Intellectual Property Law

how much does homeowners insurace pay for stolen property?

My car was broken into and had about 5500 of stereo equipment and a laptop stolen today. they cut o hole in my door to get in. Last time i had a vehicle broken into i believe my homeowners insurace paid for the missing items. is there a limit on how much they will pay me. i don't have the items insured on my car insurance. any advise will help me. thanks you

Public Comments

1. Depends, does your policy have replacement value? I would check with your insurance agent.
2. I don't believe homeowners will pay for that type of equipment in a vehicle. If they do, there is usually a minimum of 1% total insured value as a deductible. For example, if your home is insured for $100,000, there will be a $1,000 deductible before homeowners will pay, but again, they are going to try to get out of paying saying that your auto insurance should pay.
3. Homeowners will pay for the laptop. If it was a really nice one, you may be required to show some sort of proof of ownership. Homeowners will not pay for the car stereo though (as it is related to a registered automobile, or vehicle subject to vehicle registration a Homeownerns policy does not cover it), that falls under the comprehensive coverage of your auto policy (unless of course it was not car stereo equipment). I would not recommend volunteering info in regards to whether or not the laptop had an adapter that would let the car power it (strict contract interpretation could call it a car accessory) or if the laptop was used for any type of business purposes.
4. You better let your claims adjuster sort that one out. There are limits to how much you can collect as well as excluded items listed on your policy info. Any automotive equipment will NOT be covered under HO.
5. Okay, I know this much....if you have "TheftCoverage" on your car, it's covered. If not, ask if your home ins. covers it. Either way, they will remit to you the cost of the goods calculated on "what you paid for it all AT THE TIME." That means if, say, your specific laptop model has gone up in price to $1500, and you paid $1250, they'll only cover for $1250. But you gotta find out if you've been covered first. And, depending on where you live, your insurance premium might one day mysteriously go up.
6. depends. sometimes you have to have special riders on the policy for expensive stereo equipemtn.
7. Homeowners usually has a limit of electronic equipment stolen out of a vehicle, but the limit varies from company to company, and also from state to state. Usually it's $500, unless the equipment was permanently installed, in which case it may or may not be covered under your auto policy (if it's customized equipment and you did NOT report it to the company, it's not covered).
8. usually 10% of the contents coverage will be covered "off property" call your agent and get an explanation