vehicle.
After you've filled out your police report and gotten a ride back to your house, you make a claim with your auto insurance company for your stolen vehicle. But what about the $15,000 in personal property that the thief made off with? Well, that's where your home insurance policy would come into effect. Your property insurance may have coverage for your personal property even though it wasn't anywhere near your home. Although it sucks to have your property stolen, having the right property coverage can keep you protected even outside the home.
3. Big Ticket Items Without a Separate Policy
Shifting back towards your house, you may have big ticket items on your property that might not have their own policy. Of course things like boats, RV's, and ATV's will have their own coverage, but you might have big ticket items that do not have special coverage. Things like utility trailers, high value musical instruments, jewelry, expensive electronics, antiques and collectibles, and the list goes on. For high value items like these, you purchase special coverage on these items to make sure they are adequately covered in the event of a total loss.
This is called scheduling on your insurance and can be done with most major companies. Scheduling can be a little bit complicated, if you want full details you check out this article on scheduling assets on your home or tenant policy.
4. Identity Theft
Last but certainly not least, identity theft coverage. Many property insurance policies have additional clauses to offer coverage in the event of identity theft. Depending on the company you're with and the policy you have, you could be covered for $10,000 and up to cover legal fees and other expenses. For more information on identity theft coverage, you can read this article on getting covered for identity theft.
Final Thoughts
Property insurance is not just limited to covering the physical structure of your home. It offers a wide range of protection for against personal liability, personal property (even outside the home), expensive belongings without separate policies, and identity theft. Understanding these benefits can help you maximize the value of your property insurance and ensure that you have the right coverage to protect your assets. Whether you're dealing with personal liability, theft, or damage to your property, having the right property insurance can give you peace of mind and financial protection. So, be sure to take advantage of all the surprising benefits that property insurance has to offer and make sure you have the coverage you need to protect your assets.
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