The Basics of Home Inventory

It's been a while since I have spent any time reviewing the basic justification for a home inventory, and I know that we have a lot of new readers that haven't heard an explanation of what I do or what the home inventory industry is all about.

Let me start off by saying that home inventory goes hand in glove with good homeowners insurance coverage. I'd go so far as to say that one is incomplete without the other. Most of us have mortgages and are required to carry "hazard" insurance (Hazard is the mortgage industry's term for homeowners policies, and can include homeowners, condo-unitowners, or rental dwelling coverage depending on the occupancy of the home), but no one requires you to have a home inventory. Until, that is, you have a claim.

Claims adjusters require the completion of personal property inventory forms in order to settle those types of claims. Even if you have suffered a total loss and everything is gone, you will more than likely have to start completing these forms and continue until you reach your coverage amount (usually 70% of your dwelling, but varies from one company to another). It takes weeks or months to remember everything that you own, especially if your pictures, videos, or other documentation is destroyed in the loss. Our memories just aren't that good.

Home inventory solves this problem. A home inventory is a detailed list of all the items you own, and usually includes photographs of each item. We like to call it your life-collection. You can complete a home inventory on your own, or you can have an inventory professional like Farley Home Services do this for you.

Every insurance carrier suggests that you complete a home inventory and update it regularly. (Here are links to Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, and Nationwide's discussions of this need.) Your insurance carrier wants you to have a detailed inventory so that they can fairly reimburse you for your loss. (Most of us are under-insured when it comes to personal property, by the way.) If you have no inventory, you have a lot of work to do, and you may lose a year of your life in the pursuit of your claim. Do you have that time to spend?

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service based in Murfreesboro, TN. Visit his company's site at EverySingleItem.com for more information.

Insurance Rate Hikes Likely Coming Your Way

Vicious Cycle: Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that four of the top insurers in the state of Georgia have requested rate hikes for the coming year, affecting nearly 40% of the state's consumers. State Farm, First Liberty, Cotton States, and Nationwide have filed increases that fall between 5 and 11 percent, modest by insurance company standards but huge for the rest of the financial world. Rates are also on the rise in Illinois, Texas, and Florida among others.

Even with such increases, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said consumers are doing better than those in neighboring states, where he said premiums have been rising at double-digit rates. “We are by far the cheapest in the Southeast,” he said.

That makes you folks in Georgia feel A LOT better, doesn't it?

Allstate On The Mend: The Wall Street Journal says Allstate has learned some tough lessons over the past year and is ready to bounce back. When the WSJ has something good to say about a publicly traded insurance carrier, that generally means that the company's shareholders should be excited and the company's clients should be afraid. We'll see how this one turns out in the next year.

California Fire Season Starting Soon: Insurance and fire officials are warning California residents that it's that time of year again according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

[California Insurance Commissioner Steve] Poizner urged Californians to secure adequate fire insurance, record home inventory by film or video, have a preparation kit and draft a family action plan in the event of a fire. "Don't get burned twice: Update your assets with your insurance company," Poizner said.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation. we serve small business owners as well! Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more details.