One of the most difficult claims to suffer from a property stand point (meaning building and/or contents) is a total loss on a home or business. By total loss I mean that either a fire or tornado has leveled your home or business and there is nothing left but debris. One of the reasons this can be so difficult is that it is very daunting to try and remember all that was in your home or business as well as document all that was inside the building prior to the insurance loss.
There are a number of specialty software’s out there that help individuals and business inventory their belongings, and we recommend any that you find useful and user friendly. However, there is another way to help you document your personal and business belongings. I have found a very useful website called Evernote (www.evernote.com). I use it as my cyber file cabinet. The system allows you to upload documents (i.e., PDFs, Word Documents, etc), pictures, voice memos, emails and any notes you wish to directly type into their system. All of this is then securely stored over the web and can be accessed from anywhere. Where I find this website useful, when it comes to creating an inventory, is that I can take a picture of every room in my home or office and store it in a location that I can always get access to it. Prior to Evernote, we used to encourage clients to take pictures and store them at a secondary location but this way everything is digital and accessible from anywhere. So if you had a claim at your location, all you would have to do is log into Evernote from a computer and email all your pictures to the insurance adjustor. That way they will see all that they need to help replace in your home.
My advice on what to take pictures of is as follows: All rooms in the house (including basement, attic and garage), all closets and all cabinets. One thing to note, some items such as Jewelry, Guns, Furs, Stamp Collections, Coins, Money, Silverware and Baseball Cards have limitations in the policy. Be sure to schedule those items on a special insurance rider policy. By the way, any appraisals for jewelry, fine arts, etc. can also be stored on Evernote so you don’t have to worry about them being lost or destroyed.
There are a number of specialty software’s out there that help individuals and business inventory their belongings, and we recommend any that you find useful and user friendly. However, there is another way to help you document your personal and business belongings. I have found a very useful website called Evernote (www.evernote.com). I use it as my cyber file cabinet. The system allows you to upload documents (i.e., PDFs, Word Documents, etc), pictures, voice memos, emails and any notes you wish to directly type into their system. All of this is then securely stored over the web and can be accessed from anywhere. Where I find this website useful, when it comes to creating an inventory, is that I can take a picture of every room in my home or office and store it in a location that I can always get access to it. Prior to Evernote, we used to encourage clients to take pictures and store them at a secondary location but this way everything is digital and accessible from anywhere. So if you had a claim at your location, all you would have to do is log into Evernote from a computer and email all your pictures to the insurance adjustor. That way they will see all that they need to help replace in your home.
My advice on what to take pictures of is as follows: All rooms in the house (including basement, attic and garage), all closets and all cabinets. One thing to note, some items such as Jewelry, Guns, Furs, Stamp Collections, Coins, Money, Silverware and Baseball Cards have limitations in the policy. Be sure to schedule those items on a special insurance rider policy. By the way, any appraisals for jewelry, fine arts, etc. can also be stored on Evernote so you don’t have to worry about them being lost or destroyed.
