It’s funny how quickly a phone call can change your life. Last December, that call was from my downstairs neighbor frantically telling me to come home. I tried to ignore the panic in his voice as he said there was a fire in our apartment building, but when I finally drove up and saw the black smoke, my stomach sank. A mad dash out of my car left me standing in front of my building, just in time to watch the firefighters break my apartment’s windows and douse it with water.
Words can’t explain my feelings of loss, especially when a volunteer said they weren’t able to find my dog. I couldn’t do anything but stand and sob while staring at my apartment. Thankfully, the day had a bright spot – seeing a firefighter with my wet, dirty, and scared beagle.
After I hugged my dog tighter than ever and swore the rest was “just stuff,” the overwhelming reality of being homeless and having nothing started to sink in.
Even though I was covered by insurance, it wasn’t long before I received another big dose of reality. I had to list every item in my apartment…from memory. Of course, I’d always been told to take some kind of inventory of my items, but like a lot of people, I didn’t think this would happen to me.
As a result, I spent 2½ of the most stressful weeks attempting to list every item in every room. Never had I dreamt I would need a list of every DVD I owned, let alone every shirt in my closet. Thoughts were always running through my head about different items I needed to claim. What brand was the TV in my bedroom? How many pairs of black shoes did I have?
Almost a year later, I’m still noticing items that are missing. As each season changes, I reach in the closet for a certain item of clothing or decoration that isn’t there. I’m constantly reminded of something else I hadn’t written down and that twinge of loss. I know as time passes these feelings will fade, but I hope one thing I will never forget is to always keep an inventory.
October is Fire Safety Month. So, take time to document your belongings. COUNTRY Financial has free materials you can use, even if you’re not a client. Whether it’s a written list, video tape, or pictures, just get started! It’ll save a great deal of stress and heartache in the long run.
(Veronica Riggs is a CSO Training Specialist at COUNTRY Financial)
Something I always recommend to my clients is to take a few minutes to use your video camera to make a quick documentary of every thing in your home. If you stand in the middle of each room and pan 360 degrees slowly, you will have a record of nearly everything in your home! You can put this video in your safe deposit box or fire proof safe and update it occasionally. Hope this helps even one person in the future!
where is the free material located so that I may inventory my apartment?
Lifehacker, my favorite website, has a list of home inventory tools. Many of these are free: http://lifehacker.com/search/Home%20Inventory/
A quick and easy approach is to go through your house with a camcorder and then store the video on a remote server.
Here’s the link to the COUNTRY materials: http://bit.ly/9JwtM2
Also, Lifehacker is always reporting on great home inventory tools, in addition to many other helpful tips!
I’d recommend the Amazon Mobile app. There’s a feature called Amazon Remembers, which documents your belongings just by taking a picture of them!
Towards the bottom of COUNTRY’s home insurance page are the links to the home inventory tools.
http://www.countryfinancial.com/SiteController?url=/insuranceInvestments/homeInsurance