home inventory

Who wants to think about the “what if” moments when it comes to your home?  What if my house burned down? What if a tree fell on my home? What if my documents were destroyed in a fire?  What if my home has water damage and I can no longer stay in it? None of us want to think about these types of events happening to our homes, but it can happen. 

One way to prepare for a “what if” is to prepare a home inventory.  What’s a home inventory? It’s a list of all the items and belongings in your home.  For if that “what if” moment happened, you would have a list of everything that is damaged or destroyed, making that devastating, unexpected loss a little easier to handle. 

Did you know you can even create a home inventory electronically?  There are several apps available for your phone or tablet. Take unlimited photos of the rooms in your home and items in them, plus your garage and outdoor living space with an app.  If the “what if” happened, you can have all the information of your home inventory stored in the app and be able to access it with an internet/data connection. Get started on your home inventory today!

Think about all of the belongings in your house.  Could you list them all? Probably not. Take your bedroom for instance.  Do you know how many pieces of clothing you own? What about just one drawer in your dresser – do you know what’s in it?  Moving on to the kitchen – how many pots and pans? What is in that junk drawer? Let’s not even tackle the garage just yet.

What happens when your home burns down from a fire?  Or a devastating tornado hits your home? A total loss could occur.  Would you be prepared to list everything you own so you could replace it all?  This is where a home inventory comes in – it could help you restock your belongings after a total loss.  Renters pay attention too – a home inventory is important for you as well in restoring your belongings.

An easy way to create a home inventory is to take a video of everything in each room of your house.  A second suggestion is when you purchase a major item, take a picture of the receipt. Both your videos and photos should be uploaded to a free cloud service.  For any important documents that you prefer not to photograph, a fireproof safe would be ideal.

Nothing can truly prepare you for the devastation of a total loss to your home, but having a home inventory prepared can help make you whole again and isn’t that the purpose of insurance?  To make you whole after a loss. A tiny bit of preparation like a home inventory can go a long way.

January is Getting Organized Month.  Here’s one way to get organized – create a home inventory.  Why? Well, it’s human nature to think “That could never happen to me” and yet when disaster strikes, we want to be as prepared as possible — which is why we have insurance in the first place.

However, many of us tend to overlook the vast amount of things we’ve accumulated over time. Have you packed to go on a trip and then when it was time to pack to return home, suddenly there is too much to fit in your suitcase? From souvenirs and gifts to dirty unfolded clothes, suddenly nothing fits quite like it did before in that suitcase.

Throughout the course of last year, your home, much like your suitcase, has probably collected a few new items and lost a few older ones. Each year it’s important to inventory your belongings to see to it that you are properly insured for the contents that are actually there. No one should ever have to experience being under-insured during a disaster, but on the other hand, you also should not be paying to be over-insured unnecessarily.

By walking through your house, documenting the items you have with a camera or a home inventory app on your phone or tablet, and reviewing your contents with your insurance agent, you can determine the best coverage for you and your home in the New Year.  So, why not take advantage of Get Organized Month and create that home inventory today?