Taking Inventory for Home Insurance

If a disaster ever strikes your home and you need your home insurance policy to cover damages to your personal property, the more documentation you have about your belongings the better. The important thing is to take home inventory as soon as possible, and to schedule regular times to update your documentation.

Probably the best way to take inventory for home insurance is using a spreadsheet program on your computer and digital camera. Digital media is easy to make multiple copies of and is very compact, so it's easy to make redundant copies of your data. If you don't have access to a computer or digital camera, using regular cameras and a hand-written list is fine. You just have to be especially careful to store the information in a safe place.

This Home Insurance Inventory Article is Organized By Importance

These step-by-step instructions of taking an inventory for your home insurance are laid out in level of importance. If you have limited time to dedicate to making a home inventory, do each step as you can and work your way down. Doing all the steps at once is best, but not everyone has the time to dedicate to the entire project all at once.

Make a Video - Home Insurance Inventory Step 1

If you have a video camera, making a video should be your absolute first step. The closest thing to walking around your house and taking inventory is watching a video of your house, so even if you don't get to the other steps on your list, you can at least create a "virtual tour" of your house. Since your home insurance company will want as much proof as they can as to the value of your belongings, a video is your best bet.

Home Insurance Inventory - Make a Video - Walk Through The House

Take a walk through your house while taping, all the while making comments on what you see. The more detail you give, the easier it will be for your home insurance company. Walk through each room, and pan the room slowly. Open each drawer and closet, and talk about items that are particularly costly. Don't forget about your indoor and outdoor furniture.

Home Insurance Inventory - Make a Video - Store the Video in a Safe Place

If you have a digital camera and can burn the video onto a CD or DVD, make several copies to put in different locations. Ideally, the best place to put all of your data is in a safe deposit box in a different city or state. Consider also getting a small fire-proof safe for your home to store these documents in as well. Keep in mind that fire-proof safes don't always work, so you should have another copy elsewhere.

Take Photos - Home Insurance Inventory Step 2

Taking a lot of photos is the next best thing for taking home insurance inventory to video. If you have a digital camera, make sure to take a lot of photos at a high resolution. With a standard camera, take as many photos as you feel you can afford for this project.

Just as you would with video, walk through each room and photograph everything you see to make sure your home insurance inventory is complete. Also open every drawer and closet, and take close-up photos of important or expensive items.

Home Insurance Inventory - Take Photos - Store the Photos in a Safe Place

Again, the further away and the more protected the place, the better. If you have digital copies, make several copies and store them in different areas. The more places your home insurance inventory is, the better. Make sure to develop any film you have to insure that the photos were taken properly.

Make a List - Home Insurance Inventory Step 3

This step is last because you can always make your home insurance inventory list later from videos and photos. In this step, make a list of all of the rooms in your house. In each room, work your way around the perimeter of the house, writing down all of your items. If you have two people working on this, one to call out the name of the items, and the other to type in into a spreadsheet or text document, it will go much quicker.

Once you have your home insurance inventory list completed, write down any additional notes that will help you remember items that might be difficult to remember later, and also add your estimated cost for each item.

Reviewing Your Home Insurance Inventory List

Once you have your home insurance inventory completed, make sure to store everything in a safe place like a safe deposit box. Total up the total value of your belongings and make sure that your home insurance will cover everything in the case of a disaster.

If you can, schedule a time every 4-6 months to review your inventory, and update your documents, video and photos. It's no fun being caught in a disaster without the proper documentation for your home insurance company.