Watching the news and weather in 2025 is pretty frightening these days. From one side of the country to the other and all points in between, there seems to be a pattern of destruction every day on the news – Mother Nature is taking its’ toll on home and business owners.
Right now, Hurricane Melissa is in the Caribbean creating chaos and massive destruction. While there’s nothing business and homeowners can do to avoid hurricanes and other natural disasters, the very least you can do is take an inventory of all your possessions and keep it updated.
From major appliances, furniture, carpets, outside property, down to the smallest items you own – go through your house recording (at the very least writing) down all personal items.
Once you start the process you might be surprised by how much you have to lose. You might decide to go further and add photographs to the descriptions.
Whatever you do to prepare you and your family for emergencies, add a home inventory to your list. After the fact, your Insurance Company will want to know exactly what your losses are. If you can’t prove to them what you lost, they will give you a fraction of what your property is worth, unless you provide them with a list of personal and/or business belongings. You might want to document further by adding photographs, the more details you can provide the better chance you’ll have of proving to the insurance company your losses.
It might seem overwhelming when starting a home/business inventory, and it can be. If you don’t want to do it yourself, there are Inventory Companies that will do the work for you by creating a detailed copy of everything you own.
But whatever you decide to do, please remember knowing what you own is important! Be prepared and be safe.