Home Inventory Applications

If your home were burglarized or damaged by a fire, would you be able to give your insurance company a complete list of all the items that were damaged, destroyed or taken?

A recent survey done by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners revealed 59 percent of consumers have not made a list or inventory of their possessions. Of those individuals with a home inventory, 48 percent do not have receipts; 27 percent do not have photos of their property; and 28 percent do not have a back-up copy of the inventory outside the home. Additionally, 59 percent of people with inventories have not updated their inventories in more than a year, meaning new purchases and gifts may not be covered.

Having an up-to-date personal property home inventory will help.

Here are a few more tips when taking an inventory of your personal property:

• Keep sales receipts and attach to your personal property inventory list.
• Keep a video inventory or photographs of your personal property in addition to your inventory list.
• List any serial numbers that may be on your personal property
• Engrave your own serial number into items that are of value
• Keep your personal property inventory list, along with photos and/or inventory videos, in a safe place away from your home such as a bank lock box.

Home inventory apps/programs

There are plenty of these, including the following:

• DocuHome
• Home Inventory, from Binary Formations
• Know Your Stuff, from the Insurance Information Institute
• StuffSafe