Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Personal Property Inventory Service Provider

The personal property inventory industry is rapidly growing compared to the slow progress of years past. I believe the push started with Katrina and Rita. Sure, we've had disasters in the past, but these two storms brought so much devastation to so many that people took notice. They realized that a serious disaster can happen to anyone, anywhere. And since then we've seen major earthquakes, tsunamis, wide-spread wild fires, tornadoes and more hurricanes.
You are realizing the importance of having a thorough list of everything you own. Still, the majority of Americans don't have a business or home inventory. There are five main reasons for this, and these reasons are exactly why the home inventory industry is growing very quickly.
1. Time. You are busy and just can't find the time, no matter how certain you are that it's necessary to have an inventory of your belongings. In addition to working an enormous number of hours, you have a family that needs you and you want to spend time with them. You have commitments to church and civic organizations. And, of course, you must take time to relax and socialize. All of this adds up to very little or no time left for items on your to-do list. One of those items, year after year, is your home inventory.
2. Relevance. Insurance companies suggest that your inventory be no more than two years old. You've spent hours - probably days or weeks - completing your inventory. And now we tell you that you must keep it current! Many inventory service providers offer annual updates at a fee much less than the cost of the original process. They will send you an annual reminder to add your new items and remove your discarded ones.
3. Integrity. Fraud has become a major issue. Padded claims, false claims, over-stated values, etc., are happening on a regular basis. When you hire an inventory company to compile your information, they are a third-party vendor who will bring a "disinterested" party into the process. By "disinterested", I mean there is no value in making fraudulent statements, so the adjuster will trust the information more if a disaster occurs. Be sure the company you hire is bonded and insured. Visit their website to determine their professionalism. Read the testimonials and ask for referrals.
4. Expertise. Once you find the right inventory company, you'll benefit from their expertise. Often home owners and business owners don't have an inventory because they just don't know how to create one properly and accurately. Though most inventory service providers are not insurance professionals, they will at least be able to guide you on whether you should consult with your insurance agent for clarification of your policy or for additional coverage. They will create a thorough inventory and will be able to do it professionally and efficiently. Ask if any of their customers have experienced a disaster and some examples of how their finished report helped the disaster victim file and settle their claim.
5. ROI. You will receive an investment in time and money. We already discussed the time factor. While you're spending time with the family or giving back to the community, your inventory company can be compiling your inventory. If you're a business owner, you can be spending your time doing what you do best tending to your company while you hire someone who does what they do best. The financial ROI can be huge, to the tens of thousands of dollars. Consider that without an inventory, you will forget many items. You'll also underestimate how many items of clothing, pairs of shoes, DVDs, CDs, linens, etc., you owned. One of our fire victim customers stated that we included $5000 worth of items that he would not have listed. And that was just on the first page!
The benefits of hiring a third party inventory service provider obviously far outweigh the cost of the service. Contact your local personal property inventory service before the next fire, burglary or natural disaster decides it's your turn. Worst case scenario is that you'll never need to file a claim. The comfort level alone will give you a huge return on your investment.
A disaster is only one of the many reasons you need to have a thorough list of your personal and business assets. Inventory service providers will compile this document for whatever reason, and it will be there for you to meet all of those situations.

