Does homeowners insurance cover gifts? The short answer is yes, but the longer answer is maybe, and it depends. Holiday gift giving is great, but without holiday gift insurance, you’re potentially leaving those gifts at risk.

While homeowners insurance covers possessions in the home, some items like fine art or jewelry would benefit from some additional coverage. Take this example: Erilyn doesn’t have much jewelry; she estimates the total worth of her jewelry to be about $500. She was gifted a necklace worth $400. Erilyn’s current homeowners insurance likely covers her gift because the total value of all of her jewelry is $900 and homeowners policies typically cover $1,500 in jewelry. However, to be safe, she should check her policy to see exactly what jewelry coverage she has.

Another example: Stephanie also had about $500 in jewelry. This year, her grandmother passes down $4,000 worth of jewelry bringing the total value of her jewelry to $4,500, well over the limit for most homeowners policies. Overnight, Stephanie went from having sufficient jewelry coverage to not enough. For Stephanie, additional insurance is necessary.

Those examples were jewelry, but the lessons apply to many big-ticket items. Look at your policy to see your limits and if the gifts you’ve received push you over the threshold making increased insurance for holiday gifts a must.

Here are some common gifts that you may need additional coverage for.

• Jewelry – look at your renters or homeowners policy to determine if you need to add additional coverage for these gifts, based on the value of new gifts received.
• Dog – pets can be a great gift for a family and pet insurance means that they can live a long and happy life with yours.
• Trampoline – these are a lot of fun, often to trespassers as well as your children. Talk to the VIU by HUB Advisory Team about how to insure recreational toys.
• Drone – drone insurance isn’t required for commercial or recreational drone usage but if you’re considering protection, look into drone liability insurance, which protects you in case your drone damages someone’s property, or hull insurance, which protects the drone itself.
• Car – while a fantastic gift, cars do require the owner to pay for insurance. We’ve covered all you need to know about auto insurance before and would be happy to help you find the auto insurance policy that’s right for you.

But what if you’re the giver, not the receiver?