After a total loss you have to list what you owned, from memory, in the worst week of your life, with none of the objects available to prompt you. People routinely under-claim for exactly that reason.
This builds the list in advance and exports it as a file you can keep somewhere safe.
Nothing is uploaded. The inventory is stored in your own browser and never sent anywhere. That also means it lives only on this device — so when you are done, export it and store the file outside your home. Cloud storage, or email it to yourself. An inventory that burns with the house is not an inventory.
The categories people forget
Consistently the same ones, and collectively they are a large share of a contents claim: the garage and shed, tools, holiday decorations, sports and outdoor equipment, small kitchen appliances, the entire contents of a wardrobe, children's toys, and anything in a loft or basement.
Open every cupboard and drawer. That is where the forgotten value lives.
Use replacement value, not what you paid
The figure that matters is what it would cost to buy the item again today, not what it was worth second-hand and not what you paid five years ago. Under-estimating here is the commonest reason people discover their contents limit was too low.
Photographs still matter
This list is a written record. It works best alongside a video walkthrough of each room with the cupboards open, plus photographs of receipts and appraisals for anything significant. Store all of it in the same place, outside the house.
Why memory produces an incomplete list
After a total loss you are asked to list what you owned, from memory, in the worst week of your life, with none of the objects present to prompt you. People routinely under-claim for exactly that reason.
The categories forgotten are consistently the same, and they are not the expensive ones. They are the ordinary things that accumulate quietly over years.
| Category | Why it gets missed |
|---|---|
| Garage and shed contents | Rarely thought of as belongings |
| Tools and equipment | Acquired one at a time over decades |
| Clothing, as a whole wardrobe | Priced as individual items rather than as a total |
| Kitchenware and small appliances | Invisible until you count them |
| Bedding, towels and linens | Nobody thinks of these as claimable |
| Holiday decorations | Stored out of sight |
| Sports and outdoor equipment | Seasonal, and often in the loft |
| Children’s toys | Constantly replaced, never totalled |
| Books and media | Individually cheap, collectively substantial |
Room-by-room prompts
The commonest failure is walking into a room and recording what is visible. These prompts surface the rest.
| Room | Open and record |
|---|---|
| Kitchen | Every cupboard, the pantry, small appliances, cookware, drawer contents |
| Living room | Media equipment and cables, books, artwork, rugs, storage furniture |
| Bedrooms | Every wardrobe and drawer, jewellery, watches, bedding, under the bed |
| Garage | Tools, power equipment, garden machinery, bikes, sports gear, shelving |
| Loft or basement | Seasonal decorations, stored furniture, boxes — open a few |
| Shed | Everything. It is frequently forgotten entirely |
| Home office | Computers, peripherals, furniture, anything used for work |
Use replacement value, not what you paid
The figure that matters is what it would cost to buy the item again today. Not what it would fetch second-hand, and not what you paid five years ago.
Under-estimating here is the commonest reason households discover their contents limit was too low. It is also why the total this tool produces is worth comparing against your Coverage C limit — many policies set contents as a percentage of the dwelling limit, chosen without any reference to what you actually own.
Export it and store the file outside your home. The inventory is saved in your own browser and never uploaded, which also means it lives only on this device. An inventory that burns with the house is not an inventory. Cloud storage, or email it to yourself.
Three comparisons worth making with the total
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First
Total against your Coverage C limit
If the inventory exceeds it, that is a gap you can close with a phone call.
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Second
Categories against the sublimits
Jewellery, firearms, silverware and cash have their own caps regardless of your overall limit — and the jewellery cap usually applies to theft specifically.
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Third
The settlement basis
Whether contents are settled at replacement cost or actual cash value changes what this inventory is worth by roughly half on older items. It is one line on your declarations page.
What to add for higher-value items
Use the note field for
- Brand and model
- Serial number, where there is one
- Approximate purchase date and price
- Where it was bought, which helps establish value
- Whether a receipt, appraisal or certificate exists, and where
Alongside the list, take photographs. A video walkthrough with cupboards open captures far more than any list, and the two together are what a contents claim is actually built from.
Business property is a separate question
If any of what you record is used for a business run from home, note it separately. Standard policies cap business property at a small stated amount, and the cap applies regardless of your contents limit.
That matters for anyone with work equipment, stock, or tools of a trade at home. The inventory is where the exposure becomes visible, and a home business endorsement is usually what addresses it.
Keeping it current without effort
Two habits are enough. Add significant purchases when they arrive, before the box is thrown away — the box frequently carries the model and serial number. And review once a year, or after a move, a renovation, or a significant acquisition.
