Taking a Home Inventory for your insurance is a must.
After living through a major flood insurance claim in my home, I can’t tell you how valuable of a tool this is. I will make sure to mention one thing of course, it’s all about your adjuster! That’s why making a home inventory is ever more critical because if you don’t have a good adjuster, they are not going to think of all the little things that make your home or apartment unique. Even good adjusters often miss things.
So let’s break this up into 2 Coverages to focus on ..
Contents and Building coverage..and you should prepare an insurance inventory even if you have a renters or apartment/condo insurance policy.
On Contents (this includes your apartment/condo owners or renters) let’s break this down into major categories;
- Furniture
Un-fixed appliances (I’ll explain)
Electronics
Clothing
Fine possessions..( Jewelry, Art, Memorabilia.. Must be valued)
Books
Children’s Toys
Throw rugs or floor carpets
Personal power tools and equipment
Recreational equipment such as Bicycles or fitness equipment..
Wow! Who would have thought about all that stuff. Even in a small one bedroom apartment this can amount to over $50,000 very quickly.
Here are the basics,
1. Scan all receipts for purchase of these items if you have them. This should be easy and only take a few seconds per receipt.
2. Take pictures of everything on this list if possible. For items such as electronics, un-fixed appliances (appliances not hard wired or connected to the building), take a main picture of the item and take a picture of the label with model number and serial number as well. This is because your adjuster will most of the time assume you bought the base model not a higher grade model, so you want make you get what you’re entitled to as a replacement.
3. Categorize the inventory and make sure that info is backed up to the cloud so you grab it quickly if you need it after a loss.
4. Any Jewelry, Art, Memorabilia.. worth over $2,500 should be appraised. Make sure you place the appraisal in a fire proof safe or bank safe deposit box.
On building coverage please follow the above basics steps. Also if you own a condo, apartment or coop you are responsible for the interior of your unit and appliances. So listen up, here are the major categories for building coverage:
- Walls and Floors (type and quality of covering materials, tile, wood, wall paper, and carpet)
Fixed appliances (those which are permanently attached to Power or water. Think.Washer and Dryer, stove, dishwasher, )
Doors and mouldings ( it’s critical that you know the type and grade of doors and mouldings in your house)
Fixtures (lights, fans…)
Home engineering (Furnace, hot water heater, air conditioner) take a picture of the label with model and serial number.
Extras… such as Alarm systems, generator, garage door opener, camera systems.. All these items add value.
Decks
Roof type materials
Siding type
Insulation
Why building items? Because after a major claim your head is going to be spinning. You’re not going to remember everything and neither is your adjuster.. You need to focus on getting back to normal. Not only that it will make your Adjusters job easier.
Making an insurance inventory will serve as a nice tool when reviewing your insurance with your agent.
Here are a list of recommended apps to begin making your home inventory and other resources..
https://learningcenter.statefarm.com/residence/insurance-2/creating-a-home-inventory/
Apps
Allstate Digital Locker works on the web, iPhone, or Android.
Evernote and OneNote let you organize photos and text documents across the web and your mobile devices, which makes it a great way to store inventory photos alongside notes containing additional information. Evernote is available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices and as a downloadable desktop app. OneNote is available for Windows Phone, Windows RT, Android, iOS and mobile browsers can access OneNote web app. A desktop version available as well.
Google Docs is an online word processing tool that lets you create a basic list of your belongings—and, while it’s not the best place to store images, you can add images to your documents for a complete inventory.l
State Farm HomeIndex works on the web, but can easily be accessed by a mobile device, too.
Liberty Mutual Home Gallery lets you take a photo inventory using your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
I hope you find this helpful. Please put it on your schedule at best to update the inventory 2 times a year or at least annually.
Good luck..