Yes, stolen items are covered. Renters insurance costs very little and gives you a lot more than people realize. (like liability coverage if you are sued). For me personally, I insure something valuable the minute I own it and if needed, delete when I no longer have it. Your insurance company might ask you why you're deleted and adding so much but with justification, you should be fine.
Handbag insurance ?
- Thread starter girliegirl
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
Yes, our handbags ARE artwork, however, to insure artwork through most companies, you need an appraisal. You might or might not be able to get an appraisal done on your bag, and you may or may not be able to get your bags covered through your insurance company. However, call your insurance agency to ask - it's worth a try! I am curious to know what company the OP works for. And wear and tear is not covered, so if you wear out the sole on your Jimmy Choos, it would not be covered. I do believe it would cover a heel breaking off though. Very good coverage for the money.
What?Of course our handbags are Artwork!
I think we were being sarcastic when we said our bags are artwork. Look, just call your agent and discuss. I do it for my bags and high end items and for my clients as well. If you have the receipt, scan it into your computer with photo's to save the data. The main reason I brought this up was for theft, especially when traveling overseas.
good luck.
You may PM me with any questions if you'd like. =)
good luck.
You may PM me with any questions if you'd like. =)
I'm looking into this myself at the moment. I've contacted my insurance company and they said they could send someone over to check out what I have. I said I'll call them again after I got some more bags! Perhaps you should contact your insurance company and ask what they think. It's certainly a wise idea - if you'd get a bicycle or the like that costs a fair amount of money, you'd insure it too right?
I asked my insurance company (State Farm) whether I need separate insurance for my bags and she said that bags were covered under household insurance. The main thing is to get a list of the purses to your agent to include with your policy so that they have a record of them before any catastrophe.
Correct.
If bag collection is substantial/worth a lot of $$$, you might ask your agent about raising your limit for personal items on your homeowners to make sure it covers the full value of your collection. If you have anything super expensive, like a croc birkin or something, then you would probably want to have a seperate rider added to the policy for it. Kind of like insuring your wedding ring..............I've been in the insurance business for 25 years and the short answer is - NO! A Personal Lines floater, which is extra coverage you purchase for certain expensive items, will NOT be construed to cover handbags, no matter how much you spent for them. Jewelry, furs, antique silverware, paintings - yes. Purses - no. The wisest thing to do is to increase the limits on the Contents portion of your policy; make sure you have Replacement Cost coverage; and - most important - keep receipts and, if possible - pictures of your most expensive items in a safe place, like a safe deposit box. In the event of a loss, you'll be able to prove to your insurance adjuster what you owned and how much you spent for it. HTH
And make sure you photograph and document everything you have, not just purses, but everything. And keep a copy of everything in a fire safe safe or (better yet) a safety deposit box.
I guess that depends on the country? My insurance agent (the Netherlands) said it would be possible to add handbags to the general house coverage, but that it would be rather expensive.
That would be correct. In the U.S., a property and casualty insurer wouldn't allow a purse to qualify for what is known in the business as a "fine arts" floater - much the same as if one had purchased a $40,000USD television or a couture outfit from Karl Lagerfeld. Fine arts floaters cover things like jewelry, artwork, furs, and silver. To get coverage for more expensive items, you would simply increase the coverage on what is known as the "contents" portion of the policy, which covers your personal property. I have had experience with clients who wanted coverage for truly one-of-a-kind items, and for that, we usually obtained a special policy via Lloyd's, which cost quite a bit of money.
for those of you with several designer bags, do you add extra insurance on your homeowner's? if so, do you only get it for the purchase price or what the bag is worth today? It is time for me to renew mine & I am not sure what I should do, I have several older Louis Vuitton pieces and feel I may should insure them.
I've sifted through many standard insurance carriers' homeowner policies looking for this type of coverage. Unfortunately, many of them will not create a 'schedule' for purses, itemizing each one and placing a specific value on it. Purses are covered under your contents coverage (coverage "C") on a homeowners policy. They will schedule things like jewelry, silverware, firearms, stamp collections and musical instruments, but not purses! Personally, I think insurance companies are missing out on some excellent premium by ignoring this opportunity!