If a loss happens and you have no inventory
Sources people forget they have
- Bank and card statements going back several years
- Online purchase histories from major retailers
- Photographs and videos taken in the home for unrelated reasons
- Receipts stored in email
- Appraisals from a previous policy
- Photographs taken by an estate agent when you bought or rented
Work room by room rather than category by category, because memory is organised spatially. Adjusters generally accept supplements as items are remembered, though there are deadlines — ask what yours is at the start.
Other uses for the file
Beyond a claim: sizing your contents limit, deciding what to schedule, supporting a police report after a burglary, establishing value for an estate, documenting condition before a move, and proving ownership of recovered stolen property.
That last one is more useful than it sounds. Recovered property is frequently not returned because nobody can prove whose it was, and a photograph with a serial number resolves that immediately.
What we are not saying
Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored on our servers, or sent anywhere. The inventory lives in your own browser and the export goes straight to your device. ClaimWise does not sell insurance and receives nothing from anyone.
Photographs and video alongside the list
The list establishes what you owned and what it was worth. Images establish that it existed and what condition it was in. A contents claim is strongest with both.
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Pass 1
Video, narrating
Walk each room saying the date and describing what you see. The narration is itself a contemporaneous record, and video captures relationships stills miss.
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Pass 2
Open everything
Wardrobes, drawers, cupboards, the garage, the loft, the shed. This is where the forgotten value lives.
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Pass 3
Close-ups on anything significant
Serial number plates, labels, hallmarks, maker’s marks. These establish identity and support valuation.
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Pass 4
Photograph receipts and appraisals
For higher-value items, as you come to them.
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Pass 5
Store it all in the same place
Cloud storage or email, alongside the CSV you exported from the tool above.
Do it with someone, and do it one room at a time
Two practical suggestions that make the difference between starting and finishing.
Work with another member of the household. One records and narrates while the other opens cupboards and prompts. It takes half the time, catches roughly twice as much, and means two people know what the record contains and where it is stored — which matters if the person who made it is not the person dealing with the claim.
Do one room this week. The complete inventory is better, and the complete inventory is also the one that stays permanently on the list of things you will get to. One room, cupboards open, fifteen minutes, is the version that actually exists. Add the next room whenever you happen to be in it with ten minutes spare.
The version for renters and students
Shorter, and worth doing for the same reason. A rented flat holds less in absolute terms and represents a much larger share of what the person owns.
Twenty minutes covers it: one video walkthrough with the wardrobe and drawers open, photographs of the laptop and phone with serial numbers, receipts for anything bought new, and the list above. Stored in cloud storage rather than on the laptop that would be stolen alongside everything else.
That record is also what supports a police report, which is frequently required before a theft claim will be considered at all.
Common misunderstandings
“My contents limit covers everything” Standard policies cap specific categories — jewellery, firearms, silverware, cash — well below the overall limit, and the jewellery cap usually applies to theft specifically.
“The insurer will work out what I had” A contents settlement is built from a list you produce. Nobody else can produce it.
“Photographs are enough on their own” Images prove existence and condition. The list establishes value and quantity. Both are needed.
“I’ll do it properly when I have a free weekend” The complete version is the one that never happens. One room this week is the version that exists.
Where to store it so it survives
Three requirements
- Outside the building it documents. Cloud storage, or an email to yourself. A record on a device in the affected property is not available when you need it
- Somewhere a second person can reach. If the person who built it is not the person handling the claim, the file has to be findable
- Alongside the policy. The inventory and the declarations page answer different halves of the same question, and they belong together
Export the CSV from the tool above, put it with your photographs and video, and store the whole folder in one place. Then note where it is somewhere the household can find it.
That is the entire maintenance requirement. The inventory itself takes an afternoon once and a few minutes a year afterwards; the storage decision takes five minutes and is what makes the rest of it worth anything.
One thing to do before you close this page
Pick the room you are sitting in. Open the cupboards and drawers, and add what is inside using the form above. Give each item a rough replacement value rather than agonising over precision — an approximate figure recorded is worth far more than an exact one you never wrote down.
Then export it and email the file to yourself. Fifteen minutes, and the hardest part of a future contents claim is already partly done.
Next time you are in another room with ten minutes spare, do that one too. The house gets covered eventually, and unlike the all-at-once version, this one gets started.
The garage and the shed are worth prioritising once the living areas are done, because they hold the value people most reliably forget.
Both are usually a single session each, and both are usually a surprise.
This is general education, not advice. Insurance law and claim rules vary by state and change over time. Nothing here is legal, financial, or insurance advice for your situation, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. For your specific case, consult a licensed professional in your state or contact your state Department of Insurance.