In the past several Insurance Blogs, we have been working on a personal property inventory for homeowner and renters insurance claims. The Room-by-room list should be done and a list of the type and amount of personal property kept in each room of your household has been started. A snapshot of the general clothing supplies for each person should be documented and now it’s time to look at the electronic equipment and other items which have serial numbers.
Using the room-by-room list add the details about any electronic items in each room. Record the type, make and serial numbers of the items on the list. I usually keep a copy of the sale receipt and warranty, instructions and other important information in a file. For the household inventory, I make a copy of some of this information and attach it to the room sheet.
I also like to make a room-by-room video and digitally photograph a clear image of our personal household items. If we were to suffer, a complete covered loss of everything having documentation would make our claims experience easier. Some people find it is easy to save their digital photos to an internet site, this way the record exists even if there is a complete loss. There are insurance companies that offer ‘virtual’ storage of digital photos of you personal property household inventory.
If there were only one copy of the room-by-room lists, detailed information and photo‘s, and I kept the one copy in my home it wouldn’t do much good if my home was completely burned. There needs to be more then one copy of personal property inventories:
- One for my own records to keep in a safe location in my home.
- One for my insurance agent.
- One in a safety deposit box, or kept safe in a friend of family members home.
Once the first household inventory is complete keeping up shouldn’t be that difficult. I update my in the house files when we make a new purchase and then make sure to document the copies at least once a year.
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Related Blogs:
- Household Inventory–Getting Started.
- Household Inventory–At Least Make A List.
- Is Your Personal Property Insured For Replacement Value?
- Insurance Appraisals
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