As the fire season approaches, it is important to prepare your home as well as possible. And that includes a house inventory, which is more important than ever.
It’s a sad but familiar sight these days – houses wiped out by forest fires.
Carolyn Carradine lost her Malibu home to the Woolsey fire.
“You went through the entrance and had a direct view of the sea,” she recalls.
Trying to remember all of the possessions Carradine has collected over the past 22 years for reporting to her insurance company has been almost impossible.
And northern California residents learned the importance of a home inventory. During the 2017 fires, many homeowners who did not have one were tied with insurance claims.
Experts say you should protect your home from embers that can travel for miles. Randy Mac will report for the NBC4 News on Thursday, September 2, 2021.
“You want everything you’ve ever had,” recalled one resident. “Every cup and saucer, every spoon and fork.”
So how do you do a home inventory? Grab your phone and snap photos and videos of everything in your house. Open drawers and cupboards. Write down how many pairs of shoes you have and how many plates you have. Open the garage or other storage room and write everything down there as well.
“Can you remember everything you have in your house? In every room and every closet and in your garage? Everything your kids have? Definitely not, ”said Nicole Ganley of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, an insurance trade group.
Ganley says most insurance companies have inventory instructions on their websites. There are also apps to walk you through an inventory.
Ganley says the better you keep track of your belongings, the faster insurance companies can process your claim and pay out exactly what you deserve.
You could be underinsured. Randy Mac will report for NBC4 News on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
“You will maximize your policy,” said Ganley. “You get all you deserve for the coverage you paid for.”
And one last benefit of doing an inventory at home, you may find that you are underinsured so you can increase your coverage to what you need.
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