What You Need to Know About Home Insurance

Life is unpredictable. The evening news is proof of that. There are fires, floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, and that's on a slow day.Home insurance helps people protect their largest, most substantial investment. In this article, we will discuss the most important things to consider when shopping for home insurance.
While plans invariably vary from insurer to insurer, most of them have four main components:
1. Coverage for the home or structure
As you might imagine, this is the single most important aspect of any standard home insurance policy. It protects the home against damage from storms, fires, and other natural disasters. At the very least, you should insure your home for one hundred percent of its value. This is the amount it would cost for the home to be completely rebuilt. This might seem like overkill.After all, homes are seldom completely destroyed when they are damaged. Still, it is better to be safe than sorry.
2. Coverage for Contents
Most standard policies will cover the cost of your personal belongs if they are damaged in a natural disaster. They may also pay if your personal effects are lost or stolen. The average coverage for contents is equal to fifty percent of the value of your home. So, if your home is worth four hundred thousand dollars and it burns to the ground, the insurance company will pay you two hundred thousand dollars just for the contents.
3. Liability Protection
Most people are unaware of the fact that home insurance also covers damage to other people's property. For example, if you daughter accidentally throws a football through your neighbor's expensive bay window, your insurance provider will probably pay for it. This is called liability protection and it generally covers damage to property, medical expenses for injuries, and court costs. Most insurance providers recommend at least $100,000 of liability insurance for a comprehensive policy.
4. Reimbursement for Additional Living Expenses
This aspect of the insurance policy only comes into play if your home is damaged to the point where it is deemed unlivable. If the policy holder is forced to find a pied-a-terre, his insurance company will pay for his living expenses while his home is being repaired or rebuilt. This coverage generally includes the cost of rent or hotel bills, food, and even rental car fees. The standard policy provides additional living expenses that are equal to around twenty percent of the value of coverage on the home. So, if you have four hundred thousand dollars of coverage, your family will receive around eighty thousand dollars for living expenses.
Now, that may seem like a lot of money... but trust us, it goes fast. Hotel bills add up in no time and it can take well over a year to rebuild a home that has been ravaged by a flood or fire, which is why it is important to make sure you have enough coverage for each of the components we discussed today.

The Benefits of Home Insurance

Everyone has a different idea of what it means to make it in America. For some folks it means making mountains of money, while others are content with a good job and nice family. But no matter how you define success, it almost always involves a physical residence.
Home is where the heart is. A man's home is his castle. Home is where you hang your hat. These are more than mere sayings or simple proverbs. They express universal truths. Every man needs a place to call his own. Not just because he must be protected from the elements, but because privacy and security are essential for human happiness.
One reason why folks make such a fuss about home ownership is because it isn't easy. Ownership entails investment and an investment must always be protected. Failure to do so could and often does result in financial loss. Fortunately, human beings were circumspect enough to create something called insurance. Insurance protects very real assets from very real risks.
A glance at the nightly news is all you need to know that some pretty unfortunate things happen to people's homes every day of the week. They burn down, blow down, and even wash away. Few homeowners are lucky enough to avoid damage to their homes. Falling tree limbs, inclement weather, and accidents can damage or destroy any structure.
Home insurance protects people from financial loss when accidents and natural disasters inevitably occur. It might seem like a raw deal for the insurer. After all, they often have to pay out few claims over the life of the policy. But they manage to keep their doors open because catastrophic damages are quite rare. A house being burned to the ground, for instance, hardly ever happens.
There are four basic components that every homeowner should consider before he or she goes shopping for home insurance. The first is the coverage on the actual structure. Homeowners should always insure their homes completely. They should also make sure that the policy covers the contents of their home. As a general rule, an insurer should offer coverage that is equal to about half of the cost of the home. The policy should cover basic items like furniture and electronics as well as personal effects like clothing and sporting goods.
Home insurance also offers its policy holders liability insurance, which protects them in the event that someone is injured in the home or on their property. The fourth and final component is the reimbursement needed for additional living expenses. As you might expect, this is only required when something terrible happens to the policy holder's home and he has to find somewhere else to live while his home is being repaired or rebuilt.

