Do you find yourself drooling over the latest Dior or Louis Vuitton bags? Are you working on building a collection of luxury purses? And did you know you can get insurance for handbags?
If you have one hundred or just one luxury handbag, you probably want to protect it. Bag insurance helps protect your bags by covering costs if you lose or damage them.
In this article, we'll see how insurance for handbags works and whether or not you should get it.
What kinds of bags might need handbag insurance?
Insurance can protect designer bags and vintage bags. Let's go over the details.
Why would someone want to insure a handbag?
Put simply, designer bags cost a lot of money. Even a small clutch might retail for several thousand dollars. More expensive ones — such as Hermès Birkin bags — could cost you over $10,000.
Replacing a bag could wipe out your savings. So insurance helps reduce your out-of-pocket expenses for lost or stolen bags. This means your insurance company will help pay to replace or repair the bag.
Designer bags
Designer handbags are the most common types of bags to insure. For example, you might want to insure these popular bags:
- Hermès Birkin bag
- Hermès Kelly bag
- Chanel Classic Flap Handbag
- Fendi Baguette
- Louis Vuitton Neverfull
Vintage bags
Your brand-new designer bag isn’t the only one worth insuring. Vintage bags might be worth enough to insure.
Consider the condition and materials of your bag to see if it needs insurance. For example, a mesh purse made of real gold could be worth thousands.
Where can you get insurance for handbags?
Generally, you can get handbag insurance from two sources:
- Homeowners' or renters' insurance
- Standalone property insurance
The type of coverage or policy you need will depend on several factors. For example, how many bags you have and their value.
Homeowners or renters insurance
Do you have a homeowners or a renters insurance policy? Your bags are likely already covered!
Standard homeowners and renters policies cover your personal belongings. In most cases, that includes your handbag collection.
However, the standard coverage has limits for luxury items. Most policies set a per-item dollar limit. That means your insurance company won’t pay more than that to replace your bag.
For example, you have a Gucci handbag worth around $3,000. Your insurance covers up to $1,500 for luxury goods.
When your bag is damaged in a fire, they pay $1,500. Unfortunately, you'll have to cover the remaining $1,500 out of pocket.
How to deal with bag insurance coverage limits
While your homeowner's policy may have limits, there is a solution for insurance for handbags. Most policies let you add on coverage. This is through insurance riders or floaters.
An insurance rider or endorsement changes your policy’s coverage. Generally, riders increase the overall coverage of your policy. For example, your policy limit is $1,500 per item. Therefore, you add a rider to increase coverage to $3,000 per item.
An insurance floater is almost the same thing as a rider. The difference is that a floater is used to cover individual items. These may also be called scheduled personal property riders.
Insurance floaters require an appraisal of each insured item to accurately determine coverage.
Let’s say you have a Goyard bag and want to ensure it’s covered by a floater policy. Your insurance company needs you to get a third-party appraisal. The appraisal comes back at $3,500, so your insurance company covers this amount.
Who should get a scheduled personal property rider?
Handbag owners can use riders and floater policies to protect their bags. However, when does it make sense to simply increase your overall coverage limit? Versus scheduling individual items?
The big difference is how many handbags you have and their value. Raising your policy’s personal property limit might make sense if:
- You have multiple handbags.
- The value of each bag falls under the increased limit. For example, you increase your limit to $2,500 per item, and all your bags are worth around $2,200.
On the other hand, consider a floater policy if you:
- Only have one bag to insure.
- Have an extremely valuable bag, such as a Birkin bag.
Standalone insurance for handbags policies
Piggybacking bag insurance off of an existing policy isn’t the only way to protect your investment. Some insurance carriers offer standalone bag policies.
A standalone policy is a type of property insurance that specifically covers your handbags.
However, policies will vary between insurance companies. So definitely shop around until you find the one that fits your needs.
For example, some insurance companies may cover both your bag and its contents. Or, they might offer a high coverage limit to cover multiple bags on one policy.
Like riders, most standalone policies require an appraisal of your bags.
Who should get a bag insurance policy?
A standalone handbag policy might be a good fit if your homeowner's policy doesn’t offer enough coverage for your bags.
Likewise, a standalone policy could be a good idea if you find an insurance carrier with a policy that works for you.
For instance, you find a policy that includes coverage for multiple, expensive bags. This could help you save money on insurance costs.
How does a bag insurance claim work?
When it comes to insurance for handbags, claims work like other property insurance claims. So this means you’ll need to file a claim with your insurance company.
Be aware that you may have a deductible. Your deductible is the amount of repair or replacement costs you have to pay before insurance coverage kicks in.
Many homeowner insurance policies have deductibles of around $500 or $1,000. On the other hand, there may be standalone policies without deductibles.
The claims process
The procedure of filing an insurance claim is similar across most policies. Follow these steps to file a handbag insurance claim:
- First, file a police report for thefts or vandalism.
- Gather your documentation, including appraisals and policy documents.
- Communicate with your insurance company to open the claim file.
- Provide any requested documents, such as the police report, photos of the damage, or appraisal information.
- Pay your deductible, if any. This means covering the initial cost of repairs up to your deductible amount.
Is insurance for handbags worth it?
Insurance for handbags is often worth the investment if you own expensive designer bags. Your insurance policy can help cover the replacement cost. So even if you can't replace the bag, you'll get compensation.
On the other hand, your bags may not have enough value to need extra insurance coverage. Your standard homeowners or renters policy should cover many affordable designer bags within the standard coverage limit. In this case, extra coverage could cost you more.
Pros and cons of handbag insurance
Are you trying to decide about insuring your bags? Let’s get into the pros and cons of insuring handbags to see if it’s a good fit.
Pros
An insurance policy for your designer handbags could protect your investment. For example, some advantages of insurance include:
- You can file a claim if you lost or damage your bag.
- You’ll get peace of mind when using your bag.
- Premiums for insurance for handbags are often affordable.
Cons
Are there any downsides to insuring a handbag? Some reasons you might want to skip insurance include:
- You have to keep paying premiums.
- Your insurance payout might not cover the full cost to replace a bag.
- Insurance generally doesn't cover every accident.
Should you insure your handbags?
In the end, it's up to you to decide to insure your bags. But, there are some questions you can use to help you decide if it’s a good investment:
- How many designer bags do you own?
- Are your bags worth more than the limit on your existing insurance policy?
- Do you have a high-dollar or irreplaceable handbag?
- Can you afford to replace or repair a bag on your own?
So remember to shop around to find the right policy. Look for policies that cover replacement costs. It’s also a smart idea to compare the cost and coverage of a rider versus a standalone policy.
Now that you've read about insurance for handbags, check out our articles about luxury purses, like the Lady Dior and Chanel handbags!