Hi, My Name's Liesel

Have you ever lost your luggage or had something stolen from your hotel room or rental car? If so, you may have filed a claim against the airlines, the hotel, or even against your travel insurance or credit card. But you may not have realized that reimbursement may have been closer to home than that. If you have homeowners insurance, you have off-premises theft coverage. What does this part of your homeowner's insurance cover, and how much coverage do you have? Read on for more information.

What Does Off-Premise Theft Insurance Cover? 

Off-premise theft coverage covers your personal belongings if they are lost or stolen inside or outside your home. Off-premise theft coverage includes the following:

• Your luggage
• Items in your hotel room
• Things stolen from your car
• Items in storage

Your coverage may include items in your child's college dorm room but not if they have moved into an off-campus apartment. If your child lives off-campus, you must cover their belongings with a separate renter's policy.

Unfortunately, only some things are covered, and there are also coverage limits. 

How Much Off-Premise Coverage Does Your Policy Include?

Most homeowner's insurance policies limit your personal property coverage to 50 to 70% of your dwelling coverage. For example, if you insure your home for $500,000, you may only have $250,000 to $350,000 worth of coverage on your personal property.

Off-premise coverage is often a small percentage of this coverage. Most policies max out at 10% of your personal property coverage. Using the above example, a 10% maximum means you would only have $25,000 to $35,000 worth of off-premise coverage. 

But limits do not stop there. Many insurance companies set a maximum dollar amount for specific items such as jewelry, electronics, furs, and other expensive items.

So even if you have $25,000 off-premise coverage, your homeowner's insurance may limit your electronics to $1,500 or less. These limits mean that if someone steals your child's expensive laptop from their dorm room, your insurance company may not cover the total cost of replacing it.

Fortunately, there are two ways to ensure you have adequate coverage in your home insurance. They are as follows:

• Raise the limit of your liability - While this is the least expensive option, you will still only have limited amounts of insurance available for your property to cover your loss. 
• Purchase a floater policy - Your second option is more expensive but will provide better coverage for your possessions. In addition to providing additional coverage limits, a floater policy may also expand coverage to losses not typically covered in your home insurance policies. 

Speak to a homeowners insurance agent about the coverage you need.