How To Create A Renters Insurance Home Inventory

Logan Sachon  Published April 26, 2018

The first step of shopping for a renters insurance policy is finding out how much stuff you own and what that stuff is worth — and that means doing a home inventory.

Buying renters insurance is pretty straightforward: pick your coverage, buy your policy, and your stuff is protected from most cases of theft, loss, or damage.

There’s only one part of the buying process that requires any work on your part, and that’s the home inventory, the list of everything you own, along with photos, values, and receipts or appraisals if you have them, that you’ll use to buy renters insurance and make a claim if you need to.

But don’t fear! Making a home inventory doesn’t have to be a whole thing — you can even use an app to make it even more simple.

Why you need a home inventory

The home inventory is crucial during two steps in the renters insurance process: before you buy, and if you ever need to make a claim.

A home inventory isn’t a complicated thing, but it is important. Considering how easy it is to create one – and how much easier it can make filing a renters insurance claim – there’s no reason not to have one. And with the ability to make and edit your inventory on the go with your mobile device, that’s one fewer excuse you have for delaying.

How a home inventory helps you buy renters insurance

When shopping for renters insurance, you’ll get quotes based in part on the amount of personal property coverage, so you need to know that number. Most people underestimate the cost of their stuff, which is why the home inventory is so important. It helps you figure out exactly what you have and exactly how much it costs. The last thing you want is to buy $10,000 of coverage only to find out you had $20,000 worth of stuff.

Most renters insurance policies also have additional coverage limits on certain property categories. For instance, if you have a policy that covers $20,000 in personal property, there may be a limit that only $2,000 of that can be electronics, or only $1,500 can be jewelry. You need to know what your stuff is worth so you know if you need to buy extra coverage (you can purchase something called a rider or floater to up your coverage amounts on certain categories of property).

How a home inventory helps you make a renters insurance claim



 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.policygenius.com/renters-insurance/how-to-create-a-renters-insurance-home-inventory/