Home Inventory

After a fire or burglary, insurers ask for four things: an itemized list, approximate purchase dates, replacement values (what it costs new today — not what you paid), and photos or receipts for anything valuable. Claims without documentation get lowballed, because adjusters cannot pay for what they cannot verify. A printed, dated inventory with photos is the single strongest thing a policyholder can bring to a claim.

Use replacement cost: the price to buy the same item new today. Check current retail prices for big items (TV, laptop, couch); group small items by category (kitchen utensils $300, linens $200). Photograph serial numbers on electronics — they prove ownership and exact models. Update values yearly, because inflation moves them. Most 2-bedroom renters are surprised to find $20,000–$35,000 in belongings once everything is listed.

A 2-bedroom apartment: 6 rooms, 86 items catalogued in one Saturday afternoon — about 3 hours with photos. Electronics $8,400, furniture $9,200, clothing $4,100, kitchen and misc $2,600: $24,300 total. Printed to PDF and emailed to the insurance agent. Six months later a burst pipe ruined the living room — the inventory turned a vague claim into an itemized one, settled in 3 weeks instead of 3 months.

Storage lives in this browser only — clear your browsing data without a backup and the inventory is gone. Photos are compressed to fit storage limits (~5 MB). This is documentation, not a legal appraisal: insurers may still ask for receipts on high-value items, and your policy terms govern what is actually covered.