Blanket insurance
What is blanket insurance?
Blanket insurance is a type of coverage that protects multiple properties, items or locations under one shared limit, rather than listing each one separately.
Instead of setting a specific coverage amount for each building or item, blanket insurance gives you one broad amount of protection across everything included in the policy.
It’s often used by businesses with multiple properties or homeowners with valuable belongings spread across different locations.
How does blanket insurance work?
When you buy blanket insurance, your policy sets one overall coverage limit for all the assets you want protected. Insurance companies often require properties to be insured for a percentage of their total replacement cost.
If something happens like fire damage, theft or a major storm, the insurance company pulls from that overall limit to pay claims, no matter which specific location or item was affected. Some blanket policies also cover injuries that happen to your properties.
Example: If you have two rental properties insured under a $1 million blanket policy, you aren’t limited to $500,000 per building. You can use up to the full $1 million where it’s needed most, ensuring that each property is covered for its replacement cost.
Who needs blanket insurance?
Blanket insurance can be a smart choice for:
- Homeowners with valuables stored at multiple properties (like a primary home, vacation home and a storage unit)
- Businesses with inventory, equipment or multiple locations
- Condo associations insuring common areas or multiple buildings under one policy
- Franchise owners who operate several locations
- Landlords and franchise owners with multiple properties
- Businesses with business-related property that needs protection
- Landlords with multiple apartments or buildings
If you have multiple properties or lots of personal property in different places, blanket insurance can make managing your protection much simpler and more flexible.
What types of blanket insurance are there?
Blanket insurance comes in different forms depending on what you’re covering:
- Property blanket insurance – Covers multiple physical structures or locations, often requiring specific property coverage for items like farm equipment.
- Personal property blanket insurance – Covers personal belongings across different homes, apartments or storage units.
- Commercial blanket insurance – Covers a business’s buildings, inventory or operations in multiple places, including commercial properties.
- Blanket health or life insurance – Sometimes used for large groups, like teams or event participants.
Benefits of blanket insurance
Blanket insurance offers several important advantages:
- Simplified coverage – Manage multiple locations or items under one policy and one limit.
- More flexibility after a loss – No worrying about individual limits on different properties.
- Potential savings – One policy might cost less than insuring separately.
- Protection against underinsurance – Especially helpful if asset values vary.
- Broad coverage – Offers extensive protection for multiple properties or items under a single policy, encompassing a wide range of liabilities and allowing for greater flexibility.
- Save money – Bundling multiple types of insurance into one policy can reduce overall premiums, making it a cost-effective solution for those with diverse insurance needs.
How is blanket insurance different from scheduled insurance?
Blanket insurance and scheduled insurance cover property differently:
| Feature | Blanket insurance | Scheduled Insurance |
| Coverage | Covers a group of properties/items under one shared limit | Covers each property/item with its own listed value |
| Flexibility | Very flexible after a loss; funds can go where they’re needed most | Pays only the exact value scheduled for each item |
| Best for | Groups of similar items, like rental units or personal belongings | High-value or one-of-a-kind assets like art or collectibles |
| Cost Efficiency | Can be more affordable than managing multiple policies | May cost more due to detailed itemization |
If you need to protect very specific items, or you want guaranteed payouts for certain losses—scheduled insurance might be a better fit. For broader, simpler coverage, blanket insurance often makes more sense.
Common examples of blanket insurance policies
Blanket insurance is often used for:
- Rental property portfolios (like multiple single-family homes)
- Apartment complexes
- Condo associations
- Personal property spread across multiple homes
- Businesses with several offices, warehouses or stores
- Properties encompassing multiple buildings under a single limit
- Equipment or property distributed across various locations
If you have multiple things to protect across locations, blanket coverage can help simplify your insurance.
Choosing the right blanket insurance policy
When you're picking a blanket insurance policy, here’s what to think about:
- Overall limit – Make sure it’s high enough to cover all your properties or items combined.
- Sub-limits – Ask if there are caps for certain things, like jewelry or shared spaces.
- Exclusions – Double-check what isn’t covered, especially for special types of property.
- Deductibles – A higher deductible might lower your premium, but it also means paying more out-of-pocket when you file a claim.
- Claim handling – Find out if a loss at one property affects your coverage at another.
- Other coverage needs – For high-value items, you might need a separate endorsement or policy.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Who would be covered by blanket insurance?
Anyone listed as an insured party on the policy would be protected. In a business setting, that might include company owners, property managers or stakeholders. In personal situations, it could include homeowners, family members or co-owners of property.
The benefit of blanket insurance is that it offers broader coverage without the need to meticulously insure each individual item or property, providing peace of mind and potential cost savings through the bundling of multiple policies.
Is homeowners insurance the same as blanket insurance?
No. Homeowners insurance typically covers a single property at one address with a specific limit. It focuses on one home. In contrast, blanket insurance extends coverage across multiple properties under one unified limit, offering broader protection.
Blanket insurance covers multiple properties—or many items—under one shared coverage amount, effectively 'blanketing' the homeowners' coverage needs across different types of properties.
They serve different purposes, but you can sometimes add blanket-style endorsements onto a homeowners policy for extra protection.
Does blanket insurance cost more than traditional coverage?
Sometimes. Blanket policies can be slightly more expensive because they provide broader protection.
However, they can also be more cost-effective than buying several separate policies—especially if you have many properties or assets. Blanket insurance usually costs about 10% more than buying separate policies.
Can blanket insurance cover multiple properties?
Yes. Coverage for multiple homes, buildings or even rental units under one blanket policy is one of the most common uses for this type of insurance.
Just make sure each property is properly listed and valued in your policy documents to make sure they meet the insure-to-value requirements.
References:
https://www.trustedchoice.com/business-insurance/coverage-types/blanket-policy/