My husband and I recently visited with our insurance agent. We learned quite a bit about homeowners insurance that we did not know before we spoke with her that day. One of the things we learned was how important it was to make sure we correctly documented our property, especially the valuable property.
A homeowners insurance policy covers two basic things. It covers the damage caused to the outside of your home, and it covers the replacement of your personal property in case it gets stolen, or damaged due to a disaster. Insurance companies will require proof before they will replace items that were damaged or stolen. It is up to you to create the proper kind of proof.
First, get a camera. You will need to take good photos of your valuables. While it is not required that you get the type of camera that a professional photographer would use, you are going to need something that takes better photos than the average cell phone can. You will also need something that lets you make a list of the manufacturer that made the item, and the specific model number. One easy way to start this list is with pen and paper.
Taking good photos is important. Find a place in your home where the lighting is very good. You may need to set up some additional lights, depending on your circumstances. Make sure your hands are steady when you take the photo, to avoid getting a blurry photo. You might also want to take more than one photo: one of the item, and one of the serial number that is attached to the item. Some items, such as jewelry, may require a camera that can take very detailed photos. This will make it much easier later on for you to prove to your insurance company exactly what kind of item you lost.
Next, gather up all the receipts that go with these items. This is another way to prove that you did, in fact, own the item you are trying to claim. You should scan these receipts into a digital format. A good way to do this is to make use of a printer that also has scanning capabilities. All of your photographs will need to be in digital format as well. It is also a good idea to take the list you made of the manufacturer and serial number for each item and put that into a format that can be read by a computer. All of this information will need to be placed on a CD, (or DVD), and stored someplace that is safe, and is outside of your home. This way, if your house burns down, you will still be able to provide the proof that your insurance company will require before it will work on replacing your items.
Image by Rasmus Sten on Flickr