Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

When contemplating your homeowners or renters insurance, consider this idea to speed things along. Use your digital camera and take pictures of all four walls in each room, close ups of opened drawers and closets, bathroom cabinets, garage contents opened tool boxes, etc.

You get the jist, nothing is to be left un-photographed. Even photograph your carpets and ceiling lighting, fixtures and appliances, window coverings, and even out in the yard from all sides of the house including in the storage/garden shed inside and out. Don't feel like all things need to be pristine as you are photographing contents not entering a photo contest. If carpets have tags, make sure you take a close up of them as well.

Transfer all of the photographs on to a CD and put in the safety deposit box. For all important papers, either scan them yourself or have some one do it for you and also put that information on to a CD and, you guessed it, put it in the safety deposit box. Don't forget to do your drivers license, social sec card, medical insurance card, credit cards as well, both front and back of all of them.

This is so valuable to have as forbidding a disaster to happen and all things were to be lost in a flood, fire etc. You would have no way of knowing exactly what you had in drawers, cabinets etc as this is absolute proof that you had the items. As well as you have saved your important papers as well just in case you had a loss or even a total loss that you are able to make a copy of the household contents CD.

Give that to your insurance adjuster when needed speeding up the process of not waiting to get the itemized list together and without doubt forgetting items. This gives total proof of ownership as well as size, color etc. Also with your important papers and even special photographs scanned as well. With the CD you will have instant access and copies of all of the original papers and contact names, telephone numbers and account numbers, too.

Hope this helps many but if it helps just one, it is all worth sharing the information. I told my insurance agent of this and they now tell all customers of this and they also send out printed information detailing the same to all new and old customers alike. You may want to do an updated one once a year to reflect new or acquired items in the home. Don't forget to also include your jewelry items also!

Source: I did, when I had to list everything for my insurance company to write my policy and did NOT want to itemize every item in the place.

By Beau D from Vancouver, WA

Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

Has this simple tip been shared before? Take your digital camera around the house and photograph everything you own. This is such an easy way to catalog your possessions for insurance purposes. I can't believe how quick this is and how nice it is to have a file saved in photos of my possessions. Once you have done this you can then proceed to place a value on each of your items and also catalog this by way of a Word document with photo of item inserted.

By Kghornsten from Davis, CA

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

Another good option is to video tape your entire house. Open all drawers, cabinets, closets, etc. you can describe any items while video taping. I work in insurance and people cannot remember all of their possessions in a time of crisis like a house fire. (03/27/2009)

By Sarajane

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

I'm in the process of doing this right now. Tornado season is coming, and with it, the necessity to make sure household inventory is current. (03/27/2009)

By WildIrish

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

That is a very good idea. However, once you make the pictures, you need to store them somewhere outside your home. If your home burns, you want to be sure that the pictures don't get destroyed, also! (03/28/2009)

By tedsmom

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

You can also make a list on the computer using Excel and the approximate value! (03/31/2009)

By Kiki2820

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

One other thing, My friend learned the hard way. If you have jewelry, do a separate insurance policy on them so you will get full coverage in case someone breaks in your house. Some people have their insurance cover everything and that is bad. My friend's mom died and left all her jewelry to her, well a couple years ago someone broke into her house and took the jewelry along with other things. Her insurance man told her she should have had a separate policy for the jewelry to get full coverage for it. The amount you get back is never what you paid for everything as most of us know (06/02/2009)

By Teresa Kay

Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

I recently got renters insurance. I thought it would be smart for my agent to have photos of the things in my home and to give him a CD with the shots on it. I did that as a general "photo gallery" and then took several hours making a detailed list of the items.

However, I found that so many things were too small to show up in the larger shots. So, I began putting things that could fit on the scanner bed and took the shots that way. I even twirled all my rings to under the fingers and laid my hands on the scanner to get a good shot of them. By putting as many smaller things as you can on the scanner, you get a clean and clear shot of each one.

Once it was all done, my worldly possessions were all on one CD, and I made a copy for the agent, my daughter and my executor. If something like a break in, fire or flood happens, you will be in too much trauma to remember what you owned. This will help you recover things that someone takes and tries to pawn, are damaged beyond repair and can be replaced.

And lastly, if you can't replace it, you may have the only scan of that irreplaceable photo or document that you can at least print out for the sentimental value of.

No one wants to think that something horrible will happen, but the odds are 50/50 that it either will or won't happen. This will help you be prepared and feel a bit more in control.

I hope this helps. It sure has me.

Sandi/Poor But Proud and now Prepared!

By Poor But Proud from Salem OR

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

You may want to check with your agent. We own our home, but our policy will not cover jewelry unless we have a rider. Valuable jewelry is considered the same as fine art, it must be appraised and insured separately. (06/06/2009)

By susanmajp

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

You better get a different policy for just your jewelry. If you have it all together you want get the true value of it. I don't know why your insurance agent didn't tell you this. My friend learned the hard way. (06/06/2009)

By Teresa

RE: Photograph Your Belongings for Insurance Purposes

Wonderful! I wish everyone thought like you. I sell insurance and I agree please check your policy to make sure that all is covered, if not please cover it. You should have your home rerated at time of renewal to make sure that you will get the max amt. if something happens, and if you get anything new please don't forget to contact your agent. (06/30/2009)

By battlespire