A Guide to Making a Home Inventory List in Case of Fire or Other Damage

If you are a homeowner or even if you just rent, it is important to have homeowners or rental insurance to protect you and your family from damage such as fire. Imagine you have just suffered the loss of your home from fire. Dealing with this incredibly tragic loss seems impossible. Not only have you lost every possession you own, but family photos, childhood mementos and treasured keepsakes are gone. It is impossible to recover some of these items, but if you have insurance, your insurance company will cover damage to your home and your possessions. However, you will need a list of all these possessions in order to claim them.

Having an up to date inventory of your possessions is very useful for insurance purposes. It will save you time and energy should you experience a tragic loss from a fire and it will help the claims process go much smoother, especially in a time of such anxiety and loss when you probably will not be thinking straight. You will also get your claim processed much quicker if you have the necessary information.

The first step is to break this list down into categories of room (e.g. living room, bedroom). Next, start an itemized list of each of your possessions. It is especially helpful to go through each room with a video camera or take still photos with a camera and document the possessions in your home. Keep these in a safe place; preferably outside the home should you be the unfortunate victim of a fire. You could also use an audiotape to walk through the home and verbally document all the possessions you have. If you are using a video camera, explain each item as you video it. Take photos of especially important items and write down important information on the back of the photo.

In today's technologically advanced world you can easily do this with digital photos, uploading the photos and this list to your computer's server, or email the list to yourself. Should you lose your computer in a fire, you can easily download the information from your server or email server. Other places to keep all this information, including your home owners inventory of your possessions include a bank safe deposit box, freezer, tool shed, fire resistant safe, and friend or family's home.

What to Include

Information to include are the estimated purchase price of each item, serial numbers and manufacturer information where applicable, date of purchase or date you came to own the item and where it was purchased or if it was a gift. You could have items such as heirloom jewelry appraised to find out the estimated value. Keep this paperwork in a safe place. It is also helpful to keep receipts for major purchases in a safe place.

Don't forget to look in closets, drawers, the attic, the basement and record all your possessions on your inventory list. List items by category for clothing (e.g. 10 pairs pants). For clothing items that are of value such as a leather or fur coat, estimate the value of this coat on your list.

Other items to include:washer, dryer, radios, musical CDs , tapes, records (list how many you own rather than each individual one), answering machine, air conditioners, sewing machines, mirrors, art, rugs (especially if they are expensive), cameras, stereo equipment, televisions, VCrs, video equipment, furniture (e.g., coffee table, sofas, beds), fans, vacuum cleaners, exercise equipment, musical instruments, collections of things you possess such as coins, or antiques (you should have these appraised), planters, lamps, books, clocks, curtains, bed linens, kitchen appliances, pots, pans, dishware, hair dryers, scales, water pics, pictures and wall hangings, business supplies, luggage, bicycles, games, deck furniture, and outdoor cooking equipment such as grills.

Contact your insurance company for suggestions prior to making your list. They probably have inventory forms on hand, or can at least provide you with the information they will need to process a claim, should one need to be. The internet is also a very useful tool for how to make your home inventory.

Suggestions for starting your list

This may be an incredibly daunting task for those who have lived in their home for many years. However, start with recent purchases and work backwards. It is better to have an incomplete list than none at all. For recent homeowners, or those just moving, this task is a little less daunting as you probably do not have as much accumulated. If you are in the process of moving, since you are already going through each of your possessions, take a moment to jot down the information for your inventory while you are packing.

Start by breaking your list down into rooms and then just writing down all the items in each room that you can think of at the top of your head. Then, go back to try to fill in the other necessary information. This will at least get you off to a good start. During commercial breaks while you are watching TV, jot down items you own that are right in front of you. Spring cleaning is also a good time to work on your home inventory list. As you clean closets and drawers out, take inventory of what is inside them. Take one room at a time and work on this over the course of several days or weeks to make the task less daunting.

Keep your home inventory up to date. Each time you make a purchase, document the information on your inventory. Once your home inventory list has been compiled, keeping the list current will not be a major undertaking and will save you time, energy and worry in the long run.