Whether you are an established family or just starting out, you probably have property that is covered under your insurance. Items like your automobile, furniture, and personal possessions are some of the items that are usually covered under insurance. If an unfortunate occurrence such as a fire or theft should happen, it is best you have an accurate and detailed inventory of your personal property with a property insurance inventory list.

Having a property insurance inventory list not only helps the insurance company give you a more accurate replacement value for your personal property, but you will be assured that you remembered everything you own, which when it is all gone, may sometimes be hard to do.

The first step is to take a few minutes to list everything you own. It may be easier to start the list in categories such as furniture, clothing, personal items, jewelry, etc.

Next, you will want to give an estimate of what it would cost to replace the items on your list. In making the estimate keep in mind that some things appreciate in value while others depreciate. Clothing is a good example of something depreciating, and a jukebox is something that would typically appreciate.

The most used method by insurance companies to calculate the value of personal property that has depreciated is to subtract the estimated depreciation (dollar amount the property has decreased) from the current cost.

Here are a few more tips when taking an inventory of your personal property:

• Keep sales receipts and attach to your personal property inventory list.
• Keep a video inventory or photographs of your personal property in addition to your inventory list.
• List any serial numbers that may be on your personal property
• Engrave your own serial number into items that are of value
• Keep your personal property inventory list, along with photos and/or inventory videos, in a safe place away from your home such as a bank lock box.