Certain property such as fine arts, jewelry, furs, antiques, coin collections, silverware, wine, etc. are not fully covered under the standard homeowners or renters policies. Instead, the floater provides specific insurance for each item or a category of these items. The values are usually determined by current appraisals or bills of sale.

Usually there is no deductible for losses and almost all risks of physical loss, even mysterious disappearance, are covered. Personal Valuable Articles Floater Insurance usually provides "valued at" coverage so that clients not only pay for a specific amount of insurance for a specific item, but they would receive exactly that amount in the event of a claim without questions about the state of the diamond or art marketplaces.