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Creating A Home Inventory

We've talked previously about homeowner insurance issues: the CLUE database that insurers use to track insurance claims, how claims for water damage can adversely affect premium costs or the ability to purchase insurance, and contractor liability issues, to name a few. This article will walk you through creating a home inventory, and show you how a home inventory can help protect your valuable possessions.

An up-to-date home inventory will make it much easier to deal with police and insurance companies in the event your home is struck by burglary, fire, flood, earthquake, or other disaster; being able to provide descriptions, photos, model and serial numbers and supporting appraisals will help protect the intrinsic value of your possessions. And, the last thing you'll want to do in the event of a disaster is have to spend time re-creating a list of all your property from memory.

Making a home inventory isn't an onerous task, but is definitely something you should make time for. Start by walking through your house with a pad of paper and a still or video camera. Take pictures and jot down descriptions of any items worth more than $50 or so. Be sure to include all items of value, including jewelry, clothing, art, stamp or coin collections, CD and record collections, silver, tools and electronic equipment. Go through every room in the house, including the garage, attic and basement.

Record key information for each item:

• A detailed description, including model and serial numbers, and identifying marks. This will help you justify the estimated value of the item to your insurance company and help police identify (and possibly recover) stolen goods.
• Physical location. This will help you identify what you've lost if only one area, such as the garage, is hit.
• The location of receipts, owner's manuals and repair bills.
• Purchase price, current value and replacement cost. For most items, your best estimate will do. For antiques, collectibles or other difficult-to-price items such jewelry or art, you may need professional appraisals; you can insure Ôscheduled' items for specific amounts.

Most homeowners have access to a computer. Formalize your inventory by typing up your notes in a word processing program, or creating a more comprehensive database that allows you to search for items by room or type. You can also use a commercial software package such as Nolo Press' Personal RecordKeeper software (which has a home inventory section) or go to www.shareware.com and search for Ôhome inventory' software. If you are computer-phobic or can't type, you can at least make copies of any notes and documentation.

Keep one copy of your inventory and supporting documentation in a safe place, such as a fire-resistant file cabinet. Make at least one copy to store off-site; it would be heartbreaking if you lost the only copy of your home inventory in the same fire that destroyed the house. Keep off-site copies in your safe deposit box, or with friends or relatives. When you go on vacation, give a copy to whoever is looking after your home; if your house were broken into while you were gone, they would be able to determine what was missing.

Creating a home inventory does take some time, but a few hours spent now will spare you days of agony down the road. Call me for referrals to preferred appraisers or insurance agents!

sherrybenninger@grubbco.com

The GRUBB Co., 1960 Mountain Blvd., Oakland, CA 94611

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