To insure your valuables, simply call your insurance agent or insurer to discuss making additions to your existing homeowner’s or renters policy.

There are two different ways to insure your valuables:

• Raise the limit of liability. Boosting your homeowner’s liability coverage across the board is the cheapest option. But there will be a cap on how much you can claim if any single valuable is lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed.

• Or schedule each valuable. You do this by listing each prized possession separately on your existing policy. Then each item can be individually insured up to its appraised value. You will pay more in premiums this way, but the policy will cover virtually any type of loss, including dumb mistakes—like accidentally dropping a ring down a drain. This option requires that you have each item professional appraised to establish its value.

Remember, you don’t have to cover all of your prized possessions or do so up to their full value. Partial coverage will ensure that you at least recoup part of an item’s value.

If the terms of coverage by your current insurer are unsatisfactory—meaning there are excessive clauses explaining circumstances in which the insurer won’t pay on a claim—consider shopping for a new homeowner’s or renter’s policy before scheduling valuables.

Which brings up a related point: You want to know in advance what an insurer will require from you to pay a claim in a timely fashion. Ask your insurance agent to review the insurer’s rules for proving ownership and loss. In some cases, you’ll need receipts and photos or an appraisal as well as police reports. Also ask the agent for reasons why other clients had trouble getting paid on claims.