In the event, you experience a loss to your home, due to fire, tornado, flood, burglary or other catastrophic event, having a home inventory list can save you precious time and money when filing a claim.
Name one thing nearly all Americans have but hope they’ll never need? Insurance.
If you drive a car, you’re required by law to have auto insurance. If you own your home, and you have a mortgage, you are required by your lender to have homeowner’s insurance. If you rent your residence, you should have renter’s insurance. But just having insurance isn’t enough, especially when it comes to homeowner’s insurance.
In the event, you experience a loss to your home, due to fire, tornado, flood, burglary or other catastrophic event, having a home inventory list can save you precious time and money when filing a claim.
Why do you need a home inventory list?
An inventory list will help when filing a claim and provide proof of what you had before the loss. When you make a claim, you need to provide information about what was lost or stolen. This is extremely difficult to do right after experiencing a loss.
Imagine someone broke into your home, and stole some of your valuables. You’re stressed out, you don’t feel safe and you’re worried that it could happen again. Now imagine trying to figure out what the person took! Some things will be obvious, like a missing stereo system or a television, but others won’t be as noticeable, like jewelry.
Figuring out what items are missing is much easier if you have a list of everything in each room of your house. Running down your checklist would make the process less stressful and faster, so you can go back to a normal life.
How to create a home inventory list?
- Take video and/or pictures.
- Inventory each room in your house (including your garage) and get close-ups of the make, model, and serial numbers.
- Include all items such as: electronics, furniture, kitchen items, lamps, clothes, pictures, golf clubs, workout equipment, shoes, bikes, lawnmower, snow blower, etc.
- Save these pictures and videos on the flash drive or the cloud system.
- Keep receipts of items and either take a picture or if you have a scanner, you can scan the receipts and store them on your flash drive or cloud system along with your video or pictures.
Keep the inventory list up to date.
If you recently receive items as gifts because of the holidays or a birthday, update your inventory. It’s important to update it at least once a year, and more often if you receive or purchase expensive items.
Update your insurance coverage if necessary.
Your insurance policy has a limit on how much of your personal property it will cover. If you find that some items in your home are particularly valuable, you may want to increase your coverage so that you are protected in the event of a loss.
If you are not sure where to begin, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you get started!
The Agent Insurance Services | (330) 758-3339