Home Inventory Video
If you ever need to report a major claim on your homeowners insurance, such as complete destruction of the home or theft, you will need to provide information about the contents of the house to your insurance company. Your agent will need reliable information about what property was destroyed or stolen. And especially in times of trauma or crisis, it may be difficult to remember a detailed inventory. Read also: What You Should Know About Homeowner's Insurance.
Family One great way to ensure that you have all the information available in case of an insurance claim is to take a home inventory video. All you need to do is take a video camera and walk through your home. The purpose is to identify any insurable items that you have in the house.
You don't need to be the next great director. Just walk through your home and point the camera at each item. You can narrate if you like. Be sure to take your time and be thorough. Open drawers and cabinets, show everything, and highlight new purchases or major items.
Once you've completed your video, make a copy and store it off-site. DO NOT LEAVE THE VIDEO IN YOUR HOME. Keep at at mom and dad's house, with a neighbor, or in a safe deposit box. In case of a major disaster, such as a fire, you'll need the tape somewhere unaffected by the crisis. Read also: The Dark Side of Mortgage Life Insurance.
It is a good idea to update the video about once a year. That will ensure that recent major purchases and changes will be included in the video. You may choose to update earlier if there you make a significant purchase or upgrade, just to be safe.
If you don't have access to a video camera, you can do the same thing with still pictures. Just walk through the home and take pictures off each room from multiple angles. You can still capture all of the major items in the home and preserve the images in case of disaster.
As with the video, it is of paramount importance that you keep the pictures somewhere safe off site. If you use a digital camera, you can set up a web page to store the pictures. There are a number of online services available that will let you store you pictures for free. Read also: Top Five Benefits to a Life Insurance Trust.