Scheduled Property Insurance

What are the limits on my homeowners policy for jewelry, guns, silverware and cash?

Low ones, and they sit inside your contents limit rather than on top of it. The standard homeowners form carries special limits per loss for each category. On the widely used 2011 edition, theft of jewelry, watches and furs is capped at $1,500. Theft of firearms is capped at $2,500, theft of silverware and goldware at $2,500, money and coins at $200, and securities and personal records at $1,500. Two things about those figures matter more than the numbers. The jewelry, firearms and silverware limits apply to theft only, so a ring destroyed in a fire is paid under the general contents limit. And a ring that simply slips off is not a covered loss at all, because contents are insured against named perils and losing something is not one of them. Later form editions and individual insurers use different figures, so the paragraph headed Special Limits in your own policy is the one to read. The Department of Insurance's residential guide says the same and tells owners to schedule anything above the limits.

What does scheduling an item actually change?

Four things. The item leaves the base policy entirely, since the homeowners form excludes property separately described and specifically insured. It is then insured against all risks except a short list, usually wear and tear, deterioration, inherent vice, insects, war and nuclear hazard, so loss, mysterious disappearance and most accidental breakage are covered. There is normally no deductible on the scheduled items. And the territory is worldwide on most forms. Settlement is the part owners misread. On the standard scheduled endorsement the insurer pays the least of actual cash value, the cost to repair, the cost to replace with like kind and quality, or the amount shown for the item. The appraisal therefore sets the ceiling rather than the payout. Fine art is the exception and is paid at the scheduled amount, and an agreed-value endorsement extends that treatment to every item. Ask which settlement wording is on the quote, because the two forms cost and pay differently.

Do I need an appraisal to schedule jewelry, and how recent does it have to be?

For higher-value pieces, yes, and the threshold is set by the insurer rather than by law. Below it a dated sales receipt with a description usually serves. A receipt proves what you paid on one day. A retail replacement appraisal states what it would cost to replace the piece today and describes the stone and mounting well enough for the insurer to replace it. A grading report is neither. The Gemological Institute of America does not appraise, its reports grade quality rather than value, and it says many appraisers suggest updating an appraisal every two to three years. Look for an appraiser with gemological training who works to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, which cover personal property. The report should carry the date, the purpose, a detailed description, the valuation and the appraiser's qualifications.

What is pair and set coverage?

The rule that decides what one lost earring is worth. On the standard homeowners form the insurer may either repair or replace the missing part to restore the set's value, or pay the difference between the set's value before and after the loss. A scheduled endorsement generally carries the same two options for jewelry, with a parts clause that pays the value of the lost part alone. Fine art is different: the endorsement pays the scheduled amount for the whole set and takes the surviving pieces. Some insurer forms offer that treatment for jewelry as well. If you want a lost earring replaced as a pair, that wording is the thing to ask for by name.

Is my scheduled jewelry or art covered for earthquake or flood?

Often yes on the scheduled endorsement, and almost never under an earthquake or flood policy. The standard scheduled endorsement's exclusion list does not name earthquake or flood, and its fine-art breakage clause expressly restores coverage when earthquake or flood is the cause. An individual insurer's endorsement can add an earth movement or water exclusion, so read its exclusion page. The California Earthquake Authority's 2026 homeowners form excludes artwork outright and caps jewelry at $3,000 in total and $1,000 per article, collectibles at $3,000, wine at $3,000, and breakables at $500. The federal flood policy's dwelling form caps art, jewelry, furs and collectibles at $2,500 at actual cash value. Neither is where a valuable collection should live; the schedule is.

Does California law require replacement cost for my belongings?

No. It defines the terms and polices how they are paid. Insurance Code section 2051 defines actual cash value for contents as the cost to repair or replace less fair depreciation, and section 2051.5 defines replacement cost as that figure without the depreciation deduction. On a replacement cost policy the insurer must pay actual cash value up front and allow at least 12 months to collect the holdback, extended to 36 months in a declared state of emergency. Scheduled items are settled under the endorsement's own clause, which sits beside those rules. Whether your contents are actual cash value or replacement cost shows on the contents paragraph of the California Residential Property Insurance Disclosure. Section 10101 requires every insurer to give you that form before the policy is issued and again every other year.

What happens to my contents claim after a wildfire, and do I still have to list everything?

For a total loss of a furnished primary dwelling in a declared state of emergency, the insurer must now offer at least 60 percent of the contents limit, up to $350,000, without an itemized claim. That rule is in Insurance Code section 10103.7. SB 495 raised it from 30 percent and $250,000 from 1 January 2026, and every form must comply by 1 July 2026. Section 2061 lets you list the rest by category rather than item by item, and section 2051.5 bars any proof-of-loss deadline shorter than 100 days in an emergency. Outside a declared emergency the standard fire policy in section 2071 still asks for an inventory and a sworn proof of loss within 60 days unless extended in writing. Scheduled items are the easy part of any of this. They are already described and valued on the endorsement and are paid under its own clause on top of the contents advance.

The Insurance Code sections and dollar figures in this and the previous section reflect the statute as published by the Legislative Counsel at the time of writing. The Legislature amends these provisions periodically, and that office publishes the current text.

What should I put on a schedule, and what happens when I sell or lose an item?

Engagement and wedding rings, watches and any jewelry above the theft limit. Fine art, sculpture and signed prints. Instruments not played for pay, cameras and lenses, silver, gold and platinum tableware, furs, stamp and coin collections, and golf equipment. Those are the standard classes. Wine, bicycles, firearms and drones are not, and insurers write them under their own collectibles classes or a separate valuable articles policy, so ask. When you sell or give away a scheduled item, tell us so its premium stops and the new owner can insure it; when you replace one, the unearned premium can move to the replacement. When one is lost, report it in writing with the description already on the schedule and any newer appraisal, and the insurer settles under the endorsement's clause. An ordinary theft is no longer a tax deduction for an individual. A loss in a federally declared disaster may be, and that question belongs with a tax professional.

How do you get a scheduled property quote from us?

Start a personal insurance quote and send a description of each item, with metal, stone weight and grading report number for jewelry and maker, model and serial number for the rest. Add a current appraisal or dated receipt for the higher-value pieces, date-stamped photographs, and where each item is kept. Tell us whether any instrument or camera earns money, and send the declarations page of the homeowners or renters policy the endorsement will attach to. Some schedules we can write directly and quickly. Others go to underwriting for approval, and those take longer. Either way you know before you decide.

The special limits quoted are the 2011 edition of the standard form; insurers file their own figures in California. Statutory references, CEA and federal flood limits current as of September 2026. Endorsement descriptions are general; the form controls.