Who steals lighted reindeer?!

My son’s Kindergarten teacher had some lighted reindeer stolen from her front yard in the middle of the night last week. My first thought was, “Who would do that?” And are some people putting out stolen lighted reindeer on their lawns, so passers-by can unwittingly enjoy the view of stolen property?

Then I thought about home insurance. Theft is a problem that home insurance is intended to help with — even theft of items that you’ve left out on your lawn, like lighted reindeer and inflatable Santas.

But home insurance won’t be much help in the case of stolen items that are worth less than your home insurance deductible. If you have decorations stolen from your yard and want to make an insurance claim, you’ll generally need to file a report with the police, then call your home insurer. You’ll get reimbursed for any amount over your deductible. It’s not even going to be worth the call to your home insurance company if your policy’s deductible level is more than the amount lost.

So I’m guessing that the Kindergarten teacher’s home insurance won’t help her. She recently paid about $200 for reindeer, and her deductible is surely more than that.

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