Tis’ the season of giving and receiving and that means many presents both to and from loved ones. From purchasing your gifts to exchanging them, there are steps you should take along the way to ensure your valuables are protected.
Porch Pirates’ and Protecting Your Packages
Porch Pirates’ has become a new term to describe thieves who increasingly target delivered packages left unattended on home porches. According to Deloitte Insights, total retail sales will increase 5 to 5.6 percent, with online sales likely rising 17 to 22 percent during the 2018 holiday season. This means a lot of packages arriving to doorsteps across the country and a lot more opportunity for theft.
Most homeowner insurance policies do not cover package theft, but there are preventative measures you can take to decrease the likelihood of stolen packages. One option is to require a signature upon delivery so you know someone will be home when the package is delivered. Another is to have packages delivered to your place of work or have a neighbor take in packages if you’re not home.
Insuring Your Gifts
While your insurance options may be limited for packages, protecting your new valuables is an important and simple step. Call your insurance agent and make sure the gift you received is added to your policy along with its value (a photograph of the item never hurts too). Not every gift needs to be added to your policy, but you will want to consider those of higher monetary value, or those which have limited coverage under your policy, that could be costly to replace like jewelry, cameras, and laptops.
For valuable items you have gifted, don’t forget to tell your loved ones to add them to their policies as well. That simple reminder is a valuable gift too and one they will surely appreciate if tragedy strikes.
Be sure to contact a Brooks, Todd & McNeil agent if you have any questions about what your current policy covers or to add new valuables to your policy.