Guides
Theft and burglary claims under a homeowners policy
Theft of belongings is covered anywhere in the world, and so is break-in damage to the house. Special limits, proof of loss and the deductible shape the payout.
A standard homeowners policy covers theft of your belongings, whether the thief takes them from your living room, your garage or the back seat of your car, and it also pays for the damage a burglar does to the house. The payout is limited in three ways: dollar caps on categories such as jewelry, firearms and cash; your deductible, which often swallows small thefts whole; and your ability to prove what you owned and what it was worth.
The standard form described here is ISO HO 00 03 05 11 (the HO-3). Your insurer's form and your state's amendatory endorsements may differ, so check your own policy.
What the theft peril covers
Under the HO-3, belongings (Coverage C) are insured against a named list of perils, and theft is on it. Three details in the wording matter:
- Attempted theft counts. A burglar who is scared off after breaking the door still leaves a covered loss.
- A missing item can qualify. The peril extends to property missing from a known place when it is likely to have been stolen. A laptop gone from a locked office after a visitor left is plausible theft. A ring you cannot find, with no sign anyone took it, is not, and the insurer will treat that as a lost item.
- Location is mostly irrelevant. Coverage C applies to personal property anywhere in the world, so the camera stolen from a hotel room is a theft claim, subject to the limits below.
The damage the burglar does to the house, such as a kicked-in door, a broken window or a damaged lock, falls under Coverage A (dwelling) or Coverage B (other structures), which are open-perils coverages. You are paid to repair it. A single break-in is one loss with one deductible, whether the damage is to the door, the television or both. The policy limits, sublimits and special limits explained guide explains how limits stack.
What the policy excludes or limits
The HO-3 excludes theft in these situations:
- Committed by an insured. If a person who qualifies as an insured under your policy takes the property, there is no coverage. Who counts is spelled out in who is insured on a homeowners policy, and who is not; a roommate who is not a relative usually is not an insured, but that roommate's own property is not covered either.
- A dwelling under construction. Theft in or to a dwelling under construction, or of materials and supplies for the construction, is excluded until the dwelling is finished and occupied. See insuring a home during a renovation if you are remodeling.
- A part of the home you rent out to someone who is not an insured.
- Certain property away from home. Theft off the premises of trailers, semitrailers, campers and watercraft with their equipment is excluded. Property at another residence you own, rent or occupy is excluded unless you are temporarily living there. A student's belongings at the residence he or she occupies to attend school are covered if the student has been there at any time in the 90 days before the loss. your belongings away from home: off-premises coverage and does homeowners insurance cover a college student's belongings? go further.
Vehicles are a separate matter. Coverage C does not insure motor vehicles or their parts. The laptop taken from your car is a homeowners claim. The stolen catalytic converter, stereo or wheels, and a broken car window, belong under the comprehensive coverage on your auto policy.
Special limits: why a stolen ring is not paid in full
Coverage C has dollar caps for certain kinds of property, and in the 2011 ISO form the theft-only caps are:
| Category | Cap in HO 00 03 05 11 |
|---|---|
| Jewelry, watches, furs, precious and semiprecious stones | $1,500 total for loss by theft |
| Firearms and related equipment | $2,500 total for loss by theft |
| Silverware, goldware, pewterware and similar | $2,500 total for loss by theft |
| Money, bank notes, coins and similar | $200 total, any cause |
| Securities, deeds, passports, manuscripts and similar | $1,500 total, any cause |
Each cap is the most the policy pays for the whole category in one loss, and none of them raises your Coverage C limit. The jewelry, firearms and silverware limits apply to theft specifically, so a ring destroyed in a house fire is not held to $1,500. Insurers' own forms often use different amounts, and ISO's 2022 program raised some of them, but many policies in force still carry the 2011 numbers. If you own jewelry, collectibles or guns worth more than the cap, scheduling the items on a floater or endorsement removes the cap and frequently carries no deductible. The valuables coverage checker shows whether your items exceed your limits, and special limits on jewelry, firearms, cash and collectibles covers each category.
