A home inventory is a list of what you own, with enough detail to prove it and price it: what each thing is, where it was, what it cost and what would replace it. Make it while everything is still in front of you. After a fire or a break-in, the same list has to be rebuilt from memory, often from a hotel room.
It takes an hour to start and a few evenings to finish.
Why your insurer will ask for one
The standard homeowners policy, the ISO HO 3 form that many policies are built on, lists what you must do after a loss. One of those duties is to:
Prepare an inventory of damaged personal property showing the quantity, description, actual cash value and amount of loss. Attach all bills, receipts and related documents that justify the figures in the inventory.
That inventory then goes into your sworn proof of loss. The North Carolina Department of Insurance puts it more plainly: "Keep a running inventory of your belongings! Add new items as you obtain them and remove those you no longer own. Be sure to include the serial/model numbers of electronics, appliances, and equipment (tools, lawn mowers, etc.)."
The inventory you make now is the one you won't have to rebuild from memory after a loss.
Make it in three passes
You don't have to catalog the whole house in a weekend. Work from the quickest record to the most detailed one.
The first hour
Walk every room on video
Stand in each doorway and film slowly around the room, then open the closets, cabinets and drawers. Say the date, the room and what you are looking at. Don't skip the garage, attic, basement, shed or a storage unit: tools, holiday decorations and sports gear are the things people forget to claim.
Over a few evenings
Photograph what is expensive or hard to replace
Electronics, appliances, furniture, tools, bikes, jewelry, art and collections. Take one photo of the item and one of its label with the brand, model and serial number. Then search your email and retailer accounts for the receipts and save copies, not just links to an account that might close.
Over the next month
Count the everyday things
Clothes, shoes, towels, bedding, cookware, books and toys are hundreds of small purchases, and together they often cost more than the television. Count them by category and photograph each closet or shelf. "Eight bath towels" is an inventory; "bathroom stuff" is not.
What to record for each item
A spreadsheet, an app or a notebook all work. What matters is the detail, and that you can get to it after a loss. The NAIC, the national body of state insurance regulators, has a free home inventory tool if you'd rather not build your own.
Save or print this
For every item worth listing
- The room it is in
- What it is, and how many
- Brand, model and serial number
- When and where you bought it
- What you paid
- Its photo and receipt, by file name
- Its condition, and anything unusual (a gift, an heirloom, an upgrade)
| Room | Item | Brand, model, serial | Bought | Paid | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living room | 65-inch TV | In photo LR-014 | 2022, Best Buy | $1,100 | LR-014, email receipt |
| Bathroom | Bath towels (8) | — | About 2023 | About $120 | Closet photo BA-03 |
Write "about" when you are estimating. "Bought around 2021, about $350" is honest and useful. A made-up exact date is neither, and an inventory that is wrong in one place gets questioned everywhere.
What the inventory tells you about your coverage
Add up the list and put it next to your declarations page. Three things to check:
- The total against your Coverage C limit. Coverage C is personal property. If your belongings would cost more to replace than the limit, you are underinsured for contents, and it is far easier to fix that now than after a fire.
- Actual cash value or replacement cost. The standard form pays for personal property at actual cash value, which takes off depreciation for age and wear. A four-year-old TV bought for $1,100 might be worth a few hundred dollars at actual cash value, while replacement cost pays what a comparable TV costs today, usually once you buy it. Many policies add replacement cost for contents by endorsement; check whether yours does. Recoverable depreciation explains how that second payment works.
- Special limits. Some categories have their own smaller limit, however high Coverage C is.
Where to keep it
An inventory on a laptop in the house burns with the house. Keep at least one copy somewhere else:
- In cloud storage, and check that you can open it from another device without your phone.
- With someone you trust, such as a relative in another town.
- Out of anything shared or public, because the list is also a map of your valuables and their serial numbers.
Update it when you buy or get rid of something valuable, and review the whole list once a year. Write the date of each review at the top.
If the damage has already happened
You can still build an inventory, and you should. Go room by room and use everything that remembers for you:
- Photos on your phone and in the cloud, including the background of family pictures.
- Social media posts and photos friends and family have taken in your home.
- Email receipts and order histories at the retailers you use.
- Bank and card statements, which show where and when you bought things.
- Warranty registrations and manuals.
Sketch the floor plan of each room and walk it in your head, wall by wall. Mark every price you are estimating as an estimate. For the first steps after a loss, start with what to do in the first 48 hours after property damage. If you are out of the house while you work on the list, keep those receipts too: additional living expenses covers what insurance pays while you are out.
A contents inventory for a whole house is long, tiring work. Preparing the list of everything lost is part of what a public adjuster does, and how to choose a public adjuster covers what to check before hiring one.
Save or print this
Home inventory checklist
- Every room on video, closets and drawers open, date said out loud
- Garage, attic, basement, shed and storage unit included
- Valuable items photographed with their labels and serial numbers
- Receipts saved from email and retailer accounts
- Everyday items counted by category
- Total compared with Coverage C on the declarations page
- Jewelry, firearms and collections checked against the special limits
- A copy stored outside the home and opened from another device
- Next review date on the calendar
Sources
- ISO Homeowners 3 – Special Form, HO 00 03 10 00 (sample), via the Insurance Information Institute: duties after loss, special limits and loss settlement.
- North Carolina Department of Insurance: consumer tips
- NAIC: home inventory tool
This is general information, not legal advice. Your policy's wording decides what is covered, and rules differ from state to state.