Personal lines · independent broker
Collections & valuables.
Jewelry, art, watches, fine wine, firearms, musical instruments, collectibles. Standard homeowners caps theft on jewelry around $1,500–$2,500 — often less than a single piece.
What it is.
Standard homeowners caps theft on jewelry around $1,500-$2,500 — often less than a single ring. A scheduled-articles policy lists each piece individually with an appraisal, removes the deductible, broadens perils to include mysterious disappearance, and covers worldwide. Premium typically runs 1-1.5% of scheduled value per year.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
$28K wedding ring lost in Florida. No theft, just disappeared. Standard homeowners excludes mysterious disappearance entirely. Scheduled policy with agreed value pays $28K, no deductible, no fuss.
Six watches stolen in a home break-in totaling $42K. Homeowners would have capped this around $2,500. Scheduled policy pays full value of each piece, item by item, in 10 days.
One half of a $14K earring set damaged beyond repair. Pair-and-set provision pays for the matching half (you get $14K, not $7K) so you can replace the complete set.
How to read a collections policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
Do I need an appraisal to schedule?
Yes. Most carriers require appraisals less than 5 years old. We can recommend GIA-certified appraisers for jewelry and AAA-certified for art.
How often should I update appraisals?
Every 3-5 years for stable categories (vintage watches, gold jewelry); 2-3 years for volatile categories (contemporary art, certain colored stones). We flag this on every renewal.
What's 'agreed value' vs 'actual cash value'?
Agreed value = the dollar figure on the schedule. ACV = whatever a 'comparable item' is selling for at the moment of loss. Agreed value is the standard for scheduled policies; ACV is what most homeowners default to.
Does the policy follow when items are at a third-party (jeweler, museum loan)?
Most scheduled policies cover items in transit and at third parties. Always disclose; some carriers require notice before extended periods at jewelers or galleries.
Want a second read on your collections policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.