Home Inventory-Disaster Neccessity

The lose of your home and contents is a devastating experience. When disaster happens to you, your emotions are so over the edge that it's hard to think clearly. So when your insurance company comes to you, are you going to remember everything that was in your house? You only get one chance to get the information to them before your settlement. How are you going to remember everything that was there? Loss is bad enough without getting the insurance benefits you are entitled to. A home inventory makes the loss considerably easier to get through.

Could you and your family live through the devestating loss of home and property? Are you prepared to move forward if you lost everything you own? When my husband and I got married two years ago, we combined homes. We really had to blend two families worth of stuff together. So, for us, it was time to take inventory of what we had and get it all together

The recent natural disasters of 2012 should have taught all of us some real lessons. And after everything that has happened, if we don't get it now, will we ever? With the devastating fires of 2013, you really need to be prepared for any type of disaster

The time is now to prepare for the possibility of natural or man made disaster. You have the responsibility to provide for your family if disaster takes your property, means of income and assets

2012/2013 Disasters

The 2012 Colorado Fires Cost to fight and contain this fire was estimated at $38 million. 242 homes totally lost !

Hurricane Sandy $20 billion and still counting

2013 Tornados-Spring 1013 Homes and towns completely leveled

2013 Fires. Summer of 2013 proved horrific for folks in Colorado and California

2017

Let's face it, after your family has suffered a disaster, you are thinking only emotionally. Whatever agencies or insurance companies you are dealing with are only going to give you one chance to tell them what you owned and the value of it. Having a home inventory is essential so that we get what you need when trouble comes knocking at your door.

1. Fire Probably the most common disaster a family can suffer. Please remember the Colorado and now the California Fires
2. Hurricane And Tropical Storms While only some specific areas would suffer this type of disaster, Remember, Andrew -20 years ago and the billions of dollars of damage
3. Tornado Whole towns have been devistated by this type of damage
4. Floods Often a side effect of other disasters, floods can still wipe out everything. Consider New Orleans and the damage wrought by water.
5. Theft This is probably the most common disaster you may suffer. But having a home inventory will help you prove the goods that were stolen

Why Bother Doing A Home Inventory?

Knowing how much you have helps knowing if your insurance coverage is rightI just remarried a year ago and my new husband and I had combined goods. Now we are ready to tackle a new home inventory and here's why.First, we want to make sure that we are neither underinsured or over insured.If something happens, we want to be able to settle faster.We need to have a list of what we own.We may want to add more insurance on things like jewelry and collectables

Knowing what you have saves you from buying duplicates. It saves you money ! I know I have done that with some craft tools

Going through your stuff helps you get organizedYou may just find a few things to get rid of

If you get organized, you might just find out you can save money on any outside storage

In Florida, we prepare every hurricane season, and while we have been lucky so far, there are many states that were hit hard with Sandy. So your choice is to bury your head in the sand and suffer if the worst happens. Or you can be prepared and ready. Remember, in many cases you are making the choices for not only yourself, but also for your family.

This is one thing that everyone needs to get done. You can involve your whole family ! Each person can inventory their own room and then you can inventory common areas. If you question why you should do this...watch these videos and think about how these families are coping with the loss of their property and personal items. Think about what happens when the insurance adjuster comes. R=What will you tell him if it happens to you?

Not only should you have videos or pictures of your possessions, but you should have documentation of them. We plan on going room by room, but you could also go by types of goods like furniture, appliances, clothes, ect. We will identify our items, giving names, brands and serial numbers. We will include receipts where we have them. We'll search for credit card recipts where we can find them.Scan receipts in your computer cause they tend to fade

1. The receipts of what you own no matter how old they are
2. A camera, cell phone, disposable camera or video camera
3. An inventory list or a computer home inventory program
4. A disk or flash program to record your information
5. Pen and paper to make notes

Read And Understand Your Policy

It's so super important to know what yoour coverage is and make adjustments. No one wants to be "insurance poor" But really think about what it would cost you to replace your home if you suffered a complete loss.

