Though you most likely had one specific reason in mind when you chose to have an inventory created, it doesn’t have to serve only that one need. There are reasons to use it for many other (you guessed it) purposes!

Here are some scenarios:

• You hire your nationally certified inventory company to create an inventory as part of your estate planning. That is very thoughtful of you, since you don’t want your executor (most likely one of your children) to have to experience the emotions of creating the list upon your death. You never thought you’d need the inventory for an insurance claim, but that defective wiring caused a fire. A repurposed estate inventory now helps you file your insurance claim.
• Your disaster preparedness inventory was created a few years ago. Now, you and your spouse decide to divorce. The inventory documents help because your household items are all listed and can now be used to help split the assets. You can even note who receives what items and determines the total value of each! Once that’s completed, you can delete what is no longer yours, add your new purchases, and you have a new disaster preparedness inventory up to date. Repurposed twice!
• As a business owner, you know the importance of being able to recover from a loss, so you have an inventory created of all of your business assets. One day you look around for some trade show or other type of infrequently-used items. Unable to locate them, you prepare to purchase new. Then you realize if you DO own them, you’ll have them listed on your inventory, and in what closet or storage area. Checking the records, you verify you do still own them, saving your company possibly thousands of dollars of unnecessary expenses. Repurposed into an asset locator!
• Your disaster preparedness inventory is sitting by, giving you peace of mind. That, in itself, is a fantastic reason to have this information. Your washing machine isn’t working right, and when you call the manufacturer for a new part, the first thing they ask for is the model number. You guessed it! A repurposed inventory is now a reference document for all your model and serial numbers of electronics and appliances in your home or business!

Your personal property inventory, though initially chosen to serve a specific purpose, can easily be repurposed to serve many needs for a variety of life events – both planned and unexpected.

Consider that the insurance adjuster certainly isn’t going to ask you to give him your audio file, listen to your recording, then pass it on to the insurance company. No, it doesn’t work that way. You will still have to go through the arduous task of completing the paperwork. You’ll also be asked to prove ownership and value of some or many items. An audio file will not provide that proof.

Briefly, the process to file a claim is that you need to provide each item, line-by-line, for which you want the insurance company to provide replacement funds. On each line you’ll be asked to include the name of the manufacturer, model number, serial number, when purchased and what you paid for it.  Only then will they proceed with your insurance claim.

How many times will you have to play, listen, reverse, play, listen, reverse, play, listen… before you get all that information from your recording. And that’s assuming that you included all that information when you made your entry into the app. And in what order did you record the information? You’ll be asked to list the items room-by-room.

Once again, I’ll state that the audio file is better than nothing. But a thorough document, created by a nationally certified inventory company, will help ensure a maximized settlement.

Common answers when I ask people that question are that they:

• have a home inventory
• make sure their insurance is sufficient to replace the losses (proven by your home inventory)
• have the collectibles, artwork, firearms, etc., scheduled
• have a security system
• keep their high-value items in a safe at home or in a bank safe deposit box

Other viable actions taken, but often said with smiles on their faces, are that they:

• live near a fire hydrant or a police station
• own a gun
• have a big – very big – guard dog

Some even decide to sell their items.

An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, John Havlicek’s 1960 Ohio State basketball championship ring among items up for auction,  discussed the reason behind the basketball great’s reason to sell his championship rings from his years as a Buckeye and a Celtic. There are many other memorabilia that he also sold at auction. His explanation? According to the article, “Havlicek said he is so worried about something happening to some of his memorabilia that he would rather sell it now and get it into the hands of people who want it, rather than risk losing it.”

Guess it’s time to start marketing our inventory service to those who are the recipients of these auctions, because someone wants these items. Once the purchase these collectibles, they will want an inventory of these valuables to prove ownership so they can protect their assets and ensure their financial future. After all, it’s not the sentimental value – these purchases are strictly a financial decision. An inventory of these collectibles is certainly a document they will need!