The Importance of a Home Inventory

When dealing with insureds, you want to review the insured’s exposures and provide the best coverages possible at the best price. However once you’ve done that, there are still things you should do to assist your insured. One is to instruct them to create a home inventory. Whether a homeowners policy or a tenants policy, if the insured has a loss he will be asked by the insurance company to provide an inventory of the damaged property that includes quantity, description of the items, actual cash value and amount of loss, and include any records, receipts and related documents that substantiate the claim. If the loss is small, the insured may be able to create a list from memory and whatever is left of the damaged property, but once the loss is larger, it becomes more complicated. Creating an inventory however takes some work, and many people just don’t get around to getting it done since it’s not necessarily an enjoyable task. So how do you encourage your insured to create an inventory?

 For starters, you’ve already talked about the value of the insured’s property when discussing coverages. Many people overlook just how much stuff they have. Someone in an apartment may assume they only have $15,000 or so of property, because in their head they are thinking mostly of the dining room set, sofa, chairs, bed, dressers, clothes, television and computers. The big stuff. What they tend to forget is the dishes, silverware, towels, pots, pans, framed pictures, books, cds, tools, toys, both human and animal, and other items. Yes, animal toys should be counted too. You may think a toy mouse isn’t worth listing, but if the insured has a large number of toys for her pets, it can add up. Two dollars here and four dollars there adds up, along with cat towers, dog beds, crates, stairs, and other furniture that is more expensive. A small cat tree may be $52 on sale; but larger, more elaborate trees may be well over $100, and some approach $200. Carpeted pet stairs with storage may also approach $200 or more. (Yes, some pets are very spoiled.)