Does Your Home Insurance Cover Backyard Belongings?

With summer right around the bend, now’s the time for many to start thinking about reevaluating their home insurance coverage. Why now? Because summer is the time of year that a lot of us migrate ourselves—and our belongings—into the backyard to take advantage of the warm weather and sunshine. Think about that expensive patio furniture or the fancy gas grill that you’ll be transferring out of storage and leaving exposed overnight throughout summer. Will your home insurance cover you if either is damaged or stolen? Experts remind us that when we review our coverage or compare home insurance prices, it’s important to look beyond mere cost to issues like contents coverage.

The bottom line is, it’s not common for a home insurance plan to cover belongings that are kept outdoors—but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to secure coverage by asking questions and expanding your scope to include the possibility of switching providers. The one thing to remember, however, is the fact that you may have to pay a higher premium in order to extend coverage to your backyard possessions. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether or not the value of those belongings are worth paying higher premiums.

Regardless of what you decide, it’s important to not become too complacent with your policy. Compare home insurance prices against higher and lower levels of coverage on a regular basis to ensure that your policy is well catered to your needs—and your budget. There are many online resources that will let you do this without having to pick up the phone and contact an agent directly, but for the most accurate insurance quote it’s important to provide as many accurate details about your home and the monetary value of your possessions—so come prepared.