Is a Home Inventory Required?

Your home owner’s policy offers lots of coverages, right? There is coverage for the exterior/structure of the home and also for other structures on the property, such as a barn, shed, detached garage, etc.

You also have liability coverage in case someone is hurt on your property – your dog bites someone or someone slips and falls on an icy sidewalk.

And of course, you have coverage for your personal items inside your home. Imagine if you flipped your house upside down and all the stuff fell out – the clothes, furniture, electronics, jewelry and guns – those are personal articles that are covered.

So if your home was a total loss, maybe a big fire or a tornado, how does the insurance company figure out what you had inside?

Basically, if you have a 2,000 square foot, 3 bedroom home with an average value of $250,000, an adjuster is going to give you money for the normal and customary items and quality of what would be found in that home to refurbish your items inside the home.

What if you have unusual items that are difficult to just go out and easily value and purchase? How do you get those types of items replaced?

The VERY BEST WAY to be sure your unique items are replaced are to have a record of them on file with your insurance agent. Some items that come to mind are collections of any kind. Think guns, jewelry, art, watches. Since we are in Kentucky, think about your bourbon collection. If you have very rare and expensive bottles, be sure you have a detailed record of each one.

If you are a spreadsheet type of person, make a nice intricate spreadsheet showing all your prized possessions and email it to your insurance agent.

For the rest of us, a simple video will suffice. Take a moment and walk around your house to record what is there. If you need to open drawers or doors or safes to show the contents, please do so. Then email the video file to insurance agent, just in case.

Chances are you’ll never need this record, as a total loss is not common. However, if you DO need to replace these items, you’ll probably be in a very emotional and stressful state already, and you’ll be so glad you took a few minutes to record these items for ease of processing the claim and replacing those things.