Homeowners Insurance and the Mysterious Disappearance Clause

Why You Need Disappearance Clause In Your Homeowners Insurance

Along with the blessings of owning valuable possessions like jewelry, fine art, electronic equipment and other wonderful things comes the risk of losing them. The more cool stuff you own, the more homeowners or renters insurance you need to protect it in the event of loss through a catastrophe like a fire, theft or mysterious disappearance (more on this in a bit). Ordinary basic homeowner’s policies may not cover the replacement value of expensive items. Some policies may even exclude certain possessions. And some policies may not cover losses incurred under certain circumstances. Get the best rates by comparing homeowners insurance for your property.

Homeowners insurance and renters insurance policies are generally written on either a named-peril or all-peril basis. As the name implies, a named-peril policy only covers specific possessions lost or damaged under specific named conditions. All-peril policies, in contrast, provide broader coverage, but even this is no guarantee that everything you own is always protected. Every type of insurance policy has exclusions and limitations.

Endorsements (also called riders or floaters) are supplemental coverages you can add to your homeowners insurance or renters insurance to deal with exclusions and limitations. You can purchase them to cover a specific item or a group of items (e.g. stamp collections). You may need to provide a professional appraisal in some instances to prove worth. The cost of any insurance including endorsements will depend on many factors such as the value of what you’re insuring, your deductible and your claim history.

What You Will Get If You Have The Disappearance Clause

Now, let’s say you own a beautiful ring or an expensive watch. You walk out the door and when you come home, your valuable possession is missing. There’s no visible sign of forced entry. You may have forgotten to lock your door. You may even suspect a sticky fingered relative. You have what insurance companies call a mysterious disappearance on your hands. Mysterious disappearance is typically a covered peril on par with theft, but not always. Your policy may have a mysterious disappearance exclusion clause. According to the Barron’s Insurance Dictionary, such a clause “excludes coverage for loss of property if the cause of the loss cannot be identified.” If your policy does not have this clause, it implicitly insures against mysterious disappearance of a valuable and would cover the loss up to the stated limits even if you don’t remember how it happened. Note, however, that most unendorsed homeowners policy covers jewelry up to the content limit for perils covered, except theft or mysterious disappearance. In those instances, there is probably a per claim cap. If your jewelry is worth more than the cap, you’re underinsured and should consider an endorsement or rider.

Every homeowners insurance policy is unique so we recommend our homeowners insurance quote tool to get the best rate on your property. What is covered, how losses are reimbursed, and exclusions and limitations will depend on your particular policy, carrier and other circumstances. That’s why we always advise you to read the fine print rather than assume you’re covered.