Calamities are not a fun thing, whether natural or human-made. For instance, a fire can raze all your belongings, and in a matter of minutes, you have nothing but ashes. Accidental or incidental damages caused to our personal property are things we rarely want to think about. But being prepared for the worst is always the best way to weather a storm. Thus, it is so important to keep an updated home inventory. Read on to learn why.
What is a Home Inventory?
A home inventory is a complete enumeration of your valuable home items. It ranges from household equipment, jewelry, electronic devices to furniture. In a nutshell, all home items in a well-documented catalog form a home inventory to help arrange and maintain the items in a home.
Helps in Choosing the Right Insurance Coverage
Home insurance coverage helps you to get back on your feet after a disaster. However, selecting the right insurance coverage for your home can be a challenging task without an inventory.
Estimating the value of your home and your possessions is a key factor in obtaining home insurance. An insurance company uses it as the foundation in assessing how much you should pay in premiums and you can use it to choose adequate coverage.
Makes Filing a Claim Easier
Time plays a huge role in compensation. We all want to resume our normal routine as though no loss, theft, or damage ever occurred. A home inventory helps expedite the process.
An inventory reduces the guesswork commonly associated with the confusion of putting a roof over your head or dealing with burglary trauma. It is possible to forget key items, particularly during a period of substantial loss when stress levels are high. If you leave key items off your claim you cannot be reimbursed for them, which means you aren’t receiving full restitution for your damages.
Maximum insurance payout is the best thing that can happen when you have incurred a loss. A home inventory helps you to negotiate for more money because it acts as evidence by itself.
Helpful When Moving or Relocating
When relocating, an inventory sill helps you track all your belongings and ensure that none is lost. A good inventory should describe the items, the date of purchase, receipts, warranty details if there are any, value estimates, and serial numbers where applicable.
What to Include in your Home Inventory
Creating an inventory can be tedious and stressful, especially when you have a huge home. Focus on high ticket items first: televisions, computers, jewelry, appliances, etc.
- Keep and photograph receipts whenever possible and always when buying new items for the home.
- Scan or make a copy of any appraisals for jewelry or other valuables such as silver or heirlooms.
- Back up written documentation with photos of the items (even videos if applicable).
- Note down the serial number of any electronics, bicycles, etc.
Best Ways to Store an Inventory
There are several ways that you can use to store your inventory once you have prepared it. Some of the ways that you can store the inventory include the following:
- Give a copy of the inventory to a trusted family member.
- Keep an electronic version of the inventory on a digital device.
- Store the physical inventory in a safe deposit box
- Use cloud technology for remote digital storage
- Consider a mobile app option such as Sortly or Memento Database