As the first Hurricane approaches the mainland what should you have done to prepare for it? The most overlooked items are financial records, medical prescriptions, and insurance information. What information do you need for your financial records? To start with you should have the bank or institutions name and national phone number, and the account numbers (Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Savings, Checking, IRA accounts, Stocks, bonds and Mutual finds and other investments, as well as your loans and bank card number and pin numbers). Many people have records of all this information and some in one place but during a crisis you may not think about it until it is too late. My son has all the information written down and keeps it in his wallet. Not a good idea if you lose your wallet. Many people have a 2-3 days supply of their daily medicine that they carry with them. What do you do when you are out of your house for several weeks? You need to have the name of the drugs, the Prescription Number, the Pharmacy Address and Phone Number) and the Doctors Name (Clinic, Address and phone number). Finally you need your insurance information. To start with you will need your car insurance, house insurance and Health Insurance. If you find yourself in the hospital you will be treated but trying to settle a bill long distance can be difficult so if you can provide the information up front it will be one less thing to worry about. When you have to file a claim you need to know who to contact. If you use a local insurance agent his record may be destroyed and delay your claim. You need to know your policy limits and what is covered. The same goes for your car insurance. What about your life insurance policies? Do you have the companies, the amounts and contact information? Many people have auto payments for their insurance policies and the original policy is all you have. Having to file a lost policy request is time consuming and can be a lengthily process.

There are several things you can do to protect yourself. The first is to make a list of all the information mentioned above. I would suggest a spread sheet, like Excel, and then you would have all the information in one place. You could also scan a copy of the documents and save that. Some people like to email a copy to themselves or a trusted friend to hold until you need it. There is a danger if someone hacked into your email they would have all the information. Others people print out a copy and put it in a safety deposit box in the bank. In the case of Katrina your information could be in New Orleans and you are in Houston, TX. Some people have put the information on a CD and mailed or given it to a trusted friend. Another suggestion is to split the information. You email your prescription information to your self while having a back up copy with some one else. You also email the name and contact information of you bank, credit cards, loans, insurance companies, etc with out account numbers so that you can contact them when needed and yet having the numbers and other information with some one else for when you need them.

Once you compile the information you need to update it at least once a year. Tax time would be a good time because you have most of that information out and it would be easier to do then and not make it a totally separate process. Even a minor disaster can cause major problems if you are not prepared. I had a house fire that caused very little damage but a lot of smoke damage. We could get into the house almost any time we wanted but the workers moved things for their convenience. The file cabinet with all our information was moved to the center of the room with a big desk up against the drawers and shelves on either side. Our computer was in the shop for several weeks being cleaned and check our. Being prepared is more that having a bug out bag. It is having you information safe some place away from the disaster. Some disasters give you days warning while other can happen in minutes or when you are away. Have you important information stored off site in a place where you can contact them and get it quickly.