Insurance Questions

[BlueBird]

How do I figure out what insurance we need to keep and what we can part with?

We have property insurance and jewelery insurance (my rings) through USAA but we also live in housing and they provide some kind of insurance as well.

Can we do away with the property insurance and jewelery insurance or is there some kind of amount that I should check and make sure we have before I can figure that out? (I assume there would be...)

Just trying to cut expenses but not wanting to cut them from the wrong place!

[Laurie119]

I wouldn't get rid of anything. More than likely, the insurance that is supplied by the rental agency is probably to cover their property, not yours.

[Victoria]

You need to find out how much the housing's policy will cover. IMO, renter's insurance isn't very expensive and it's so important to have. I don't believe you can have a jewelry addendum, without having a regular policy?!? You should call USAA to find out.

[kimly]

the renters insurance through housing, is a very restricted set of insurance. And will only give up to $1500 on jewelry per incident. So if your house burns down, and you had taken off your rings earlier that day, so it all got ruined as well as any other jewelery you might have. All you will get through your housing renters insurance would be $1500... no matter what. And housing will not let you add a jewelry rider to their insurance. So, of course its up to you, but, I'm thinking since you have your jewelry insured separately(a jewelry rider) makes me think your rings are worth more than $1500(plus having a rider, broadens the coverage too, like if you throw them down the drain), so I would keep it. You can't have the jewelry rider with out a separate property policy, and Im sure its a minimal amount a month. I would keep it.

You can never go wrong with having too much insurance.

Sorry this is so long, but Im an Insurance agent.

[LuvNmyAO]

we also have USAA & will be adding renter's insurance thru them. dont have jewerly worth much so we dont have that its mainly for what we have tied into computers and that ..... one day my rings will be covered.

[Viva]

USAA renters insurance is great, for the record. When I was moving a few years ago I put a bunch of stuff in the car that I was afraid the movers would mess up. I left it in my moms house and her house was robbed and all my stuff was gone. USAA replaced everything and got me a check very quickly. My mom couldn't get any of her stuff replaced because she only had homeowners and a huge deductable (my deductable was only $100 or 500 or something, can't remember now)

Anyway, I was really impressed because the stuff that belonged to me wasn't even in my house and they still replaced it. And I think it only cost us about $30 per month.

[kimly]

Originally Posted by vivalacrap USAA renters insurance is great, for the record. When I was moving a few years ago I put a bunch of stuff in the car that I was afraid the movers would mess up. I left it in my moms house and her house was robbed and all my stuff was gone. USAA replaced everything and got me a check very quickly. My mom couldn't get any of her stuff replaced because she only had homeowners and a huge deductable (my deductable was only $100 or 500 or something, can't remember now) Anyway, I was really impressed because the stuff that belonged to me wasn't even in my house and they still replaced it. And I think it only cost us about $30 per month.

Thats how all insurance companys are. Your belongings are covered up to 30 days after moving. And if you put them in storage after the 30 days they are covered for 10% of what your coverage amount is.

Even if your not moving and say your GPS, Camera, Laptop and some other things where stolen out of your car, you would claim it under your home/renters policy not your auto. And if you dont have a home/renters policy then well you would be screwed(except with the GPS if it was factory installed into the car, then your auto insurance might cover it). All those things "belong" in your house so therefore would fall under home/renters insurance.

[carolinagirll]

USAA is great.

I think you should keep everything you have.

We have renters and I have extra insurance to cover our rings plus cars.

Were going to look into their life insurance in addition to what the Army gives us.

[Rich Lunsford]

Thank you for the question and for turning to USAA for your insurance needs. Military housing does have insurance on the building, but not necessarily your possessions. The property insurance is likely covering the things you own such as your furniture, kitchen items, and other stuff. The policy you have on your ring is likely a good idea to keep as well. Most insurance policies do cover jewelry, however high dollar items such as rings may need extra coverage or even broader coverage that may include coverage for losing the ring, or if it is stolen. The folks at USAA are an excellent resource to ask your specific questions. I invite you to give us a call or email at usaa.com.

Rich Lunsford is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner with USAA Financial Planning Services, one of the USAA family of companies. Rich holds the Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. Rich also holds the designations of Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®), and CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC®).

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the United States, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.