A home Inventory is a necessary part of disaster preparation. Once intimidating, creating a large list of items is now easier than ever.
Here’s what to know about documenting home items.
What is a Home Inventory?
A home inventory is as it sounds, it’s a recorded list of all of the items in a home. Whether physical or digital, a home inventory should be an easily accessible and portable list of the things in the home that owners care about.
Items in the home that may be on an inventory include:
- Electronics – Televisions, tablets, chargers, phones and gaming consoles are all eligible for replacement after an emergency.
- Jewelry – Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and watches, focusing on any with high or sentimental value can make a large difference in coverage.
- Medical Items – Any prescriptions or medical devices necessary for members to thrive or have a high value. This is also important for showing medical insurance if something got destroyed.
- Clothes – Clothing is pricier than ever; if a wardrobe disappears, people need to recoup those costs to repurchase their items.
- Furniture – Perhaps the most obvious, taking inventory of furniture items is necessary to get the right reimbursement.
- Blankets – From homemade throws to luxury bedding, take note of the blankets around the home.
- Pillows – While taking inventory of a home, don’t forget the pillows. If a decorative or bed pillow is valuable to the owner, they can reference it in their claim.
- Mattresses – With mattresses now costing thousands of dollars, it’s worth people back the sheets to record the ones throughout the home properly.
- Dishes/Cutlery – Dishes are often home gifts, wedding presents and other valuable and sentimental items. Whether a $10 or $1,000 set,
- Books – Books are costly, but even the least expensive ones can have great value to their owner. Take the time to record the title and author of each one.
- Decorations – From everyday decor to holiday decorations, record any important to the household.
By going through each room and listing things of importance, people will know what’s gone if a break-in or disaster occurs.
Reasons to Have a Home Inventory
There are several reasons to have a home inventory on hand. Here are the top five.
1. Helps With Insurance Purchases
With an accurate list of possessions, customers can more easily identify which home insurance plan is right. Speaking to providers about their inventory can help consumers choose the best policy.
Home insurance is extremely important for owners to recoup the cost of items unexpectedly lost. This type of insurance is complicated, with various structural, geographical and appraisal values contributing to final cost and coverage options.
Homeowners will only regret the coverage if they need to know which policy provides the most coverage for the least amount of money.
2. Simplifies Filing a Claim
Most people can’t say what they have at home regularly if asked. If disaster strikes, how is anyone supposed to remember what all they had inside?
Disaster claims are overwhelming, and people need to ensure that they don’t forget something they’ll miss later. With a home inventory, there is no concern that an item is left out of the claim.
The home inventory must be either digital or in a portable notebook so the inventory itself isn’t lost in the disaster. There is value in keeping a physical log and digital list.
3. Provides Tax Assistance
When disaster strikes, those affected may have the opportunity to get a tax break or assistance. However, it’s necessary to document what’s gone to know which breaks a person is eligible for.
The last thing anyone needs after a natural disaster or break-in is to pay a large tax bill. Thankfully, the Internal Revenue Service will give breaks to victims of a home invasion or major weather event. To take advantage of it, there needs to be a clear log of the losses the person suffered.
With the right tax assistance, disaster victims can get back on their feet faster without worrying about affording their taxes.
4. It Helps People Stay Organized
When taking a home inventory, it’s necessary to go through every item, making it easy to decide what is disposable.
Maybe there are old clothes, movies or knick-knacks that an owner doesn’t care about anymore. They might purchase a duplicate item or allow their house to get cluttered if they forget they were there.
Taking a home inventory provides the opportunity to eliminate different items throughout the process. This process can create a cleaner home that feels larger and more breathable.
5. It’s Easy
With the other reasons for a home inventory and technological advances, it’s simpler than ever to have a home inventory. Spreadsheets seem scary to some people, but they can utilize applications that record items by taking pictures.
If technology is intimidating for someone, they can write down or draw the item in the notebook. Another way to do it is to take a video walking through the home, opening cabinets and any other storage area. If the worst happens, just watch the video to determine what’s gone.
Ensure that there is a record of the serial numbers for different items so the claim is accurate.
Knowing What’s In a Home
A home contains the elements of its owner’s life; those important items could disappear when threatened.
With a home inventory, owners can recoup the costs of the lost items, making the initial tragedy easier to deal with.
Some more of my home organisation posts here
