Get the right insurance for your gifts

Does homeowners insurance cover gifts? The short answer is yes, but the longer answer is maybe, and it depends. Holiday gift giving is great, but without holiday gift insurance, you’re potentially leaving those gifts at risk.

While homeowners insurance covers possessions in the home, some items like fine art or jewelry would benefit from some additional coverage. Take this example: Erilyn doesn’t have much jewelry; she estimates the total worth of her jewelry to be about $500. She was gifted a necklace worth $400. Erilyn’s current homeowners insurance likely covers her gift because the total value of all of her jewelry is $900 and homeowners policies typically cover $1,500 in jewelry. However, to be safe, she should check her policy to see exactly what jewelry coverage she has.

Another example: Stephanie also had about $500 in jewelry. This year, her grandmother passes down $4,000 worth of jewelry bringing the total value of her jewelry to $4,500, well over the limit for most homeowners policies. Overnight, Stephanie went from having sufficient jewelry coverage to not enough. For Stephanie, additional insurance is necessary.

Those examples were jewelry, but the lessons apply to many big-ticket items. Look at your policy to see your limits and if the gifts you’ve received push you over the threshold making increased insurance for holiday gifts a must.

Here are some common gifts that you may need additional coverage for.

• Jewelry – look at your renters or homeowners policy to determine if you need to add additional coverage for these gifts, based on the value of new gifts received.
• Dog – pets can be a great gift for a family and pet insurance means that they can live a long and happy life with yours.
• Trampoline – these are a lot of fun, often to trespassers as well as your children. Talk to the VIU by HUB Advisory Team about how to insure recreational toys.
• Drone – drone insurance isn’t required for commercial or recreational drone usage but if you’re considering protection, look into drone liability insurance, which protects you in case your drone damages someone’s property, or hull insurance, which protects the drone itself.
• Car – while a fantastic gift, cars do require the owner to pay for insurance. We’ve covered all you need to know about auto insurance before and would be happy to help you find the auto insurance policy that’s right for you.

But what if you’re the giver, not the receiver?

What can you do to protect your purchases this holiday season?

We know that homeowners insurance does cover gifts in certain circumstances, after they’ve been gifted. There are ways to protect items before they’re gifted as well. A typical homeowners policy will cover up to $2,500 for a single item. If the gift you’re giving costs less than that, you probably don’t have to do anything. If it costs more than that, you may want to consider temporarily increasing your coverage. It’s a small increase, so it’s likely worth it for the peace of mind. Talk to the VIU by HUB Advisory Team about the gifts you’ve purchased, your policy and your aversion to risk to get personalized advice for you.

Now you’ve got coverage for the gifts you have wrapped and are waiting to give. You know to get coverage for the gifts you will have received. What about the gifts that don’t make it?

Are gifts stolen from my home covered by insurance?

The good news is that home insurance covers porch pirate theft in addition to burglary. However, this is only useful if the cost of your stolen gifts or deliveries are more than your deductible. It’s worth checking with your credit card company to look into purchase protection features that they may offer.

It’s best to consider tips for avoiding holiday theft rather than insurance tips for after holiday theft. We’ve put together some things that you can do at home to keep your gifts and deliveries safe.

• Leave the lights on while you’re out and use a timer while you’re away – this makes it look like someone is home. Thieves usually avoid occupied homes.
• Keep packages and gifts in your trunk rather than your backseat – theft from a car is usually a crime of opportunity. An empty car may deter thieves from breaking into your car.
• Have your mail held while you travel – mail piled up shows that no one is home, and that no one is coming to check in on things.
• Bring packages inside as soon as you can – porch pirating is also, usually, a crime of opportunity. If the packages are inside, the opportunity is gone.
• Be cautious when throwing away packaging – putting the box for your new PS5 on the curb, or even in your bin, tells thieves that your home has a new PS5.