Is my personal property insured by my home insurance while traveling?

Insuring your personal property with home insurance does more than protect them when you are at home. The personal property coverage in most policies includes coverage for items that are lost, stolen, or damaged when you are traveling. For example, if your luggage is stolen before you can retrieve it at the terminal, your insurance will provide coverage up to an amount specified in your policy.

Depending on the value of the items you are taking with you, it may be more practical to purchase travel insurance or even insure the items separately. Many insurance companies will exclude expensive portable electronics, for example, but they will provide you with a rider policy on your home insurance to cover those items independently.

You will still have to pay deductibles on items claimed while traveling. If the deductible amount is not much higher than the claim value, it may be in your best long-term interest to go ahead and pay the full cost out of pocket. Insurance claims are kept in a database for 7 years, and having too many claims, or claiming multiple high values, could result in being turned down the next time you apply for coverage. At the very best, such a circumstance would lead to paying higher rates for the same coverage.

Another thing to be considered is whether your policy is written for full replacement coverage or actual cash value. ACV policies only pay you a depreciated value on your property, leaving you to pay the remainder of the cost out of pocket. Dull Replacement Value insurance pays the full cost of replacing your items, but it also means paying slightly higher premiums. If you are insuring valuable items, it is usually worth the cost to have FRV coverage so that you know your property is protected.