Tips to Create a House Inventory

If you are asked how much furniture you have at your home and their individual prices, would you know the answer? Having an updated inventory of all of your possessions in your house could help you answer this question and protect you in case an accident happens. You should consider creating an inventory of what you own in your house. Cause when purchasing a Personal Property Coverage (can be included as part of the Personal Package policy for extra property coverage to protect your belongings inside your house against damages or losses caused by a fire, hurricane, or earthquake), it will be useful to know how many of these belongings you are going to insure.

The information gathered in the inventory will be very important as it will speed up the claim process and ensure its effectiveness. It can also be useful for filing a claim to your income tax return for the losses not covered by the insurance carrier. Are you starting to feel the urge? Then let’s get to it! The Insurance Information Institute (https://www.iii.org/article/how-create-home-inventory), organization whose mission is to increase public awareness on the insurance subject, has established simple yet effective ways to create one. Once you become familiar with additional information, choose the inventory method that makes the most sense. Here the basics:

• Traditional method: Chose a big, hardcover notebook and go room by room writing down what you see: appliances, furniture, clothes, etc. You can organize the information however you prefer, either from old to new or by cost; the order does not matter. However, you need to include the brand, model, series number, and price. It would be even better if you can include the receipt of purchase of your belongings in the inventory.
• Camera, Action!: A faster method would be to walk around the house with a video camera while saying loud and clearly the rooms you enter and the content inside of them. Nonetheless, it is still equally important for you to save the receipts or evidence of purchase of every item.
• Tech-savvy way: There are free applications you can use like Know Your Stuff that will help you create and keep inventory of what you own.

Don’t forget important documents! Your inventory should include legal and financial documents like:

• Passports
• Birth and marriage certificates, etc.
• Bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, etc. (store the account numbers too)
• Insurance policies (with the contact information of the insurance carrier)
• Credit card information
• Writings

No matter the method you choose, you need to save more than one copy of your inventory. One of them could be stored at your house while the other can be at a friend’s house or close relative. If you have a second-home, you should create a separate inventory. Also, it is not necessary for you to include all of your belongings in the policy unless they are very expensive and valuable items like jewelry, collection items, electronic equipment, or works of art. These should be listed separately in a special content section. Lastly, make sure each year you review your inventory and evaluate whether or not there is a new item you wish to include.

Did you know that...? The basic coverage of the Personal Property Coverage is known as the Actual Cash Value. This means that the value of your belongings will be calculated by the actual price at the market. However, there is another option known as Replacement Cost, which secures the value of your content. However, this alternative is more expensive. Learn more about this policy today by calling Popular Insurance at 787.706.4111 or visit popular.com/protegetuhogar.  

Insurance products are not insured by the FDIC or by any other government agencies, are not deposits or obligations and are not guaranteed by Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, its subsidiaries or affiliates and may lose value. Popular Insurance is a subsidiary of Popular, Inc. and an affiliate of Banco Popular.