What is blanket insurance?

A standard home insurance policy covers valuable items, but there are relatively low coverage limits for theft of jewelry, watches, and furs. Blanket coverage increases the coverage limits on those items.

Headshot of Kara McGinley

By

Kara McGinleySenior Editor & Licensed Home Insurance ExpertKara McGinley is a former senior editor and licensed home insurance expert at Policygenius, where she specialized in homeowners and renters insurance. As a journalist and as an insurance expert, her work and insights have been featured in Forbes Advisor, Kiplinger, Lifehacker, MSN, WRAL.com, and elsewhere.

Published|3 min read

Policygenius content follows strict guidelines for editorial accuracy and integrity. Learn about our editorial standards and how we make money.

Certain valuables, like jewelry and other expensive items, are more likely to be stolen, which is why standard homeowners insurance has special limits of liability (aka sublimits) on those items. The limit of liability on jewelry, watches, and fur theft is $1,500, which is the maximum dollar amount an insurer will pay out for that class of items in the event of theft. Firearms, silverware, and home business property also have their own collective sublimits. 

Blanket coverage, or blanket insurance, is a home insurance add-on that increases the coverage limit for an entire class of personal property, like your jewelry collection, so that it’s insured at a higher value.

Key takeaways

  • A standard home insurance policy covers jewelry and firearms, but coverage limits for theft of those items is fairly low 

  • To increase coverage for your valuables, you may be able to group (or blanket) them under one high coverage limit with blanket insurance

  • If you only own one expensive valuable, like an engagement ring, consider scheduling the ring to your home policy 

  • If you’re a landlord who owns multiple properties, or a business owner with multiple properties, you may be able to “blanket” all of your locations under one high coverage limit, but this can be expensive

What is blanket coverage in homeowners insurance?

Blanket insurance isn’t a separate type of insurance policy, but instead something you can apply to your homeowners insurance. It allows you to group together (aka blanket) a specific class of personal property, like a collection of firearms, under one limit of coverage.

Ready to shop home insurance?

How does blanket coverage work for personal property?

Homeowners insurance policies have special limits of liability on business property and expensive valuables if they’re stolen. By adding blanket coverage, you’re collectively raising the sublimits on an entire class of items that have low limits of liability in a base policy. Blanket coverage is a worthy policy add-on if you own a collection of special valuables. 

Below are some examples of personal property and their collective sublimits. 

  • Theft of jewelry, watches, furs: $1,500

  • Theft of firearms: $2,500

  • Theft of silverware or gold plated ware: $2,500

  • Business property: $2,500

That means if $5,000 worth of jewelry, watches, and furs are stolen from your home, a standard home insurance policy will only reimburse a maximum of $1,500 for the loss. You’ll also have to pay your deductible, which is the amount you’re responsible for paying before your insurance kicks in. If your deductible is $1,000, you’ll only receive $500 in total for the loss. 

This is where blanket coverage would come in handy; it would allow you to raise the sublimits on the entire category of items to $5,000. 

Who needs blanket coverage?

Not everyone needs blanket insurance. Below are some examples of when you may want to consider blanket coverage.

If you own expensive valuables

As mentioned, if you own a large collection of jewelry, firearms, furs, or fine art, you may want to consider blanketing them under one coverage limit. That way you’re better protected in the event of theft. 

If you have an at-home business

Standard home insurance only covers a limited amount of business property. If you have an at-home business, consider blanketing all of your work property — laptops, hard drives, printers — under one coverage limit. 

If you own multiple properties

Blanket insurance can also apply to landlords or people who own multiple residences. If you own multiple properties, instead of taking an individual policy out on each location, you may be able to “blanket” them all under one coverage limit. This can be expensive, so speak with your insurance agent to learn if this is the right option for you. 

Blanket insurance vs. scheduled property coverage

Both blanket insurance and scheduled personal property coverage endorsements increase coverage for valuable personal belongings that home insurance doesn’t fully cover. Below are the key differences between the two.

  • Blanket insurance: Increases limits of liability on an entire category of belongings, like a full jewelry collection

  • Scheduled personal property coverage: Increases the limits of liability for one specific item, like an engagement ring 

To determine whether you need scheduled property coverage or blanket insurance you should ask yourself the following: 

  • Is it just one belonging, like one expensive firearm? If so, then you likely only need to schedule that one item. 

  • Do you own an entire collection of valuable belongings, like multiple firearms? Then blanket coverage may be the better option.

How much does blanket coverage cost? 

The cost of blanket coverage will depend on how much you add to your policy. Generally, it costs an additional $100 for $10,000 in coverage, according to Policygenius data.