The Importance of Home Insurance

What do people mean when they talk about the American Dream? For millions of folks, the idea is more than a mere concept. Though it has never truly been defined, many believe Thomas Jefferson came closest when he talked about "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Before there was even a nation known as America, people dreamed of one thing:Land. More specifically, they dreamed of land and a home. To many folks, home ownership is at the heart of the American dream.
But being a homeowner in America isn't easy and it certainly isn't cheap. Compared to the rest of the world, homes in the U.S. are quite pricey. In addition to the mortgage, property taxes, and the monthly heat and electricity bills, a homeowner should also purchase insurance. We say should because unlike car owners, homeowners are not required by law to buy insurance. Of course, the overwhelming majority of them do.
What are the benefits? The home is the single largest investment most people will ever make. It is also one of the riskiest ones. Homes can been damaged or even destroyed in a myriad of ways. There are fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Accidental damage is also quite common. Insurance is the best and most affordable way to protect your family from financial loss.
As a general rule, most standard insurance policies have four common components or four different ways that they protect homeowners. The first and most important component is the protection they provide for the actual structure. A home that is fully insured could be burnt to the ground and the homeowner probably wouldn't lose a dime. The insurance company would pay to have the home rebuilt.
Home insurance also covers the contents of the home against damage, loss, or theft. Homeowners are instructed to take pictures of their most expensive items and store them in a safety deposit box. That way if the items are lost or stolen, the homeowner can file an accurate insurance claim.
Few homeowners are aware of the fact that home insurance also includes liability protection. This component protects the policy holder from accidents that occur in his home or on his property. For example, if someone slips and breaks their hip in his driveway, the insurance company will generally pay the medical bills. Liability insurance also covers the costs of repairs to other people's property. For example, if one of your trees falls on your neighbor's car during a storm, liability insurance will pay for the repairs.
The fourth and final component of home insurances rarely needed because it is only necessary when a home is damaged beyond repair. If, for example, your home burns to the ground, the insurance company will reimburse you for additional living expenses. This includes rent, hotel bills, food, and transportation fees. Homeowners should insist on coverage that is equal to about twenty percent of the total coverage on his home.

Top 5 Reasons Insurance Agents Like Home Inventory Services

Why would an insurance agent want their policyholders to have an inventory of their belongings? An inventory will help the policyholder maximize their claim. But ask insurance agents if you should have an inventory, and you'll get a resounding "Yes!" Visit any insurance company's website, and you'll find that they suggest that everyone inventory the contents of their home and business.
Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn't it? You'd think that insurance agents would rather their clients not recover well after a disaster. After all, having an inventory to refer to results in a much higher dollar settlement. Nevertheless, here are the top 5 reasons why they encourage their customers to do so:
Honesty
When your agent tells you it is important to have an inventory, suggests that you create one or refers an inventory service provider, they are being honest. They know the company will require a list of the items you want replaced, so you'll recover better if you have this information. And they also know how difficult it will be if you don't.
Customer Service
If you don't have an inventory, then need to file a claim, there is little they can do to help you remember what you owned. This will be between you and the adjuster, not your agent. Your agent knows that part of good customer service is educating you and making sure you realize the importance of having this information documented before you need it.
Saves the agent time and frustration
Consider how much smoother a claim will be if you have an inventory. Then think of the stress, strain and turmoil you'll experience if you don't have the photos and written report to help you complete the claim process. Agents spend a great deal of time with disaster victims because of repeated phone calls in which they receive requests for assistance and advice. They also find themselves fielding many complaints when their customers discovered they needed an inventory and state they were never told to create one.
Renewals
You've heard that it costs more to find a new customer than it does to keep a current one. If the agent doesn't tell their insured that they should have an inventory, they risk losing that customer as soon as the insurance claim is settled. I spoke with a person who had a house and barn destroyed by a tornado. Stating that his agent never told him to compile an inventory of his belongings, he was quite emphatic that he would be finding a new agent as soon as his claim was settled. Unhappy customers don't remain as customers.
Referrals
Insurance agents depend on referrals (as many professionals do) to build their businesses. The person I mentioned above believed that his agent "didn't care about what would happen to me, he just worried about his own loss when people file a claim." Though I don't believe this to be true, perception is reality, and it is heightened when someone is stressed and making quick judgments. He will also be inclined to tell all of his friends and neighbors. He actually even told me, a total stranger. Keeping customers happy brings new customers.
Insurance agents know how busy their customers are, and know the inventory service provider will be of great assistance before and after a loss. They have happy customers, and they are happy because the agent referred a service that was of great benefit.