Home Inventory Information
- Thread starter lesyk009
- Start date
- 11,997
I would imagine nearly none. I have an uncle that used to take a video tape of the inside of his house once a year and send it to us for insurance purposes. The reality is that in the event of a loss most carriers aren't going to give someone who just had their house burn to the ground a hard time. If they're claiming they just bought three laptops, five 70" flat screen TVs and have nothing but Armani suits in their closet that would throw up some flags, but within reason they're going to be pretty helpful. Speaking from personal experience I had some folks break into my house when I moved to Virginia (house was in NY) and the folks hauled a bunch of stuff out. I didn't have much proof about any of it, but they paid the claim out smooth as glass. I didn't report the closet full of Armani suits or the five 70" flat screen TVs they stole, but they paid for everything on my list without hesitation.
- Thread starter
- #3
- 11,997
I didn't have any inventory of it (probably ended up forgetting a few things, but nothing major). The reality is that each carrier will have their own rules, but contrary to public opinion, insurance companies aren't always looking for excuses to not pay a claim. In fact, if you tell them that you had a total loss, they can probably guess pretty close to what the claim is going to be before you hand in your list (based on similar claims experience). Yes, they would like to have an inventory and on bigger ticket items they would probably want to see some documentation (credit card receipts, bank statements, etc), but overall it's not really an issue. It's certainly not anything I think folks would pay much for. In all fairness, they could just make a google doc and inventory everything if they felt so inclined.
I agree with Josh. And honestly, for things that are REALLY out there (a lot of gems, coins, metals, collectibles, etc.) then the insurance company is probably already getting a rider on there for extra coverage and wanting more information. The insurance agent is supposed to ask for these items and make sure things are properly covered whether you have to go to a collectibles company or other carrier to do it.
While some carriers allow up to 10k jewelry for theft depending on the policy, it doesn't mean they will right off the bat. If a client is close to, or over, a limit on theft or things like that, get pictures, appraisals, or anything like that.
While some carriers allow up to 10k jewelry for theft depending on the policy, it doesn't mean they will right off the bat. If a client is close to, or over, a limit on theft or things like that, get pictures, appraisals, or anything like that.
Todd Payne
Expert
- 77
I agree with the previous posts that it's not imperative from the insurance company's standpoint, but can be helpful to an insured to have done a home inventory if a total loss occurs. If their house burns down, they are in a state of shock, and trying to remember everything they had might be tough.
FWIW, here's a tool from the Insurance Information Institute: Know Your Stuff® - Home Inventory
FWIW, here's a tool from the Insurance Information Institute: Know Your Stuff® - Home Inventory
mbennett
New Member
I am a home inventory professional in Atlanta, and I conduct dozens of home inventories each year that are referrals from insurance agents. In the end, it makes the claim process easier for the client and the carrier. In my experience doing reactive inventories (after a disaster), how the claim is handled varies greatly from carrier to carrier, and from adjuster to adjuster. In all of the cases I have done, the claim was higher when a home inventory was performed versus not having one. I am finding that independent agents tend to push clients to do a home inventory more than captive ones.
While I agree that most insurance companies are not looking for reasons to not pay a claim, many adjusters don't have the bandwidth to explore the claim fully and will offer a settlement that may not actually reflect the replacement value of the contents. My two most recent post disaster inventories had a gap greater than $20,000 between the initial amount offered and the settlement after a third party, unbiased home inventory!
I can cite many examples, but to answer the initial question, I can firmly say that quite a few insurance agents are outsourcing and referring home inventory jobs and a significant amount of carriers are not simply paying the claim without a detailed inventory of everything that was damaged or destroyed. That is a horrendous task when you are under the emotional and financial stress of having lost your home's contents. Most carriers want to do the right thing, absolutely, and the home inventory makes that easier for everyone.
While I agree that most insurance companies are not looking for reasons to not pay a claim, many adjusters don't have the bandwidth to explore the claim fully and will offer a settlement that may not actually reflect the replacement value of the contents. My two most recent post disaster inventories had a gap greater than $20,000 between the initial amount offered and the settlement after a third party, unbiased home inventory!
I can cite many examples, but to answer the initial question, I can firmly say that quite a few insurance agents are outsourcing and referring home inventory jobs and a significant amount of carriers are not simply paying the claim without a detailed inventory of everything that was damaged or destroyed. That is a horrendous task when you are under the emotional and financial stress of having lost your home's contents. Most carriers want to do the right thing, absolutely, and the home inventory makes that easier for everyone.
- 8,707
Not that I don't relieve you but now can an unbiased third party some inventor be some after loss?
mbennett
New Member
Hi Peter. That's a great question. We perform it using a combination of two methods. First, we go onsite and inventory all of the items that are identifiable. In most cases, mitigation has already removed the items that can be cleaned or restored. For the rooms or areas that are damaged beyond identification, we conduct an interview to recreate the inventory of what was completely destroyed.
If it is indeed a complete loss with no structure remaining, then our second method is to perform the interview to completely recreate the inventory. This significantly cuts down on the amount of time required to submit the inventory since we manage the process and approach it methodically. (This also helps prevent having to keep the claim open for a long period of time as the homeowner remembers items.)
This is a value proposition to the agency again, as we reduce their time to settle a claim, and allow their adjusters to move on to the next job much more quickly.
If it is indeed a complete loss with no structure remaining, then our second method is to perform the interview to completely recreate the inventory. This significantly cuts down on the amount of time required to submit the inventory since we manage the process and approach it methodically. (This also helps prevent having to keep the claim open for a long period of time as the homeowner remembers items.)
This is a value proposition to the agency again, as we reduce their time to settle a claim, and allow their adjusters to move on to the next job much more quickly.
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