Here are some recommendations:
1. keep a list of all your purses, including model types, date codes, and purchase value, with photos. Keep it someplace safe in your home, and back it up off-site-- such as on the internet or in a safe deposit box. You can give your insurance agent a copy, too, just to cover all your bases. That way, there will be no dispute over what you actually owned in the event of a total loss to your property. Check the valuation language on your homeowners policy to make sure that you have "replacement cost" coverage on your contents. In the event of a claim, they will pay you what it costs to replace what you lost, up to the policy's limits. Also check your policy's "coverage C' limit; most companies take 75% of whatever your home (dwelling/coverage "A") is insured for, and that's how much coverage you have for all your goodies. So, if your home is insured for $100,000, you automatically have $75,000 in personal property (contents) coverage. Think of all the stuff you own, plus your purses, and see if you're comfortable with that amount. (Again, check with your insurance company; most follow the 75% rule, but there are some odd ones out there.) Your agent may be able to endorse your policy with a higher "blanket" limit of personal property, if you feel 75% isn't enough. This all depends on the insurance company.
2. If you have a truly exquisite collection, and your personal property coverage in your homeowners policy just isn't adequate, ask you agent about finding you a floater policy in an excess or surplus lines market. Some of these markets can create special purse-only policies where you can itemize each one and attach a specific value to it. And with these floater policies, you'll have more options on how you can place a value on your purses. Besides "replacement cost," there are other valuation options, such as "actual cash value" and "agreed amount." You can imagine that some purses are irreplaceable for whatever reason, or actually increase in value over time, so you may need to think outside of the box with your agent while getting coverage placed. It is very common for people with large wine collections need to get this type of coverage, since booze isn't normally one of the scheduled personal property categories on a standard homeowners policy.
~~Can you imagine trying to file a claim for that? "Oops, I had a bad day and drank $20,000 worth of my collection. Can the company reimburse me for that?"~~ lol
3. OK, now to complicate things, there are at least 3 insurance companies out there that cater to high valued property. They offer things like "guarateed replacement cost" and "higher blanket limits of property" which may eliminate your need to obtain a separate policy for your purses in the excess and surplus lines market. Your renewal is coming up. Call your agent and tell them your situation! If you don't have an agent, go find one (independent agents are great at these types of things.) You may be perfectly fine with a basic homeowners policy, but you may need something extra. They will know. They're getting paid to know these things.
Sorry for rambling. I hope this helps!
Here are some recommendations:
1. keep a list of all your purses, including model types, date codes, and purchase value, with photos. Keep it someplace safe in your home, and back it up off-site-- such as on the internet or in a safe deposit box. You can give your insurance agent a copy, too, just to cover all your bases. That way, there will be no dispute over what you actually owned in the event of a total loss to your property. Check the valuation language on your homeowners policy to make sure that you have "replacement cost" coverage on your contents. In the event of a claim, they will pay you what it costs to replace what you lost, up to the policy's limits. Also check your policy's "coverage C' limit; most companies take 75% of whatever your home (dwelling/coverage "A") is insured for, and that's how much coverage you have for all your goodies. So, if your home is insured for $100,000, you automatically have $75,000 in personal property (contents) coverage. Think of all the stuff you own, plus your purses, and see if you're comfortable with that amount. (Again, check with your insurance company; most follow the 75% rule, but there are some odd ones out there.) Your agent may be able to endorse your policy with a higher "blanket" limit of personal property, if you feel 75% isn't enough. This all depends on the insurance company.
2. If you have a truly exquisite collection, and your personal property coverage in your homeowners policy just isn't adequate, ask you agent about finding you a floater policy in an excess or surplus lines market. Some of these markets can create special purse-only policies where you can itemize each one and attach a specific value to it. And with these floater policies, you'll have more options on how you can place a value on your purses. Besides "replacement cost," there are other valuation options, such as "actual cash value" and "agreed amount." You can imagine that some purses are irreplaceable for whatever reason, or actually increase in value over time, so you may need to think outside of the box with your agent while getting coverage placed. It is very common for people with large wine collections need to get this type of coverage, since booze isn't normally one of the scheduled personal property categories on a standard homeowners policy.
~~Can you imagine trying to file a claim for that? "Oops, I had a bad day and drank $20,000 worth of my collection. Can the company reimburse me for that?"~~ lol
3. OK, now to complicate things, there are at least 3 insurance companies out there that cater to high valued property. They offer things like "guarateed replacement cost" and "higher blanket limits of property" which may eliminate your need to obtain a separate policy for your purses in the excess and surplus lines market. Your renewal is coming up. Call your agent and tell them your situation! If you don't have an agent, go find one (independent agents are great at these types of things.) You may be perfectly fine with a basic homeowners policy, but you may need something extra. They will know. They're getting paid to know these things.
Sorry for rambling. I hope this helps!
Last edited: