Your best defense against loss: Take inventory of items in home

By Jeffrey Long, Allstate Personal Financial Representative

We all may think we don’t have much, but after a natural disaster or theft, we realize just how much our little bit means.

The best way to protect yourself from the serious financial impact of such occurrences is to have enough homeowners’ or renters’ insurance to cover a loss.  However, another crucial step, one that most forget, is to take inventory of everything you own in your home.  Having this information will help speed your claim settlement.

Jeffrey Long, an exclusive agent of Allstate Insurance Company in Norwalk, CT recommends you take the following precautionary steps:

• Make a list.  Make a list of the contents of your home on paper.  After a storm, it’s virtually impossible to remember all the things you’ve bought over the years, particularly when you’re upset about a loss
• Videotape or photograph all the items that you own.  It would be helpful to describe on the videotapes or on the back of the photographs the items and their prices
• Keep your videotapes or photographs in a place separate from your home, such as at your workplace or a bank safe deposit box
• Save receipts for major purchases.  Pictures and videotapes are supplements to receipts.  Receipts are especially important for big-ticket items such as computers and large appliances
• Update your inventory periodically.  How often you need to refresh it will depend on when you make new purchases

Allstate Personal Financial Representative Jeffrey Long can be reached at (203) 855-8444 or by visiting his office at 94 East Avenue in Norwalk, CT. For more information, you can also visit www.allstate.com.