Courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute, you can create an online home inventory. This software will help you create a room-by-room inventory of your personal possessions. Although we hope that you never have to experience a loss to your home, creating a home inventory is a great way to prepare yourself in the event that you do experience a loss. If a fire, flood or theft devastates your home and property, an up-to-date home inventory will help you:

• Purchase enough insurance to replace the things you own.
• Get your insurance claims settled faster.
• Substantiate losses for your income tax return
• Replace belongings quickly



How to Do it:
Go room to room and take note of every item you see in each room. Try to get serial numbers for the big ticket items and write down when, where, and for what price you purchased each item. Make sure to check closets, cupboards and storage areas and write down the items in these as well.
While some items you own have depreciated in replacement price (televisions, electronics, furniture, etc.), some items may have increased in value (such as art, jewelry or collectibles). You may need to insure these items separately; check with your insurance agent to find out if your current policy adequately covers these valuables.

Home Inventory Video or Photos
Your home inventory can be more than just a list of your things. To improve the home inventory, take pictures or make a video of the items in your home. If you take pictures, write the item details on the back and if you take a video, narrate as you walk from room to room (what items are in the room, when and where you bought them and for how much). Adding photos or videos to a home inventory can be especially helpful if items are hard to describe on paper or for items you do not have receipts for.

Keep Home Inventory in a Safe Spot
Make sure you store your home inventory list, pictures, and/or DVD or video tape in a safe spot. While it’s a good idea to have a copy of your home inventory at home, make sure you have at least one additional copy outside your home. If you only have one copy of the home inventory inside your home (or on your home computer) and your home burns down, that list won’t do you any good. Store extra copies of the home inventory at a friend or family member’s house, in a safe deposit box, or at work. If your home inventory is on your computer, make a disk or CD copy and store it elsewhere, and/or send your home inventory to yourself at work or to your web-based email account so you can access it in places other than your home.

Keep Receipts with Home Inventory for Home Insurance Claims
Many of us are not great at keeping our receipts for purchases. But receipts will help you settle your homeowners or renters insurance claim as quickly as possible. Make sure you keep receipts from now on, especially for big ticket items. And remember to keep receipts (or copies of them) in a place besides your home, along with a copy of your home inventory.
You have so many valuables in your home, and you want to make sure you’ll be reimbursed for them should the unthinkable happen. Your home inventory is the first step, the second step is having a great homeowners insurance policy. Make sure you are getting the best homeowners insurance rate by comparing quotes from multiple companies at InsWeb today.