The Personal Articles Floater: Insuring Past the Limits of the HO3 Insurance Policy

One of the few crucial investments people make in their lives is their house. Every homeowner has a special place in their hearts for their house. So naturally, they have insurance for their homes. But most homeowners don’t realize that their personal property might be two or three times more expensive than the house itself. And the only protection they have for their property is the standard HO3 insurance policy.

If your client gets robbed clean, could you guarantee that the HO3 insurance policy replaces everything? Probably not. The HO3 insurance policy has a ceiling on personal property compensation (usually hidden in fine print). Most insurance agents do not realize that this limitation might hurt their clients more than they can anticipate.

Your clients need extra protection for their belongings that the HO3 insurance policy doesn’t cover. So, what can you, as an agent, do for them?

You can advise your clients to buy the Personal Articles Floater.

The personal articles floater is an all-risk insurance that covers valuables wherever they might be. It doesn’t matter where the loss occurs. The personal articles floater policy compensates it.

The HO3 insurance policy won’t cover the damage to your client’s watch if it is over $1500. However, if the watch had a personal articles floater, it would be fully reimbursed.

Things like cameras, laptops, and jewelry are replaceable. But a family heirloom or a stamp collection needs extra protection. And usually, the HO3 insurance policy won’t be able to provide that protection. The personal articles floater delivers fair pay for these items.

A standard procedure to follow is to divide your client’s property into two classes. Namely, scheduled and unscheduled.

Unscheduled property in personal articles floater are the usual things that do not require special protection. These are general items like furniture, clothing, silverware, pots, camera.

Scheduled properties are the valuable belongings of your client. They end up in a list with precise amounts assigned to them. These items are jewelry, family heirlooms, fine art, paintings, and collectibles. Say, your client is fond of collecting expensive artworks. A personal articles floater is a must in their insurance plan.

Most personal articles floaters include a deductible clause for specific losses. Due to this, the premium for clients decreases as well.

You may find that the limitation and exclusion of the standard HO3 insurance policy provides little coverage where your client needs special protection.

You can fill these gaps in the HO3 insurance policy by adding endorsements.