Wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters happen. Besides keeping your family safe during the disaster, you also need to think about what comes after the disaster. Make sure your insurance policies are in place and understand the insurance claims process. Be proactive and create an inventory of your personal belongings. Having this prepared before a disaster happens will make the insurance claims process much easier. Rancho Cal Insurance Services would like to help you make this easier by providing some tips on how to get started with your personal property inventory.
Basically, a personal property inventory is a complete list of all the items that you own and keep at your home. This would be everything that you would take with you if you were to move out of your home. If you have ever moved and packed up your home, you know that you have more stuff than you think you do. How should you get started trying to take inventory on all of your stuff? We’ve got some tips!
Getting Started on Your Personal Property Inventory
- Start on the outside of your home. Take photos or videos of each side of your home, including outdoor furniture and structures. Start a list of specific items.
- Next tackle the garage. Take photos or videos of what is stored in the garage and make a list of valuable tools, bikes, sporting equipment, etc.
- As you move inside the home, take it one room at the time. Take photos or videos of each room, including the closets and cabinets. Add to your list important items like electronics, jewelry, etc.
Keep Records & Receipts
The more information that you can provide to your claims adjuster about your lost or damaged personal property the better. How much did you pay for it? Purchase Date? Serial numbers? Appraisals? Receipts? Keep all of this information. Scan & store this information online, or in a safe deposit box.
It’s also a good idea to review your homeowners or renters insurance policy and determine if you have enough personal property coverage on your policy. The amount of coverage for personal property can be adjusted accordingly, talk to your agent. Also, review your insurance policy and find out if your policy has ‘Replacement Cost’ coverage for personal property or if it has ‘Actual Cash Value’ coverage for personal property. What’s the difference? A lot, actually. ‘Replacement Cost’ coverage means the insurance company will reimburse you for what the lost or damaged item will cost in today’s marketplace. Whereas the ‘Actual Cash Value’ coverage will pay you the depreciated value of the item at the time of loss. We highly recommend the Replacement Cost type of coverage for your personal property.
Rancho Cal Insurance Services has been helping people just like you with their insurance for many years. We would love to help you too. Our location in Murrieta helps us serve our neighbors in Temecula, Winchester, Menifee and throughout California. Whether you need home insurance, car insurance, or business insurance, we can help you.
