Colmans: Inside Insurance: Trust? Better Verify

By David Colmans

This is the time of year when homeowners and renters have the best reason to create an accurate home inventory.

New presents from friend and family, and presents we give ourselves must be documented both in writing and in pictures or video. Here's why.

Already this year we have heard of house and apartment fires typically from space heaters, electrical shortages or food left on stoves, not to mention lightening or in the case of apartments or rented condos, a fire started in another unit destroys yours and several others as well.

When the flood waters recede, the smoke clears or the or the burglars are gone, you are likely to be in touch with your insurance agent or company to file a claim for what was destroyed, ruined or stolen.

Sadly, more than 50 percent of renters across the nation do not obtain renters insurance. Their losses are not recoverable. Homeowners usually have insurance mainly because their mortgage holder requires it.

Either way, in order to prove to your insurance adjuster what you had and its value, your best proof is a home inventory of your possessions. You cannot just guess at what you had. You must be able to provide reasonable proof in order to receive the most compensation according to the terms of your policy. Here's how to create the inventory as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The low tech way: List all your belongings room-by-room. Start in the entry area and write down every piece of furniture, lamps, mirrors, wall hangings, chairs, jewelry and even clothing.

Here's the important part. Make note of when each item was purchased, what it cost and a brief description. Above all, take a photograph of it or videotape the room and its contents. This can be done on an 8x10 or 11x14 legal note pad or even plain paper, but the most important thing is to do it.

The high tech way: Don't worry because it's free if you have a connection to the Internet. Go to the website of the Georgia Insurance Information Service, http://www.giis.org. In the upper left portion of the screen is a blue and gray button that says "Download Free Home Inventory Software." Connect to the "Know Your Stuff" page from the Insurance Information Institute.

This free web-based program provides an easy-to-use program where you can enter, on a room-by-room, each item. You may also upload your pictures or video of your possessions. The program not only keeps track of each item after you enter the information, but it can print reports room-by-room, and provides totals of the value of all items listed in each room. If you use a spreadsheet program, you can do it yourself, but it's more time consuming to do the initial set-up.

Here's the most important part once the inventory is done. Using Know Your Stuff, the information is kept on-line in a secure, password-protected program. No matter how the inventory is created, written or by computer, store a complete copy in a bank safety deposit box or provide several copies to relatives. Keeping a copy in your home may be helpful, but if your home or apartment is destroyed, there goes your inventory.

Once it's complete, remember to update it every time you either get something new or you get rid of something so it is always accurate.

Keep in mind that once winter is over, here comes the spring severe weather season with tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and high winds. By early summer, it's hurricane season in the Southeast and then the cycle starts over.

A home inventory, whether you rent or own, is the most accurate way to prove to your insurer a detailed rundown of what you had and what you may have lost, what the value of these items is, and how much you may be able to recoup from your insurer to purchase new things. The importance of an inventory cannot be over stated when disaster strikes.

David Colmans is the executive director of the Georgia Insurance Information Service. Contact him at (770) 565-3806 or at dcolmans@giis.org.

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