How to Keep Records of Household Items for Insurance Purposes
An accurate list of your household contents is important, especially in the case of a total loss or theft. Many people have a hard time remembering everything inside of their home, and this could cost you dearly when trying to recover your losses with the insurance company. Even if you carry increased limits on your jewelry and other items, it is no guarantee the insurance company will pay out on it if you do not have accurate, provable records that you owned the item or the condition of it. Keep an accurate list of household items in order to properly insure your home. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Digital camera
- Computer CD
- Off-site email account
- Safe deposit box (optional)
- Receipts and printed lists
Instructions
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Decide on an off-site, secure place to store your data. This can be a safe deposit box or a secure email account you send pictures and scans of receipts and lists to. Do not store records at a friend or family member's house--they are just as susceptible as you are to a fire or loss. Make copies of important records such as birth certificates, tax records, investment papers and wills.
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Make copies of all the receipts you have for jewelry, watches, clothing, furniture and appliances. You can scan these into your computer to save an electronic file, or you can make hard copies to store off-site in a safe deposit box. It is important that you save electronic documentation in an email account that is off-site and accessible outside of your home computer.
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Go from room to room and take digital pictures of everything, including jewelry. Be sure to open up closet doors, the garage and other areas to document the contents. This is the quickest way to capture a roomful of items without having to write everything out by hand. Store the data on a CD off-site or email pictures to a secure email account you can access outside of the home.
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Get appraisals on expensive items and make digital or hard copies of the appraisal report. Most jewelry items over $2,500 are not included in a typical homeowner policy. Nor are most expensive fine art items, including antiques.
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Make an accurate list of any items you have stored in boxes that are out of sight of the camera lens. Print a copy to store off-site or email the list to your off-site email account.
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Evaluate your homeowner policy to see if your policy limits will cover your home contents in the event of a total loss. Many limits for personal property are set simply at 50 to 75 percent of the home value. If this is not enough to cover your specialty items, speak to your insurance professional about upping your limits.
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Tips & Warnings
Update your household content records every six months with any new additions to your possessions.
To be covered for loss of expensive jewelry, watches, furs, paintings, antiques and other expensive items, you will need to "schedule" (list, describe and pay an additional premium for) the items in your home owner insurance policy. This will require appraisals of any items you wish to list that exceed the policy limits.
