Naples, FL Home on Fire and Why Creating a Home Inventory for Insurance is important

Creating a Home Inventory for Insurance
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          As Andrew was driving home he witnessed one of the most horrible events in anyone's life: a beautiful luxury home burning on Golden Gate Blvd in Naples, Florida.
The black ominous column of smoke the fire was producing was visible miles away. One of our personal favorites, a beautiful Tuscan style house was going up in flames.
          Every time we'd drive to the community park to play tennis in the morning, we'd pass by the house and admire its beauty and now he was seeing it exploding with red hot burning flames.
          According to the stories, the house was already half way done by the time the firefighters were called. And even the firefighters couldn't do anything: the fire was too hot and it was going upwards through the roof, so they just stood and waited. All the onlookers were in shock - no one had ever seen a house burn down to the ground, especially such a gorgeous Naples house as this one.
        Later that evening, Andrew provided ABC and NBC local Naples news with the video footage and the photos of the fire that he happened to take. he had been on his way home back from taking pictures of Naples foreclosed homes for banks and had my professional 1080p HD camera. His footage was featured on 11 o'clock and morning news as well as on news websites. He told me later that he was in a daze.
       That made me think about how absolutely horrible it would feel if this was our house or  a house of someone we knew. All the memories that would be lost in a fire, all the material possessions ( while not as emotionally important but certainly financially important), not to mention a possible loss of life. In my 6 years of being an insurance agent  (that is how we started in the real estate field back in Cleveland, OH), I learned first hand how crucial insurance can be. You never know when disaster will strike. But we know it very well might, especially here in Florida ( read about hurricane preparedness).
        I won't lecture you on insurance itself, however an important part of being well insured is knowing the claim process and how to be prepared.

Article From HouseLogic.com

By: Gwen Moran

Published: December 23, 2009

Create a home inventory before disaster strikes to make filing an insurance claim a smoother process.

Experiencing a theft, flood, fire, or other casualty loss is devastating enough. Now imagine trying to list from memory for your insurance claim every single item that was damaged or destroyed. The task becomes less daunting if you create a home inventory in advance and keep it in a safe place.

Creating a home inventory can be done with pencil and paper alone, but a digital camera and camcorder make the job easier. Set aside enough time to review your insurance policies, dig up receipts, document your possessions, and figure out where you'll store your records. One day should be sufficient.

A home inventory is essential

From appliances, plates, and glasses to collectibles, rugs, and furniture, the average home is packed with an array of items collected over the years. And while you may be able to list many of them in a pinch, chances are you'd miss some important possessions if you ever needed to reconstruct your home's contents from memory, says Mark Goldwich, founder of GoldStar Adjusters, a Jacksonville, Fla., claims adjusting firm.

"Home inventories are a must no matter what the value of the home's items are," says Goldwich. "If you're going to insure your property and pay for that insurance, you really should be able to document the ownership and the value of the items that you're insuring. If you don't have proof of the items you owned, it makes filing your claim much more difficult."

Your job doesn't end once you've compiled a home inventory, a detailed list of everything in your household. Be sure to compare estimated values to your policy's coverage to ensure that you'll be able to replace your belongings in case of damage or theft, says Goldwich, who is the author of "Uncovered: What Really Happens After the Storm, Flood, Earthquake or Fire." In some cases, he says, you can purchase additional coverage if the value of your possessions exceeds the limits on your homeowners, flood, or other disaster policy.

Take photos and video of possessions

Jack Hungelmann, author of "Insurance for Dummies," says a picture can be worth more than just a thousand words--it can add up to thousands in cash if you ever need to file an insurance claim. Hungelmann recommends using a digital camcorder or camera to take pictures of each room to document your belongings. "I recommend that people open up their cupboards and drawers. Be sure you have a record of all the things you own," he says.

Goldwich says that creating such a home inventory might seem daunting, but digital video--you can pick up a decent camcorder for about $150--can make the task much easier.

Homeowners can literally walk from room to room and record narrative descriptions of items. You should note whether something is an antique, for example, or if it has other qualities that make it especially valuable such as the size of a television screen or the type of stones in a piece of jewelry. Get close-up shots of serial numbers on electronics, power tools, and the like.

Filling in a printed checklist with serial numbers, brands, quantities, and estimated values will prove indispensible if an insurance claim ever needs to be filed. The adjuster will likely ask for such a list, and you can use the video or photos as proof of ownership. Download our free home inventory checklist to create your own.

Keep your home inventory safe

Of course, such documentation is useless if it's destroyed in a natural disaster, consumed by fire, or stolen along with your personal computer. Hungelmann says that using digital media allows you to store the files on online backup services like Carbonite.com or iBackup.com in case your home is destroyed.

If you'd like to save the $10 or more per month these services typically cost, you could also save the files on a USB drive that's kept in a safe-deposit box, at a relative's home, or in your emergency bag. The bag should include essentials your family needs in case you're forced to flee on short notice.

It's also a good idea to keep a file with receipts and any appraisals of valuable items you own. Store these documents off-site as well. Goldwich says that the more documentation you have to prove what you owned and what it was worth, the easier the claims process will be.

Gwen Moran has been writing about business, finance, and real estate for more than a decade. Her work has been published by Cyberhomes.com, Entrepreneur, Financial Planning, Newsweek.com, On Wall Street, The Residential Specialist, and many others.

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re-blogged from our main Naples Real Estate Blog

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