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Household Inventory Questions (for Insurance Purposes)


Jenn in FL
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Frankly, just thinking about the magnitude of this project overwhelms me!  :tongue_smilie:

 

I think about this every single year as the prime hurricane months approach. We are very well insured for household contents should a catastrophe occur, but I realize we would need to provide the appropriate documentation to substantiate a claim.  It seems to me that a few photos or a quick video scan would not provide nearly enough detail.   Just the concept of trying to record virtually everything contained in a home leaves me reeling.  It is absolutely staggering the amount of money it would cost to replace even the contents of a kitchen utensil drawer...digital thermometers, utility knives, can openers, the endless array of tiny widgets...  I actually did a quick survey of just my kitchen and ...   :svengo:

 

Has anyone here undertaken a comprehensive household inventory?  If so, please share your plan, your resources, your favorite app or spreadsheet, your ideas, your tricks and tips  ...actually, if you would kindly just upload your brain....that would be swell!

 

:lurk5:

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Our insurance is with AAA. For household inventory, they say to document big ticket items like jewelry, musical instruments, antiques/heirlooms ... Things like refrigerators, stove, microwave, settee, beds, mattresses they aren't going to question unless it is out of the norm like much higher than Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn.

 

I have a spreadsheet. When we buy an appliance, I just key in brand, model, price, store and date. So it just gets updated as we buy things like a new TV, printer.

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We had to do this when the house burned, it was a PITA but not as bad as you would think but we aren't packrats. Mentally we just went room by room, yes pictures would have made it easier but we managed. Now if you have a huge house or tons of stuff it would of course be more difficult but really it is about the major stuff.

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Not that we are organized enough to remember to do this regularly, but a detailed video should be sufficient according to our agent.  Should the worst happen, you could work through the video to make an inventory and you would have proof that you really did own those things.  Just take a camera through each room and pan slowly, opening drawers and cabinets.  

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Start with the video, but I found that a full inventory was helpful in other ways.  I was able to check and see if an item at a second-hand store or a yard sale was needed or if we had enough.  I could also update the cloud version of my spreadsheet when we went through closets each season.

 

I pretended like we were moving and did one room at a time. We did end up moving shortly after, so it was good just in case! I used a spreadsheet to keep track of things with a simple description, (6 dinner plates, Pyrex 4-cup measuring cup, 4 9x9 glass baking dishes, 12 Bath towels, etc.) and actually did some decluttering at the same time.  For appliances, like PP said, serial numbers, model numbers, books and digital copies of receipts if you have them.

 

There is also the Encircle App.  That will include videos, photos, and you can use it on your computer with a real keyboard.  

 

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I pretended like we were moving and did one room at a time. We did end up moving shortly after, so it was good just in case! I used a spreadsheet to keep track of things with a simple description, (6 dinner plates, Pyrex 4-cup measuring cup, 4 9x9 glass baking dishes, 12 Bath towels, etc.) and actually did some decluttering at the same time.  For appliances, like PP said, serial numbers, model numbers, books and digital copies of receipts if you have them.

 

There is also the Encircle App.  That will include videos, photos, and you can use it on your computer with a real keyboard. 

 

The Encircle app is exactly what we need.  Wow, I had never heard about it.  :hurray:

 

 

THANK YOU!   :party:    Reason #12,847 why I love this forum...

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We had to do this when the house burned, it was a PITA but not as bad as you would think but we aren't packrats. Mentally we just went room by room, yes pictures would have made it easier but we managed. Now if you have a huge house or tons of stuff it would of course be more difficult but really it is about the major stuff.

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:   :grouphug:

 

I am so sorry to hear that you (along with several other board members) had to deal with this situation.  The emotional toll alone would be devastating.  I. Can't. Even.

 

May I ask how you mentally went room by room?  Did you do this over a lengthy period of time?  I am thinking of our rooms and I simply cannot fathom how to create a comprehensive list (at least in our home.)  For example, I have an antique sideboard in our dining room chock full of items stashed behind closed doors.  If you asked me right now without the trauma of a loss hanging over my head, I could not begin to itemize what is contained behind those doors.  My mind just blanks aside from 8 extra place settings of a random china pattern (not even mine.)  For discussion purposes, I just went and peeked...well, I completely brain dumped the sterling silver ice bucket and tongs, a ton of decorative items, some specialty handmade basketry etc. and this is just one piece in one room.  I am amazed at your ability to recreate a list strictly from memory!  Aside from the rooms themselves, the garage leaves me gobsmacked...the tools, the stuff, the stash everything,  the luggage, all the Christmas decorations collected over the years....

 

Maybe I am just misunderstanding the concept of an insurance settlement.  I *thought/think* you had to account for every single item in your home in order to be compensated.  I have always just assumed that no insurance company would just blithely pay the maximum payout unless everything was itemized.  PLEASE tell me I am mistaken because in my heart I know we are probably under insured even at 80% of the value of the house....which also leaves me  :svengo: !

 

I am so grateful for all of the input on this thread!  We should ALL be doing this.  You just never know.

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Maybe I am just misunderstanding the concept of an insurance settlement.  I *thought/think* you had to account for every single item in your home in order to be compensated.  I have always just assumed that no insurance company would just blithely pay the maximum payout unless everything was itemized.  PLEASE tell me I am mistaken because in my heart I know we are probably under insured even at 80% of the value of the house....which also leaves me  :svengo: !

 

I am so grateful for all of the input on this thread!  We should ALL be doing this.  You just never know.

 

***GENERALLY SPEAKING***, insurance will pay out "typical" amounts for average items in normal quantities without detailed inventory.  (Yes, that's a lot of qualifiers.)

 

So, an insurance company will almost always accept that an adult owns X number of shirts and Y pairs of pants.  That you have beds and tables.  Blah, blah, blah.  And the contents policy amount, unless intentionally changed, is most likely for the amounts of standard family contents.

 

Obviously that *isn't always the case.  And an insurance company is *probably going to raise an eyebrow if a homeowner wants to claim well above average wardrobes and electronics without documentation.  And then they will likely proceed to deny the claim even WITH documentation if it's above the contents policy amount.

 

So, imo, documentation is about much more than proof.  It's also the only real way to determine whether or not you have enough coverage in place so your proof isn't worthless (or worth less, rather) after a tragedy.

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