Chris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Written By Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Insurance Writer Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
| Deputy Editor, Insurance
Updated: Jul 1, 2024, 5:08am
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Contents insurance reimburses you for theft or damage of your personal property caused by a problem covered by your home insurance or renters insurance policy. It is also called personal property coverage.
Home contents insurance in a renters insurance policy covers your personal property if it’s damaged or destroyed due to many types of events, such as:
Here are the types of personal property often covered by contents insurance:
For example, if a thief breaks into your apartment and steals your laptop, contents coverage will reimburse you for the items. A policy’s contents coverage will also pay you for damage related to a pipe suddenly bursting and destroying your expensive new couch.
How much you get from the insurance company depends on whether you have actual cash value or replacement value coverage. Actual cash value takes into account depreciation when reimbursing you, while replacement value gives you what it will cost to replace it with new items. Replacement cost vs. actual cash value also influences how much you pay for coverage. Replacement cost coverage costs more than actual cash value since you get a higher reimbursement amount when you file a contents coverage claim.
Contents coverage doesn’t cover every type of damage. For instance, renters insurance and home insurance don’t typically cover flood damage. You may need a separate flood insurance policy.
Renters insurance and home insurance also doesn’t cover damage related to basic wear and tear or the full amount for damage to or theft of exceptionally expensive items, such as jewelry and furs. You need to purchase additional insurance, through a scheduled personal property rider, to cover those kinds of high-priced items.
Your homeowners or renters insurance contents insurance, also known as personal property coverage, covers property outside of your home or apartment, too.
Contents insurance generally covers you when your belongings are damaged or stolen from any of the following places:
Contents coverage generally has lower coverage limits for your items when they’re not in your home. For example, if you keep your items in a storage unit, coverage limits could be as little as 10% of your overall contents insurance amount. Talk to your insurance agent and ask to increase coverage limits, if needed.
If you keep extremely expensive jewelry in a storage unit, it might not be covered without a rider. If a flood damages your items in a hotel room, they would not be covered under your homeowners or renters insurance since flood damage isn’t typically covered.
Each insurance policy has coverage limits. An insurer doesn’t cover any damage or losses over the coverage limit.
Contents coverage is often about half of your dwelling coverage in a homeowners insurance policy and can be as little as $10,000 or as much as $250,000 for renters insurance contents coverage. If you don’t have enough contents coverage, ask your insurance company about increasing the limit.
Beyond overall coverage limits, your policy’s content insurance may also come with sub-limits for certain items, such as gold coins or expensive furs. Those items might be covered at a lower amount than your overall contents limit.
Let’s say you have $20,000 worth of jewelry and $30,000 contents coverage. Your policy may have sub-limits for jewelry of only $2,000, so you’re not covered the full $30,000 if your jewelry is stolen.
Here are some examples of sublimits from leading insurance companies Erie, Chubb and American Family.
