What is contents or personal property coverage is a common question that we are often asked when handling insurance claims. The simple answer is that contents coverage (or Coverage C (for State Farm it is often Coverage D)) is the portion of your home insurance policy that covers the cost of replacing your possessions, or home’s contents, in the event that they are destroyed in a covered peril (wind, fire, hail, lightening, theft, etc).
The more complex answer is that this is a form of available insurance coverage available to those that have sustained a significant loss, but it is also the part of the claim that is often very emotional. For instance, the homeowner that saw their home blown away during a hurricane is calling this claim the “everything I owned is gone” claim.
Often times these items that are lost are very personal. How do measure the value of your graduation frame? Or the treasured blanket given to you by your grandmother? Or your home computer with all the photos of your new born child? All of these items have strong sentimental value, and are the type of items that one moves from home to another when re-locating homes.
But when a significant loss occurs the property contents are often the items that are the most difficult to remember, and quantify. How often do you actually count how many bed sheets you own?
Given the emotional aspect of this claim, many insurance companies are insisting on detailed “inventory forms” as soon as possible to help them understand the extent of content damage they may have to pay under coverage C of the policy.
These content “inventory forms” are often a source of much dispute and confusion. It is not uncommon to prepare one, but then remember months later that you had omitted some very important items. Consequently, it is imperative that the “inventory form” list be properly, and completely prepared as soon as possible. But as you can see by the photo accompanying this post, preparing that inventory could be a daunting task when confronted with life altering adversity.
Therefore, how realistic is it to prepare this list in the face of a total and catastrophic loss? In such scenarios many folks are trying to simply survive day to day, and are not focused on prepare a list detailing all the treasured items that they have accumulated over the years that they just lost.
One of the best ways to handle this daunting task is to hire a professional to help handle this task. Hiring a contents inventory company may be money well spent. Public adjusters are also a wonderful resource that can help assist with the claims process in general. Our firm can also assist you with respect to the needs associated with the claims process and the specific issues of properly detailing your insurance claim.
The best time to prepare for this is actually now. Before a catastrophic event. Prepare an inventory of items you own today, and then after the storm you can assess the nature and full scope of your loss. This may certainly help in getting full and prompt contents loss payment under Coverage C of your policy after a properly completed “inventory form” has been submitted.