Underinsurance and contents coverage

Most people know roughly what their homeowners or renters policy costs, and maybe the headline coverage number — but far fewer know whether that number would actually cover replacing everything they own. The gap between "I have insurance" and "I have enough insurance" usually only becomes visible after a loss, when it's too late to fix.

Dwelling coverage and contents coverage are different numbers

A homeowners policy typically bundles two separate limits: dwelling coverage, for rebuilding the structure, and personal property ("contents") coverage, for everything inside it. Contents coverage is often set as a percentage of the dwelling limit by default, not calculated from what you actually own. If you've never compared your policy's contents number against a real estimate of your belongings' value, there's no reason to assume they match.

Some categories have their own separate cap

Even if your overall contents limit looks sufficient, many policies apply a much lower sub-limit to specific categories — jewelry and watches, fine art, collectibles, and musical instruments are the classic ones. A generous overall limit can still leave a single valuable item almost entirely uncovered if it exceeds its category's cap.

High-value items in those categories usually need a real appraisal

To schedule an item beyond its category's standard sub-limit — via a rider or personal articles floater — insurers typically require a formal written appraisal from a qualified appraiser, not just a market-value estimate. This applies whether the estimate comes from a jeweler's guess, an online comp, or an AI vision model: none substitute for a real appraiser's signature when it's time to actually schedule the item.

Finding your real numbers takes two documents

Your policy's declarations page lists the actual limits — overall contents coverage and any named sub-limits — in dollar figures. The other half is a real, current total of what you own. Without both numbers side by side, "am I underinsured" is a guess rather than an answer.

Home Inventory Scanner can read your policy's declarations page directly and compare it against your real scanned inventory — both the overall limit and category sub-limits — and flags high-value items in appraisal-typically-required categories separately, since an AI estimate genuinely isn't the last step for those.