Home Inventory Guide — Why You Need One and How to Get Started

It’s officially spring cleaning season! Here at Bearingstar Insurance, we think this is also a great time to make or update your home inventory. Not sure why you need one? A home inventory is a great resource to share with your local insurance agent. A comprehensive home inventory will help your agent ensure you have enough personal property coverage and in the event of a loss, like a fire or burst pipe, your home inventory can make the claims process easier.

How To Make A Home Inventory Guide

Be Organized

Go through your home room by room and floor by floor and take note of all of your belongings. Don’t forget rooms like your attic, basement, closets, or bathrooms. We recommend starting at one end of your home, and systematically working your way through each room. And don’t forget — if you have items stored outside of your home, like in a storage unit, you’ll also want to inventory these items.

Make A Checklist

Making a checklist of your belongings will help you stay organized — here’s a helpful template from Arbella Insurance. In general, you’ll want to include as much detail as possible, such as item value, dates and location of purchase, or any receipts or appraisal documents you may have. Most appliances and electronics have a serial number on them, so even if you lose a receipt, you can record the serial number of the product so that the exact make, model, and specs will be easy to identify.

Use Tech

Take photos and videos of all your belongings as you go. When taking video, act as if you are giving a tour of your home and narrate/describe your belongings as you go room by room. Digitizing your home inventory is also a good idea — read on to learn more about this.

Store Your Inventory Securely

There are a number of ways to store your home inventory. The best way to ensure your home inventory is stored safely is by storing multiple copies in different formats. A good old-fashioned pen and paper inventory is not a bad format necessarily, however it is susceptible to the same damages or loss as your property. If you choose to have a paper copy, consider storing it in an outside location, like your office. Alternatively, you can digitally store your home inventory by creating an Excel spreadsheet or other digital checklist and saving this to the cloud or any other password protected online storage space.

Big Ticket Items

Jewelry, art, and collectibles may have values that exceeds the coverage limits of your homeowners policy and may require special coverage. While you’re making your home inventory, check with your insurance agent to make sure you have proper coverage for these items. Read more about insuring your valuables here.  

Have more questions about making a home inventory guide? A Bearingstar agent is here to help. Visit our website to connect with a local agent near you: http://bit.ly/2GvLIQX