Nearly half of US residents have never made a home inventory list in case of a natural disaster, according to new data from Farmers Insurance.
The company found that 44% of US residents have never made a home inventory list, putting themselves at risk in the event of a major loss – even though 70% of Americans have experienced a natural disaster like a flood, tornado or wildfire at some point in their lives.
“While creating a basic home inventory list may seem like a trivial activity, the truth is home inventory lists are extremely beneficial for homeowners, should they need to file an insurance claim,” Farmers said in a news release. Home inventory lists allow insurers to review a complete record of what was damaged in a disaster and determine what needs to be replaced. The lists are also a good way of reminding homeowners of the contents of their home in the event of a major loss, as well as to allow the insurance company to know what was there.
“It may not be the most Instagram-able way to spend a Saturday night, but taking a weekend to create a home inventory list is a great example of how a little precaution can go a long way in the future,” said Jim Taylor, head of claims customer experience for Farmers Insurance. “Spring is a great time of the year to build your inventory list into your annual list of spring-cleaning to-dos.”
Taylor suggested going room by room to make an itemized list of all belongings, as well as creating a video log. Taylor recommended that upon completing the list, homeowners should put it in a secure location such as a safe-deposit box, as well as backing up photos and videos on a safe cloud-storage provider.