You may have taken a policy that was based on the cost of your home years ago, but what about those additions, upgrades and improvements? How about the contents of your home. You may have added new furniture and other things that may be worth more than you had insured for before.

Know and understand your policy before you have to use it ! If you have questions, talk to your insurance agent before it's too late !

Before you do a home inventory, you should do a home insurance policy. You will need your insurance policy, some paper and pen, plus the name and phone number of your insurance company or agent. You will also need to know the current tax value of your home and an aproximate market value of your residence. Look at your policy.Write down your questions and get the answers. Decide what you can and want to afford in your insurance policy.

1. Look at the Replacement Value of your home or how much it is insured for...Remember, you may have taken it out years ago. Market values change.Improvements change the value of your home. How does your policy stack up against the cost of what it would cost you to replace the house? Do you have guaranteed replacement value ? What about detached garages, sheds,pool cages and the like?
2. What repairs does your policies cover?
3. How does your policy cover you for tornadoes, eathquakes, hurricanes, hail and other natural diseaters?
4. Do you live in a flood zone and what insurance do you have to cover flooding? Recently where I live, there has been flooding after the tropical storm. No flood insurance if you are in a flood zone will cost you for sure
5. Does your insurance coverage for your possessions match the value of what you own. We have all added appliances, computers ect as we go along. You might be surprized that you may have less insurance than what you own.
6. Do you have full replacement value of the goods you own? Some policies only cover the decreasing value of a piece of furniture, alliance, computer, ect. That means you would only get the current market value of the item in it's decreasing value. Now you have to decide if you would like to pay to fully replace those goods

You can test driive

Video or Pictures

Now it's time to get busy on your inventory. The first thing you will want to do is to take pictures of the exterior of your home. After all, Your home may be 20 years old, but you may have had new siding and improvements done that have increased the value. You can prove widow upgrades, siding, drains and gutters, carports ect. You will want to take pictures of pools, garages, sheds, patios ect. Make sure to include specifics. If you are doing videos, make comments where appropriate

No matter if you are using a video camera or a regular camera, you will want to go room to room to do your inventory. Take one room at a time and do a complete inventory. Open closets and take pictures of everything. Open jewelry boxes and take pictures of everything. Take pictures of linen. Take pictures of furniture and accessories. Take pictures of books and computers as well as computer accessories.Open dresser drawers and photographs of clothes.Remember to do attics, garages and sheds. Even if you are using a computer programs, you will need a film or picture inventory to show what you have as well as the shape of the items you own

These are terrific coomputer programs that will help you do a complete home inventory and have it loaded on your computer

So, now you have finished it, so what to do with it....First you will want to make one copy of it at least and give it to someone that you trust. That could be a family member, especially one who is out of state. That way, you will always have a safe copy. You can also keep a copy of it in a safety deposit box at your bank. That's a good idea, but in a large area disaster, you might not be able to get at it right away. You will want to have a copy for yourself in your diasater kit. more about that later.You could also keep a copy in a locked box or locker at your place of work. You need to keep a copy available to you at a moment's notice so that you can pick it up and go if and when an emergency occurs.

Here in Florida, tropical storms, bad thunder storms, hurricanes,flooding and tornadoes are things that are not too uncommon. In other parts of the country fires, and other disasters take their tolls. Every family should have a disaster kit ready at a seconds notice when catastrophe strikes. Here are some things for you to consider. Have one kit that you can and do grab in case of emergency. You can scan these into your computer and have it on a disk or hard drive if you don't want to create an envelope of stuff.

1. Copies of your insurance policies. That would include your house, health, life and car policies. You need this documents in the aftermath of a disaster.
2. Copies of your bank accounts including any cds,savings and checking accounts.
3. Copies of social security cards, drivers licenses, and other id cards passoorts
4. Your home inventory of course