Baltimore HUD Homes

If your home burns down, would you know exactly what you lost?

And could you prove it?

Paul Quinn, assistant vice president of claims communication at Farmers Insurance, suggests getting some video now. Consider it for your year-end to-do list (or make it a New Year's resolution, if your December is already packed).

"Take a room-by-room, walking inventory," said Quinn, who blogs about insurance issues (including this one). "Say 'we're now walking into the kitchen' and just briefly describe what you're showing. The same thing with every room throughout the house, including closets.

You don't necessarily have to say how much you paid for items. But showing bar codes and serial numbers is helpful. So is naming names.

"We expect people to have average furniture, so if it's something you bought at an upscale place, [say], 'This is an insert-the-name-of-the-chair-here that we purchased at insert-the-name-of-the-store-here.'"

You don't need to get "hung up on the minutia," Quinn said. Show the pantry, for instance, but don't start describing every can of food. And you don't have to list every video game you (or your kids) own, but do show how many you have.

read full article Documenting your possessions, just in case