Does Your Framingham Homeowners Insurance Cover You While You're Gone?

by Tom Vocatura on May 11, 2016 10:45:08 PM

Many homeowners insurance policies include several different coverages. Along with coverage for your house and liability coverage, yours may also insure your personal possessions. As with all insurance coverages, your policy’s personal belongings coverage will be governed by the policy’s terms and conditions. If you’re planning on traveling, you should find out whether your policy includes coverage for your belongings while they’re outside of your Framingham home.

Homeowners Insurance Framingham

When You Leave Framingham, Does Your Homeowners Insurance Protect Your Belongings?

 

Some Insurance Policies Include Worldwide Coverage

While most homeowners insurance policies provide some form of coverage for your personal possessions, the amount of protection can vary widely from one policy to another. When it comes to insuring your belongings outside of your home, your policy might provide no coverage, limited coverage, or complete coverage. To find out what protection your policy affords, you’ll have to read through its terms and conditions.

As you read through the portion of your homeowners policy’s section on personal possession coverage, look for either “worldwide coverage” or “off-premises coverage.” These terms are a little different, but they both indicate that your policy might protect your belongings when they’re outside of your home. “Worldwide coverage” generally means your belongings are insured wherever in the world you take them. “Off-premises coverage” typically means your belongings are covered while they’re off of your property. Both coverages, however, might have exclusions and limits that modify the coverage.

Don’t just look for these terms, but read the sections that define these terms carefully before you travel. You’ll likely find some exclusions, perhaps related to specific types of belongings (e.g. artwork or firearms) or specific regions (e.g. particular countries or war zones). Exclusions and limits in policies are normal, but yours shouldn’t have any language that limits coverage for the belongings you’ll be taking on your trip or excludes where you’ll be traveling.

Adjust Your Homeowners Insurance Policy

Hopefully, your policy already includes worldwide or off-premises coverage, and meets your needs. If it doesn’t, however, you might need to adjust your homeowners policy.

Depending on your policy, you may be able to add one of these coverages to your homeowners policy. You may just need to select the coverage or purchase a rider for the policy.

Sometimes, however, adding one of these coverages to your homeowners policy either isn’t feasible or prohibitively expensive. In these cases, it’s often wise to compare policies from other insurers serving Framingham and the surrounding areas. You might find an insurer that offers the coverage for less, or you may come across an insurance company that includes worldwide or off-premises coverage standard on their policies.

Get Help from a Framingham Agent

Reading the fine print of policies and comparing different policies can be confusing. If you don’t understand something in your policy, don’t hesitate to seek help from an insurance agent in Framingham. Even if you didn’t get your homeowners insurance from an agent in the area, most independent agents can review any insurance policy, explaining its coverages, limits and exclusions. If needed, they can also help you find a different policy with worldwide or off-premises coverage. Most importantly, review your policy before you go so you'll have all the coverage you need for the entire duration of your trip.

Learn about the right coverage!

This material is for informational purposes only. All statements herein are subject to the provision, exclusions and conditions of the applicable policy. For an actual description of all coverages, terms and conditions, refer to the insurance policy.

 

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