Over the recent holidays, many individuals here in Louisiana and the rest of the U.S. received gifts from friends and family. Now, one might not think of holiday gifts as something that could trigger insurance issues. However, such gifts can.
Some holiday presents are quite expensive. These sorts of items are ones that the recipient may very much want covered by insurance. Individuals who receive expensive gifts might be tempted to simply assume that the gift is adequately covered under their homeowner’s policy or other insurance they already have. However, it may very well not be.
Every insurance policy has specific rules regarding what is covered under it and what isn’t. It is possible that a new expensive gift a person received for the holidays may not be covered under their existing insurance policies.
Thus, one would hope that when a person gets a gift they desire to have adequately insured, they would carefully check their existing insurance portfolio’s coverage terms rather than simply making assumptions that the new gift has adequate coverage.
Policyholder misunderstandings regarding what is and what is not covered under their policies can have big effects on both policyholders and insurance companies. Sometimes, such misunderstandings lead to disputes.
Such disputes can end up having major financial and reputation-related implications for an insurance company. So, when an insurance company is facing a dispute with a policyholder over whether or not a given piece of property was covered under a policy, it may want to consider bringing in a skilled insurance defense attorney for help and guidance.
Source: KSLA, “Agents advise getting expensive gifts insured,” Dec. 25, 2015
