Picking Up An Extra Rider

Picking Up An Extra Rider

Standard policies often don’t cover the things you value the most

A rider is an extra piece of insurance that covers special property in special circumstances. For example, if you read the fine print of your policy, you may discover that jewelry is covered up to a specified amount against certain named perils. But what if your necklace is stolen and theft isn’t one of the named perils? You’re out of luck – unless you have a rider. Some circumstances in which you might consider adding a rider to your policy:

You own jewelry: Many basic insurance policies exclude theft from named perils when it comes to jewelry and limit coverage to a maximum payout of $1,500.

A jewelry rider – also known as a personal articles policy generally costs about $1.20 per $100 of coverage. The policy should itemize each piece of jewelry insured, including its apprised value. If the piece is lost or stolen, you and your insurance company have already agreed on its worth. The rider will cover replacement of the insured items wherever or however they’re lost.

Extra Rider Insurance. Photo by Elena

You own silverware: Silverware generally is covered for everything but theft and usually limited to $2,500 worth of coverage. The cost of a rider is usually less than $1 per $100 of coverage.

You own oriental rugs: Standard homeowner policies limit the reimbursement for damae to oriental rugs to a determined price for one each and for the total. You can buy an oriental rug rider for about the same price as a silverware rider.

You own art or antiques: Basic policies usually limit contents coverage to 50 percent to 75 percent of the face value of your homeowner’s policy. That may not be enough if you have a lot of expensive antiques. Fine arts riders come surprisingly cheap, costing about 25 cents per $100 of coverage.

You own computer gear: Your homeowner’s policy may not cover the full cost of your tech stuff – particularly if you have a home office. Rates vary, but it should cost about $50 to $100 a year to increase coverage to $10,000 from the standard $2,500 coverage for office equipment and furniture.