Home Owner Insurance - Taking a Home Inventory

by Jared Balis

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Taking a home inventory and the claims process
Taking a home inventory can be an excellent way to expedite the claims process and make it easier in the event of a loss. It takes time to complete a home inventory and do it right. But, in the event of a loss, you would be glad that you had it done in advance.

A Free Tool for Doing Your Home Inventory

The Insurance Information Institute has a valuable and free tool. It's an online program that helps you build a custom home inventory. It allows to to enter just the basic information, or get as detailed as entering serial numbers for each of your items.

Finally, it allows you to print out a complete home inventory with pictures of your house and each room, as well as very organize spreadsheets of items you have in each room and their value. I would highly recommend utilizing this free tool!

Home Owner Insurance Inventory Tool

Taking pictures gives the adjuster a visual representation of the items you own. Nowadays with digital cameras, it's a great idea to walk around your house and take pictures of the exterior, including separate buildings and your garage. Take interior pictures of each room. Take multiple pictures per room, showing close-ups of the items in that section of the room. If you have very valuable items, like jewelry or art, make sure you have good photographs of them. Keep these in your insurance file so they are available to you in an emergency.

Keep Your Home Inventory Records Somewhere Besides Your Home

In the event of a fire, or other major disaster, your home inventory file could be destroyed. It's important to keep a copy of the pictures and itemized lists at your office, a fire proof safe, a safety deposit box, or a trusted family members house.

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