Home inventory after house fire Jennifer Wells asked 1 month ago
Home inventory after house fire

We are a family if 4 that lost our home in a fire 2 weeks ago due to conditions after Hurricane Helene hit western NC. We are now finding out what we had thought was good insurance is not so good. We are covered at 210k for home contents, but even though it was a total loss we have to inventory the whole house to prove our items’ value. I’ve also found out that our coverage is an ACV policy, which from what I’ve read is not good news.

My question is while I’m trying to inventory everything, how do I know what value to put? If an item is online the at least half the time is shown to be a sale price and the total value is marked through. This leads to significant discrepancies in prices – for example, if a paper back that is $16.99 sale price but $21.99 full price. What price should I document?

Also, regarding age and condition: Do I need to put the approximate age of each book? What if a book I bought 10 years ago at $9.99 now costs $16.99 today? Is there a best method for me to do this to maximize my returns?

1 Answers
Answer for Home inventory after house fire Alexis Ricci Staff answered 15 hours ago
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Hi Jennifer,

Our hearts go out to you and your family. We are so sorry you’re going through this catastrophic event.

Unfortunately, the carrier may require you to complete a total inventory of your personal property. While this can be a daunting task, it is absolutely in your best interest to ‘take the lead’ and give the carrier as much information as possible regarding your personal property. After all, you know your property best. The best way to maximize your claim settlement is to provide details about your contents. The more details you can give the better!

Since your policy is Actual Cash Value only, the carrier will need to calculate replacement cost and depreciation for each item. Replacement cost is based on the full price an item of comparable quality, size, make, model…costs in today’s market. Depreciation is calculated based on an item’s age and condition, just prior to the loss, versus its typical life span. This is where the details matter! The more information you can provide the carrier, including replacement pricing, the better. And yes, some items may cost more to purchase today than what you originally spent. And some items, such as electronics, may cost less.

Carriers will often allow you to ‘lump’ items of similar nature together, such as paperback fiction books. You will want to talk to your claims adjuster to get clarity on this.

As you inventory your property most consumers find it is best to go room by room. UP has great resources to help with this process and jog your memory on what you had. We encourage you to review our content tips on https://uphelp.org/claim-guidance-publications/home-inventory-and-contents-claim-tips/

Good luck!