How to Deal with a Burglary

We no longer live in a world where it’s safe to leave your front door unlocked. Did you know that, in 2006, one out of every 39 homes was a victim of burglary? Burglary can leave victims feeling ill-at-ease and frustrated at the ordeal of trying to replace their lost or damaged possessions. To replace these items, you will have to deal with your home insurance company.

Most burglary victims can attest to the fact that making a claim on a home insurance policy after the crime occurs is no easy task. The majority of insurance applicants provide only a rough and highly inaccurate estimate of what their belongings are worth when they apply for a home insurance policy. They view the estimate as a way to cut corners and save on premiums, but they don’t realize the implications. Without an exact estimate and inventory of your belongings, you could be in hot water when it comes time to file a claim. Can you recite every item in your home from memory? Probably not . . . especially if you’re also dealing with the emotional aftermath of a burglary. There’s a simple solution to this problem that we’ll discuss in what follows.

An Inventory of Personal Property

Every year when your home insurance policy renews, you should update your personal property inventory. If you are considering switching insurers, you should first go room to room and take an accounting of your belongings. Do this before you even begin shopping around for home insurance rates. Take the inventory with the same amount of detail and attention you would if you had been burglarized. Get serial numbers of items whenever possible and record as many details as you can (e.g., where, when, and for what amount you bought each item). Burglary victims will tell you that a picture or video inventory along with receipts will be lifesavers in the claim process. Your reimbursement will be quicker and easier with these supplements.

Reimbursement

The Insurance Information Institute reports that a regular home insurance policy covers personal property at 50%-70% of the face amount of the policy. As mentioned before, though, documenting the actual value of your belongings will be much easier with a home inventory. Exceptionally valuable items like jewelry, antiques, and collectables are usually protected by a basic policy, but their value may exceed the limits of what the company will pay for any one item. If you want to insure these items for their full replacement value, you will need to get a personal property rider included in your policy. This will increase your premiums, but you will receive extra coverage for your high-dollar items. For instance, you might have a diamond ring that was stolen in a burglary that would be fully covered if you had a personal property rider. The ring would also be covered if you lost it. Riders are fairly easy to add to your policy, but insurers typically require an appraisal before they will insure these items.

Additional Resources

• Deal with Burglary & Prevent Break-Ins
• Burglary Prevention Council

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