Creating a Home Inventory for Insurance Purposes

A home inventory is a room-by-room list of what you own, with a description, serial number, purchase date, price, and a photo or receipt for each item, saved somewhere outside your home. Add up the values to choose how much personal property coverage to buy. After a fire or theft, the same list becomes the basis of your claim: the standard renters policy form requires you to give the insurer an inventory of damaged property showing the quantity, description, and value of each item, with bills and receipts attached. Update it after large purchases and whenever you move.

What to record for each item

Capture these details for each item while it is in front of you:

Record both the price you paid and today's replacement price. A replacement cost policy pays what a comparable new item costs. An actual cash value policy pays the item's current value after depreciation, the reduction for age and wear. The Texas Department of Insurance shows the gap with a laptop bought for $1,300 two years earlier: if that model now sells for $500, a basic policy uses a $500 value before subtracting the applicable deductible, the part of a covered loss you pay yourself. Our guide to replacement cost vs. actual cash value explains which type to buy.

For lower-value items, one line with a count and a total, such as 40 paperback books worth about $400, still records the quantity and description an insurer asks for. Give anything valuable its own line.

How to build it, step by step

1. Pick a format. A spreadsheet works. So does the free Home Inventory app from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which groups photos by room or category and lets you export the list, or your insurer's app or online form, if it offers one. For a printable template, IRS Publication 584, a casualty and theft loss workbook, has room-by-room schedules from the entrance hall and kitchen to clothing, jewelry, and the garage.
2. Record a narrated video of each room. Start with a wide shot, then open every closet, cabinet, and drawer, and say what each item is, its brand, and roughly when you bought it. The California Department of Insurance suggests filming every drawer and emailing the video to someone who lives elsewhere.
3. Include storage spaces. List what is in extra closets, the pantry, under-bed storage, a balcony, a garage or shed with tools and sports gear, and any storage unit.
4. Photograph valuable items up close. Shoot jewelry, art, instruments, and electronics one at a time, plus the serial number label on each appliance and device. Keep the date stamp on each photo.
5. Gather proof of purchase. Put receipts, card statements, online order histories, warranty registrations, and appraisals in one folder, and photograph paper receipts so a copy survives if the original is lost.
6. Enter values and total them. Fill in the price paid and today's replacement price for each line, then add up each room or category.

How to turn the inventory into a coverage limit

Your personal property limit should be at least the total cost to replace everything you own. Here is an example for a one-bedroom apartment:

With $21,000 in belongings, a $15,000 limit leaves $6,000 unpaid after a total loss, so this renter needs a limit of at least $21,000. Our guide to how much personal property coverage renters need covers choosing among quoted limits, and what renters insurance covers explains which causes of loss a policy pays for.

Next, check each category against your policy's special limits, which cap some property no matter how high your overall limit is. In the standard renters form from Insurance Services Office (ISO HO 00 04), theft of jewelry, watches, and furs is capped at $1,500 per loss, cash at $200, theft of firearms at $2,500, and business property kept at home at $2,500. Your own policy may set lower caps; the Texas Department of Insurance lists $100 for cash and $500 for jewelry and watches as common limits. In the example, $2,500 of jewelry against a $1,500 theft cap leaves $1,000 unprotected against theft unless you list the pieces on a rider, an add-on that insures named items.

Where to keep copies

An inventory stored only in your apartment can burn or be stolen along with everything on it. The California Department of Insurance recommends keeping an updated copy in at least two places. Options named by the California and Texas insurance departments:

• A cloud storage account, or an email to yourself with the spreadsheet and photos attached
• A family member or friend who lives elsewhere
• A locked cabinet at work, or your accountant or lawyer
• A safe-deposit box
• A fire-resistant box at home, as one of the copies but not the only one

Keep a copy of your policy and its declarations page (the summary page that lists your limits and deductible) with the inventory, so the policy number and claims phone number are at hand when you report a loss.

When to update it

• After a large purchase. Add it the week you buy it, with the receipt. California's insurance department also suggests telling your insurer about new purchases so your limit still covers everything you own.
• Three to four times a year. The same guide suggests a review at the start of each season.
• Before each renewal. Compare the new total with your personal property limit and raise the limit if the total has passed it.
• When you move. The standard form covers belongings at a newly acquired main residence for 30 days from the day you begin moving them there. After that, until your policy lists the new address, property at a home other than the one on your policy is capped at 10% of your personal property limit or $1,000, whichever is greater. Give your insurer the new address before you move, and update the list once you have moved in.
• When you put things in storage. The same form caps property in a self-storage unit at 10% of your personal property limit or $1,000, whichever is greater, unless it was moved there because your unit is being repaired and is unfit to live in. List what goes into the unit and check it against that cap.
• After a claim. A replacement cost policy reimburses the replacement cost minus the applicable deductible after you buy the new item and send the receipt, so keep those receipts and add the replacements to the list.

Using the inventory after a loss

When you report a loss, open the inventory, mark every damaged or stolen item, and copy those lines, with their receipts and photos, into the list you send the insurer. Keep damaged items until the adjuster has seen them, because the insurer can ask to see damaged property and copy your records. If it requests a signed, sworn proof of loss, the standard form gives you 60 days from the request to send it, with the inventory included. The Texas Department of Insurance notes that most insurers want a record of lost or damaged items before paying a personal property claim, and that not having one can delay payment. The full process is in our guide to filing a renters insurance claim.