Anyone that has had a property insurance claim can agree that it can be a very stressful time, whether the claim was caused by fire, water, theft, or another covered loss on your policy. While our goal as Insurance Brokers is to make the process as smooth as possible, there are proactive steps you can take to aid in ease of the claim process. One of these steps is a Home Inventory Checklist.
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What is the Purpose of a Checklist?
As you can imagine, after a claim occurs, it can be difficult to remember EVERYTHING you had in your home. Creating an inventory of the contents of your home can assist in the claims process. Your inventory should contain all of your contents; furniture, electronics, clothing, kitchen items and everything in between. As you can imagine, creating this can be a daunting and tedious task, however in the unfortunate event that a claim does occur, you will have a reference of the items in your home.
Creating your Home Inventory Checklist
You can complete your Home Inventory Checklist right on our website. Visit the self-service portal. Here you can enter contents throughout your home and organize room by room. You can even add photos, a value, and a description of the items you have.
When creating your checklist, be sure to include as much information you possibly can – it will only help in the long run. Include serial numbers, proof of purchase, receipts, date of purchase and where you purchased items if you have the information. The more information the better!
If you prefer to use your own system rather than our website, be sure to store the information off site. Your home inventory checklist will be no good if a fire breaks out in your home and the only copy has been destroyed in a fire.
Additional Tips
- Don’t forget to open closets, cupboards, and drawers. Also remember to check under beds and other storage locations
- Walk though your home and complete room by room to stay organized vs jumping from one room to another
- Don’t forget your garage and shed and any hidden storage areas in your home
- Remember to update! When you purchase a new item add to your list. When you purge an item, remove it.
- Review annually to be sure there hasn’t been anything missed. A good idea is to review when your property insurance renewal arrives in the mail. This is a good reminder to make any updates or changes.
- Pictures and videos are very helpful – a visual documentation of your items
- If you own more than one location, don’t forget to complete a separate inventory for that location as well. Losses can happen at cottages, apartments, and condos as well.
Do I really need this?
Still not convinced of the importance of having an inventory of your belongings? Think about the items in your kitchen; dishes, glasses, cutlery, Tupperware, pots and pans, etc. Next think about your bedroom; socks, pants, sweaters, and dress clothes, etc. Don’t forget your shoes and bags. These are just two rooms of your home and you can see how quickly the items you have add up. Now imagine trying to remember all this after a fire – you’re almost guaranteed to forget most of your contents. It’s best to be prepared to ensure you get everything replaced quickly with as little extra stress as possible.