If you experience a disaster and need to file a claim with an insurance company, it will be extremely helpful to have a completed inventory of your possessions. After the disaster, you’ll contact the insurance company to report details of the loss – but what will you tell them if you can’t remember what was in the house? If you have completed a home inventory, you’re way ahead of the game! Here’s how you can start:

Take a pen and paper. Find a seat and close your eyes. Now list everything in your home. An impossible task?  Consider how hard it would be to do this after your home had taken a major hit in a disaster, and many or most of your possessions were gone.

What Is a Home Inventory?

A home inventory is simply a record of the contents of your home. The record can be in writing, on video, or a series of labeled photos. What’s most important is that a home inventory can serve as the basis for preparing a complete statement of losses if a disaster should strike, helping to get a claim processed more easily and quickly.

The hassle of preparing a home inventory will be more than worth it if you ever experience a significant loss. For more information, review our disaster preparation guidebook.