“I live in my house, I see its contents every day, why should I have an inventory of my items? I already know what I own….Right?”
Well, that would make sense if you have a photographic memory that could recall, not only all the valuable items in you house, but their size, description, serial numbers etc. But suppose your house was burned in a fire or burglarized. You’d have to able to recall all this information while going through the stress of the situation. The process of getting reimbursed for what you lost can be a long and grueling process.
Just in your circle of family and friends have you heard any one come away from a claims experience going“wow, that was quick, painless and I got completely reimbursed with no hassle at all!”
Now, this is no knock to whatever insurance company you’ve bought coverage from. With fraud being the get-rich-quick scheme of many people these days, it makes sense for an insurance company to be apprehensive if you were to tell them you were burgled out of 4 50″ Plasma 3D HDTVs (with Smell-O-Vision.)
However, if you were to produce photo, video and a detailed description of the TV to in the insurance company, there would be virtually no wiggle room for speculation and you will be appropriately compensated for your loss. Not only that, but having a reputable, third party business able to vouch for you would add integrity to your claim.
It’s not too late to schedule a a home inventory and it is certainly never too early.
Excerpt from Steadfast Disaster Planning