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It's only a couple of months into 2012 and, all the way across the midWest and the plains states, thousands people are picking up the pieces after the latest run of tornadoes brought destruction in major population centers. Indeed, the last two years have broken records for the severity of the weather conditions and the total of the insurance claims paid out by insurers. If the doomsayers are correct and climate change is a reality, there's only more extreme weather all year round to expect. Most people pull their policies and check the wording to ensure they have all the cover they need for their homes. That's always the priority. To have a roof and four walls around you. Except there's a new survey showing that about 60% of all customers fail to go on to the next step which is to protect the contents in the home by producing a file containing proper evidence of the extent of the contents. They see the headline in the policy which is usually a maximum amount claimable - keeping this simple, insurers tend to make this a fixed percentage of the rebuilding costs. In case you want more than this rough average, you have to ask for additional cover. That's when you realize the need for a proper home inventory.
The study showed that even when people do have a list of the more expensive items kept in the home, less than half have receipts and only about a quarter have actual images of the items. To make it even worse, only a tiny percentage of people keep a back-up copy of their records outside the home. So, sadly, if their home blows away, so goes all the evidence. In these days of computer technologies, it's not difficult to make a list and store it and pics of the receipts in the cloud. That way, whenever the home insurance companies ask for copies - it's remarkable how often they lose what you give them - you can just send them another copy. Having the list as a digital file also makes it easy to keep it up to date. That means canceling property lost or thrown away, and adding all the new property as it arrives in your home. The more accurate the records you keep, the more likely it is you will get a reasonable fair value settlement. So, in an ideal situation, you would have a description, serial numbers and bar codes whenever available, and some statement about the current state. Keep in mind, unless you buy a Rolls Royce policy, this is a not a new-for-old plan. You only get the amount needed to replace like-for-like. This makes it essential to have some idea of whether the couch is as new or in dire need of replacement.
There are some nice packages and apps that list all the different types of items you have in the house. These lists are very helpful in prompting you. It's far too easy to forget to write down all the clothes, curtains, and workshop tools stored in the garage. Homeowners insurance cover is no use to you if all it pays is for rebuilding. An empty home isn't actually a home. Put yourself in the right position to claim the full value of all the contents of your home. Make the home insurance adequate to your actual requirements.