Are Your Belongings at a Second Home Covered?
Learning goal: Know how your main homeowners policy treats belongings kept at a second home, and when the second home's own policy matters.
Short answer
Partly, depending on your policies. A standard homeowners policy generally covers your belongings anywhere in the world, but some insurers limit items kept away from your main home to 10% of your personal property coverage. Belongings kept at the second home are usually best insured by that home's own policy. Check both before furnishing it.
Read to the end to complete this lesson.
On this page
The Fuller Picture
Furnishing a vacation home moves a lot of your belongings away from your main home's policy. The off-premises coverage in that policy is meant for things that travel with you, and it may be limited. The second home's own policy is where its contents generally belong.
Key Takeaways
- Triple-I: "Personal belongings coverage includes items stored off- premises—this means you are covered anywhere in the world."
- "Some companies limit the amount to 10 percent of the amount of insurance you have for your possessions," per Triple-I.
- A vacation home policy provides the same kinds of coverage as a primary policy, including belongings.
- Triple-I notes vacation homes face more risk of theft, vandalism and undetected damage because they're empty more often.
- Triple-I suggests you "create an inventory of your vacation home contents" to make claims easier.
Real-World Example
Furniture that moved
Rosa has $100,000 of personal property coverage on her main home and buys a lake cabin. She moves $25,000 of furniture and gear there. Her main policy limits off-premises items to 10%, or $10,000. If she relied only on it, a fire at the cabin would leave $15,000 uncovered. She adds contents coverage to the cabin's own policy and makes an inventory of what's there.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming the main home's policy fully covers a second home's contents.
- Not making a separate inventory for the second home.
- Forgetting to raise coverage after furnishing the second home.
Interactive Exercise
Check your second home contents
Use both policies' declarations pages.
Tick each step as you do it. Your checklist is saved in this browser.
Knowledge Check
Question: Your main policy limits off-premises belongings to 10% of a $100,000 personal property limit. What's the most it would pay for items at your second home?
Recommended Insurpedia Tools
- Insurance Preparedness Checklist: Twelve insurance questions worth having an answer to, with a place to learn more about each one you have not looked at yet. No score.
Related Insurance Terms
Related Scenarios
Questions to explore next
Questions readers often ask next about this topic:
- How much contents coverage does my vacation home need?
- Does my policy cover a boat at the lake house?
- What counts as off-premises property?
See every lesson in the Vacation Home Ownership journey.
Explore the journey →Sources
The factual claims on this page were checked against these sources. Rules and figures change, so check the source itself if you need to confirm the current version.
- What is covered by standard homeowners insurance?Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I)
- Insuring a vacation homeInsurance Information Institute (Triple-I)
Educational information, not advice: This lesson is for general education only, not legal, financial, or insurance advice. Actual coverage, discounts, and requirements depend on your policy’s wording, your insurer, and the laws of your state. Confirm specifics with your own insurer or a licensed agent before making a decision. Insurpedia does not sell insurance and does not recommend specific insurers. Off-premises coverage and vacation home points come from Triple-I. The 10% limit is an example some insurers use, not a universal rule.