How to create a home inventory of personal belongings to help make filing home insurance claims easier (with free template)

What is a home inventory?

A home inventory is a comprehensive, detailed list of all your personal belongings. If you ever need to file a home insurance claim, having a home inventory can help you identify what items were lost, damaged, or destroyed. It can also help your insurer verify your losses and speed up the claims process.  

Not sure how to get started? Check out our free home inventory template. 

How to create a home inventory

It’s a good idea to make a home inventory before shopping for home insurance to determine how much coverage you need. But even if you already have home insurance, documenting your personal belongings can help immensely in the event of a loss. 

Here are the steps to create a home inventory.

Step 1: Start a list

First, create a document you will use for your home inventory. This can be a simple pen-and-paper list to start or a digital document or spreadsheet. Note that it will be important to keep a copy of the completed inventory somewhere away from your home or saved online in “the cloud” in case your home were to be a total loss (say, after a fire).

Step 2: Document your  belongings

You can start with your highest-value items, or just go room by room to document all your belongings. At a minimum, the list should include a description of the item, the estimated value, the date you purchased it, serial numbers, and other key details. Consider organizing the information in a table so it’s easy to read and simple to update. 

Step 3: Take pictures and videos

As you move through your home, consider taking videos of each room and pictures of individual items. You can narrate your videos to describe each room and its contents. Don’t forget less trafficked areas of your home, like attics, sheds, or crawlspaces. 

Step 4: Gather receipts and related documents

As you identify items to include in your home inventory, track down any receipts, purchase orders, or paperwork that establishes the value of your personal belongings. It can be helpful to take photos of this sort of documentation, too, and store the digital files on the cloud in case the physical copies are lost or destroyed.

Step 5: Update your list as needed

Make sure to update your list as you purchase new items or get rid of old ones. 

What to include in your inventory

It won’t hurt to document more information than you need, including items that you may not end up claiming in a loss or details that the insurer doesn’t actually require. Your inventory might include:

Is a home inventory required for insurance?

Your insurance company most likely won’t require you to create and maintain a home inventory, but it might ask for a sworn proof of loss when you file a claim. “Sworn proof of loss” is an official statement detailing the property that was damaged or lost, the cause and extent of the damage, and the value of the affected items.

The benefits of a home inventory

Filing an insurance claim can be a lot — especially in the aftermath of serious devastation resulting from events like fires and hurricanes. But if you do a room-by-room home inventory before trouble hits, you have many of the documents you need to support your claim. This typically results in a faster, more accurate claims settlement. Plus, you’ll be able to prove eligibility for tax deductions or disaster assistance.

Another good reason to take inventory of your belongings is to make sure you get enough personal property coverage when you buy home insurance (or when you want to make adjustments to your existing policy). Listing the individual value of each of your possessions provides a clearer picture of how much you’d be out if you suffered a total loss.

What kind of insurance protects your belongings?

Personal property coverage is the portion of a home insurance policy that covers your possessions — anything that is not part of the structure of your home. This includes furniture, electronics, clothing, and more.

Known in the industry as Coverage C, personal property insurance is one of several types of coverage that’s automatically included in a standard homeowners policy 

Coverage C typically also provides “off-premises coverage,” meaning it covers loss or damage of items in your car or while you’re traveling. For example, if your laptop is stolen from your hotel room while you are on vacation or a bag of expensive golf clubs is taken from your trunk, this protection helps cover the replacement costs.

What to know about personal property coverage limits

Personal property coverage has a specific policy limit, which is the maximum dollar amount insurance will pay to replace your items. Instead of picking this number yourself, most insurers automatically calculate it as a percentage — often 50% — of your dwelling coverage (the amount protecting the physical structure of your house). For instance, if your home is insured for $300,000, your belongings would be covered for up to $150,000.

You can choose a higher percentage when you buy your policy or adjust your coverage limits as a policyholder, but your policy will cost more if you set your limits higher. 

How personal property coverage payouts are calculated

Most home insurance policies cover your possessions on an actual cash value (ACV) basis, which means depreciation is factored into the payout for an approved claim. For example, if a five-year-old television you bought for $1,000 is destroyed, your insurer might only pay $400 — its current used market value — rather than the $1,000 it would cost to buy a brand-new one today.

By adding a replacement cost value (RCV) endorsement, your insurer would pay what it actually costs to buy the same item new at today's prices. In the example above, an RCV policy would value the TV at the full $1,000 (though keep in mind your policy deductible still applies to your total claim payout).

How high-value items are covered

While your policy covers most belongings, certain high-value items have sublimits. These further cap how much the insurer will pay for categories like jewelry, electronics, or fine art, regardless of your total policy limit. For example, if a thief steals $5,000 worth of jewelry but your sublimit is $1,000, your payout would fall substantially short of the item’s true value.

To fully protect these items, you can add a scheduled personal property endorsement to your policy. This optional add-on coverage allows you to list specific valuables and covers them for their full appraised value.

Frequently asked questions

What if I don’t have receipts?

When you file a home insurance claim, your insurer will ask for a list of personal items that were lost or damaged. You may need to provide some type of supporting evidence that you own those items, like receipts or invoices. If you don’t have receipts, you may be able to provide other documents including bank or credit card statements, photos and/or videos, or some other form of verification. Ask your agent or claims representative for guidance.