Why Home Inventory Is Important For Home Insurance And How To Create One

A lot of new homeowners forget one important aspect of filing their insurance claims, which is an updated home inventory. A home inventory is a list of a person’s possessions and assets along with their financial value.

As per a survey, only 4 out of 10 homeowners have an up-to-date home inventory maintained in the United States. Let’s take a look at why it’s important to maintain a home inventory and how you can effectively maintain it.

Importance of Maintaining Home Inventory

Maintaining an updated home inventory has a lot of benefits, especially when filing an insurance claim. These include:

Speeding Up Insurance Claims

An updated home inventory helps insurance companies fast-track your loss settlements in case of an accident, for example, a house fire. Moreover, it doesn’t only fasttrack the claim, it also documents for tax on your lost possessions that insurance doesn’t reimburse.

Allow Your Complete Reimbursement

There are always chances of you forgetting some of your belongings in case of an accident because it’s difficult to remember every single one of them. This is where home inventories can help you get proper reimbursement for your loss.

How to Make a Home Inventory?

If you’re moving into a new house and plan to make a home inventory for home insurance, take small steps to start so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Pick an Easy Spot

Start from a contained area, for example, the kitchen. List down all the appliances you have and their financial value. Keep a list of all other items in your kitchen except the perishables.

Another good place to start is from your closet. Take note of all the pairs of clothing accessories you own, for example, shirts, pants, jeans, jackets, shoes, etc along with their value.

Keep Adding Recent Purchases to the List

Your home inventory list also needs to be edited and updated every once in a while. Don’t let many additions pile up and keep adding recent purchases as soon as you make any. For example, if you’re buying a new fridge, or a TV, immediately add it to your home inventory.

Proof of Value

If possible, maintain the proof of value for your possessions, for example, a sales receipt, purchase contracts, etc.

Take Pictures

It’s the modern age where everything is digital. Take pictures of your possessions and keep a record of them. There are also mobile applications available that specifically let you manage your home inventory digitally.

If you’ve maintained a home inventory, it’s best to talk to your insurance provider to get it approved for use in case of an accident.

Western Mass Auto Insurance is a trusted insurance provider in Springfield and offers multiple insurance policies, including home insurance, renter’s insurance, personal car insurance, and more.

Get in touch with us now for more details.