What is a Personal Property Inventory?
According to Foremost, a personal property inventory is a complete list of all your household goods and personal belongings. A complete inventory includes the following information about each item on your inventory list:
- The room in the house where it’s located
- Item description and quantity
- Purchase date
- Place of purchase
- Original cost
- Estimated current value
- Serial and model number
- An accompanying videotape or photo of each item
- Receipts and current appraisals for the most valuable items
How does an inventory help you?
No one is always prepared for a loss, but having a personal property inventory will help reduce the stress of a catastrophe. Every home owner and renter should have some form of a personal property inventory list. This helps calculate the value of your property and determine your appropriate personal property coverage limit for your insurance policy.
Check your claims settlement method on your policy. If your policy has replacement cost settlement for your personal property, your policy allows you to buy new items to replace the damaged or stolen ones. If your policy has actual cash value settlement, you receive what your items are worth at the time of the loss, taking into account depreciation.
More helpful tips
Free home inventory apps are available to help you out and provide guidance and many will export your finished list to your other devices. If you’re using a paper version or spreadsheet, list each heading along the top of the page and list each item going down the page. For a digital inventory, verbally describe each item in the video or label each photo.
An easy way to start your inventory is to walk through your home and make a video or take photos of everything you see, then work from that. Don’t forget to open closets and drawers and look in boxes. Inventory one room at a time, beginning with the walls. Make your way outside and include the landscaping. Make sure to look in the garage and storage shed.
When the inventory is complete
Once your inventory is complete, make a copy of everything. Keep a copy of your inventory off site, such as a safe deposit box, digital cloud storage, email it to yourself or give it to a relative. Update your inventory 2-3 times each year, especially after holidays and birthdays when gifts are received.
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