Should I Consider a High-Value Home Insurance Policy?

High-value home insurance isn't a single product. It's a collection of extra services and offerings available to people with high-value homes or an otherwise significant amount of assets.

What's included in high-value homeowners insurance?

There are three main perks with high-value home insurance: higher coverage limits, additional benefits and services and an overall higher level of expertise and care.

Expanded policy coverages and limits

The most important and common benefit of high-value home insurance is expanded coverage limits, both for your property as a whole and individual items. Higher limits are especially common for contents with specific limits such as jewelry, art and cash. For example, a typical homeowners insurance policy might have an overall policy limit of $1 million and a limit on individual jewelry items of $1,000.

While most homeowners insurance companies will sell you an endorsement for a luxury home or expensive item like an engagement ring, high-value insurance policies include higher limits without requiring special endorsements. They often also provide extra coverage for natural disasters, such as flooding and earthquakes. This makes them worth considering in states like Florida and California.

Expanded coverage limits available for high-value home insurance

Home insurance for high-net-worth people also often includes a number of other high limits, such as guaranteed replacement cost coverage. It's like replacement cost value (RCV) coverage taken a step further: It pays the full cost to repair or replace your high-value property, even if it exceeds your policy limits.

The most common scenario where guaranteed replacement cost comes into play is after a total loss due to a widespread disaster like a wildfire. In this case, the costs of both labor and materials are likely to go up due to high demand, making it possible to exceed your limits. But if you have guaranteed replacement cost coverage, you won't be responsible for the extra expenses.

Additional benefits and services

In addition to higher limits, many high-value and luxury home insurance companies offer specialized services and benefits that aren't available at a regular insurance company. These vary by insurance company, so look at several companies to see which offer a particular benefit or service you want or need.

For example, Chubb has consultants who can help you assess and minimize your home's risks. And Pure Insurance offers a loss-prevention benefit that can pay to minimize repeat occurrences of things like flooding.

Extra expertise and customer care

Another key benefit of high-end home insurance is that you'll likely get more attentive, customized service than you would from a mainstream company. There's no single way this manifests, but you can generally expect a higher level of care overall.

Additionally, high-value home insurance companies are usually more experienced with high-end homes and furnishings. While it's hard to put a dollar value on this, there's a benefit to dealing with a company that's comfortable with and knowledgeable about high-end materials and can appraise and care for things like original artwork or a wine collection.

Most high-end insurance companies work primarily through independent brokers, meaning you'll have a single point of contact.

Related high-value insurance policies

Many companies that offer insurance for high-value homes also provide related insurance coverages relevant to their customers. Some of these, such as umbrella insurance, simply extend specific coverages that are often part of home insurance. Others, like boat insurance, are separate policies. But all of these policies are geared toward high-net-worth individuals' needs and service expectations.

Other insurance products for high-net-worth people

Which companies offer high-value home insurance? How do they compare?

Compared to the hundreds of companies that offer standard homeowners insurance, relatively few provide specialized luxury home coverage. Note that most insurance companies for high-net-worth people work primarily through independent agents or brokers. You generally can't get an online quote.

The ratings and reviews of the high-end home insurance companies covered in this article are impressive. They all have very strong complaint ratings from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), meaning they received fewer complaints than a typical insurance company. They all also have financial strength ratings of A− or better, which means the company is likely able to pay out insurance claims regardless of economic or other conditions.

High-value home insurance companies