Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Add a Home Inventory to Your Spring Cleaning

By: Edward L. Blais, JD, CIC

Now is the time of year when people put away winter coats, air out their homes and clean up their yards. With all the spring-cleaning you plan to do, Blais Insurance suggests you conduct an inventory of all the personal property in your home while you clean.

Documenting all of your personal possessions may seem like a daunting task, but adding a few extra minutes to each room as you clean will save you time and unnecessary stress in the future.

The benefits of performing a home inventory far outweigh the tedious task. Maintaining proper records of your items will settle insurance claims faster, lessen your burden of proving your lost property, and relieve stress during estate planning. You will not have to remember all of your lost possessions, or potentially forget items that you could have been compensated for.

A home inventory is free, and multiple ways exist to complete one. You can organize your items by video tapping them as you walk throughout your home. Blais Insurance suggests video tapping your items in coordination with other documentation such as special software or perhaps an Excel spreadsheet. If you have a working knowledge of Excel, you can create a spreadsheet, arranging the information in a way that would make it easy to update. Updating items can be made even easier if you decide to download software from sites such as knowyourstuff.org. Software that helps with home inventories can make the process simple and fun. Lastly, you will want to keep the inventory outside the home!

Remember, it is not so much about having a list of every last thing you own as much as it is about having a place to start in the event of a significant insurance loss. If you would like further information about an inventory for your home, please call Blais Insurance at 401-725-0070, and we would be happy to answer your questions.

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