A worked example (hypothetical)
Say your policy has a $1,000 deductible and no replacement cost endorsement on contents. A burglar breaks the back door ($900 to repair) and takes a laptop that cost $1,200 (actual cash value after depreciation: $700), a television that cost $800 (actual cash value: $450) and a diamond ring worth $6,000.
| Item | Amount counted |
|---|---|
| Door repair (Coverage A) | $900 |
| Laptop (ACV) | $700 |
| Television (ACV) | $450 |
| Ring (capped at $1,500) | $1,500 |
| Total before deductible | $3,550 |
| Less deductible | $1,000 |
| Paid | $2,550 |
The ring alone accounts for a $4,500 shortfall. With a replacement cost endorsement on contents, the laptop and television count at $1,200 and $800 once you replace them, but the ring cap stays unless the ring is scheduled. Check your declarations page for the contents settlement basis. The difference is explained in replacement cost vs actual cash value: why it matters.
How big the problem is
Burglary has been getting rarer. The FBI's Reported Crimes in the Nation summary for 2025, released in August 2026, estimates that burglary fell 15.8% from 2024 and that the burglary rate was a 20-year low, below 200 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (FBI UCR summary). Insurance data shows how small a share of claims theft is. Triple-I, using ISO data, reports a theft claim frequency of 0.12 per 100 house-years for 2019 through 2023, with an average paid loss of $5,524, according to III. The same page puts theft at 0.6% of homeowners insurance losses in 2023.
An average theft payout of about $5,500 is not far above a typical deductible, which is why so many thefts are never claimed.
What to do after a burglary
- If you suspect someone is still inside, leave and call 911.
- File a police report and keep the report number. The HO-3 lists "notify the police in case of loss by theft" among your duties after a loss, and insurers routinely ask for the report number.
- Photograph the entry point and the mess before cleaning, and board or secure the opening. Reasonable repair costs are covered; keep receipts (reasonable repairs: what you can fix before the adjuster comes).
- Call your insurer or agent promptly.
- Notify your bank and card issuers if cards, checks or phones were taken. The HO-3's credit card, funds transfer card and forgery coverage pays up to $500 with no deductible, but only if you notify the card company as the form requires. Broader identity theft protection is a separate endorsement (identity theft coverage on a homeowners policy).
- Build the inventory. The form wants quantity, description, actual cash value and amount of loss for each item, with bills and receipts attached. Serial numbers, photos, credit card statements and cloud backups of photos all help. See filing a personal property claim: the contents list and how to make a home inventory for insurance.
- Expect questions on high-value items. Adjusters may ask for receipts, appraisals or a recorded statement. Insurers investigate padded inventories, so list only what was taken (padding a claim: the penalties and the policy fraud clause).
Common situations
Package theft. Once a package is delivered to your porch, it is generally your property, so the theft is covered in principle. In practice the retailer or carrier may replace the item, and a $60 package is far below any deductible.
Theft from a car, hotel or storage unit. Covered under Coverage C as theft, with the same caps. Self-storage units carry a separate rule in the 2011 form limiting coverage for property kept there, so ask your agent.
Theft while you are away. The ISO HO-3 does not exclude theft because the house is empty, though many insurers' own forms add vacancy or unoccupancy conditions. Long absences and unoccupied homes are covered in vacancy and unoccupancy exclusions.
Key takeaways
- Theft is a named peril for belongings anywhere in the world, and a burglar's damage to the house is paid under Coverage A or B, with one deductible for the whole loss.
- The ISO HO-3 caps theft of jewelry at $1,500, firearms at $2,500, silverware at $2,500, and money at $200; scheduling valuables is how to avoid those caps.
- Contents are usually paid at actual cash value unless you carry replacement cost on belongings, and your deductible comes off the total, so small thefts often are not worth claiming.
- File a police report promptly, photograph the scene before cleaning, and build an inventory with serial numbers and receipts.
- Items stolen from your car's body, such as the catalytic converter, belong on the auto policy; items stolen from inside the car are a homeowners claim.