Renters Insurance Checklist: Home Inventory | Gabi

Renters insurance is something you should consider as it would protect you against financial problems in case you need to replace your personal property after a loss due to an unexpected event, theft, or covered natural disasters. However, to obtain renters insurance, you should prepare a home inventory checklist of everything you own beforehand. 

It would be also helpful if you’d like to receive reimbursement for your possessions. Listing each of them along with their worth after they’ve been damaged could be impossible (who remembers the details?), so spend some time and research your stuff carefully. 

Why You Need a Home Inventory

How To Create a Home Inventory

Home Inventory Apps

Why You Need a Home Inventory Checklist

If you want to buy renters insurance, you’ll get asked about personal property coverage which will define the final rate. You need to assess the worth of your personal belongings to get enough coverage and payout in case of any damage or loss. Also, if you’ll keep track of your possessions and their values, it will expedite the process of reporting a claim. An inventory will serve as proof of your ownership of certain items so that you won’t have to worry about getting compensated for any losses (but you have to remember that you may need to buy additional insurance for specific perils like flooding.)

Here’s how to create a home inventory checklist as a renter::

How To Create a Home Inventory?

You should spend some time to create your home inventory to make sure you’ve listed everything you own:

Create a list of your personal belongings or take photos of them

It will help you to keep track of what you have and the condition of your assets. Remember to include exact numbers and amounts. Don’t try to make a guess – count each of them and be specific. If you were to lose your possessions in a peril covered by your renters policy, you’d probably like to get compensation for all of them.

Write down the value of your personal belongings

If you can’t recall the original price, look up similar items and their cost. 

Collect serial numbers, receipts, or other documents for as many things as possible

Especially for your most valuable assets, like expensive jewelry, electrical equipment, or artwork. You may be asked to provide proof of ownership of certain items while reporting a claim.

Document each newly acquired item

It’ll help you to organize your inventory and you won’t have to spend too much time on that. Small steps are way more convenient than recording everything at once.

Don’t forget about stored items

Including items kept in your garage, basement, or any type of storage that is included in your renters policy coverage.

Update your list

If you’ve thrown anything away, make sure to remove it from your inventory to keep it accurate. You can set a reminder on your phone to review the list every couple of months and check if anything is missing.

Make a copy of your inventory

Remember to store it in more than one place or use a couple of devices. You can store it on your phone, computer, and on the cloud. If you’ve created a written list, make sure to take a photo of it. It’s better to have more backups handy rather than compiling the list of your belongings once again.

Home Inventory Apps

Keeping track of your belongings may be a bit challenging but there are a couple of apps which can help you organize your inventory. Here are a few which you should consider:

MyStuff (iOS)

In this app you can freely categorize and customize your possessions. Add photos, prices and purchase date to organize your stuff and have all details in one place. 

Sortly (iOS, Android)

With Sortly you can easily manage your inventory and group each item by category and different conditions. You can access those information on any device. 

Memento Database (iOS, Android)

Functional and easy to use – allows you to include a wide variety of details about your personal belongings which you can then sort, group, and filter. Desktop version of this application available.

While it’s not required to build a home inventory checklist, it is extremely important, especially when filing a renters insurance claim. Without such a list it will be also very difficult to assess how much coverage you need and you may end up buying insufficient insurance for your needs.  =If you need any help with compiling a home inventory or getting renters insurance, our licensed Gabi advisors are here for you!