Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Personal Property Outside of My Home?

In addition to covering the structure and integrity of the home itself, homeowners insurance also protects your personal items both inside and outside of your home. That means if your personal items are stolen from your car, it's your homeowners insurance — not your auto insurance — that is needed to cover your losses. 

Off-Premises Property Insurance: What’s Covered?

If someone smashes your car window and steals your clothes, jewelry, gifts or anything else you own out of your car, your policy’s personal property coverage is designed to reimburse you for the items, while your auto insurance policy would have coverage for the cost of repairing the broken window. Most homeowners policies come with an off-premises coverage limit of 10% of your personal property coverage limit. That means if you have $100,000 in personal property coverage, you’d have up to $10,000 in off-premises coverage to replace personal items stolen from your car, hotel room or anywhere else in the world. This can go towards replacing a variety of things, including:

• Road Trip Essentials. Luggage, phones, tablets — all the things that make a long drive in the car a bit more bearable are typically all covered under your homeowners insurance policy.
• What’s Inside Your Wallet. In the case of a lost or stolen purse or wallet, you may have a small amount of coverage for lost cash. For an added layer of protection, consider identity theft coverage. 
• Gifts for Loved Ones. Even if you weren’t intending to keep all the items you just splurged on, they still count as personal property and would be covered under your homeowners policy.

Limits to Personal Property Coverage

Standard personal property coverage has set limits for the replacement of high-value items, such as jewelry and fine art. For example, a jewelry limit may be capped at $1,000, so if your wedding ring is stolen out of your car, homeowners insurance will only pay up to $1,000 for its replacement, even if the ring is worth far more. For high-value or unique items like your wedding ring, scheduled personal property coverage offers an added layer of protection - meaning an agreed upon value is established with your insurance provider before you are approved.

Check Your Coverage

One high-ticket item that isn’t covered by homeowners insurance? Your car. If the car itself is stolen, you will need Comprehensive coverage on your auto to cover the loss. When you bundle your homeowners and auto coverage with us, we can protect your car and what’s inside — contact a Farm Bureau Agent to learn more.