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Make the inventory before anything is stolen. After a burglary you will be listing what is missing from memory, in a room that no longer feels familiar, and an insurer will want proof that each item existed. The Texas Department of Insurance says most insurance companies will want a record of your belongings when you file a claim. A list built on a quiet Sunday is far better than one built the week after a break-in.
What to write down for each item
The Maine Bureau of Insurance lists what a useful entry contains: the item, its price, the date you got it, the brand and model, and the serial number. It also says to keep receipts. Texas puts particular weight on serial numbers, which are what separate a specific laptop from any laptop of the same make.
Nobody needs a spreadsheet row for every fork. Start with the things that are costly to replace and easy to carry: computers, phones, tablets, cameras, jewelry, watches, tools, game consoles. For clothing, linens and kitchenware, a photo of the open closet or drawer plus a rough count is a reasonable shortcut, because the point is to show that the things were there.
Photograph or film every room
Texas recommends taking photos or video of each room. Walk through slowly with a phone, open the closets and drawers, and say out loud what you are showing if you are filming. Photograph labels and serial number plates up close. Take pictures of anything unusual or valuable from more than one angle, since a plain wide shot of a shelf will not identify a particular watch.
Do the garage, the basement and any storage unit too. Those spaces tend to hold exactly the items people forget they owned, such as power tools and bicycles, when they sit down later to write a claim.
Where the record should live
This is the step that people get wrong. An inventory kept on the laptop that was stolen, or in the drawer that was emptied, does not help. Texas advises storing the inventory away from the home. Maine suggests a safe or fireproof place, or a PDF copy. The NAIC, the association of state insurance regulators, makes the same point about keeping a copy at another location, along with receipts, and mentions a free Home Inventory app.
| Source | What it says to do |
|---|---|
| Texas Department of Insurance | Record serial numbers, photograph or film each room, store the inventory off site, update it after purchases |
| Maine Bureau of Insurance | Record item, price, date, brand, model and serial number; keep receipts; store in a safe or fireproof place or as a PDF |
| NAIC | Review the inventory every year, keep a copy at another location, keep receipts, use the free Home Inventory app |
If you keep paper documents at home, a fire-rated box helps, and choosing a home safe covers what ratings mean. A cloud folder or an email to yourself solves the off-site problem with no hardware at all.
A weekend plan
None of the three agencies publishes a schedule, so this order is ours. Saturday morning, walk each room with a phone and film it, closets and drawers open. Saturday afternoon, go through the costly and portable items and photograph each serial number plate; type the numbers, with brand, model and purchase date where you know them, into one document. Sunday, gather the receipts you can find, photograph paper ones, and save everything in a folder that syncs off the device. Then email the folder link to yourself so a copy lives outside the house and outside the phone.
You will not remember everything the first time. Gaps are normal. Maine and Texas both frame the inventory as a record you build and revise, not a one-time exam, so a partial list stored safely beats a perfect one never started. Where you have no receipt, a bank or card statement, an order confirmation email or a photo showing the item in use can fill in the date and price roughly.
Keep it current
An inventory goes stale. Texas says to update it after you buy something new, and the NAIC recommends reviewing it once a year. A simple habit works: when a delivery box comes in, photograph the serial plate and drop the receipt in the same folder. Once a year, around the time your policy renews, take ten minutes to look at the list and see what has been added or sold.
Renters should do this as well. A renter’s policy covers your belongings, not the building, so the inventory is practically the whole claim. If you are in an apartment, the points in apartment security tips for renters sit alongside this one: lock the door, then document what is behind it.
Why bother: the reporting gap
The BJS report Household Burglary, 1994-2011 gives a sense of how rarely burglary losses reach insurers. For 2011, it found that 35% of households with losses of $1,000 or more reported to their insurance company, compared with 10% of those losing $500 to $999 and 3% of those losing $1 to $499. Most households do not file, and a likely reason is that small losses are below the deductible, though the report’s figures do not say why. A good inventory helps you judge that at the time, because you can see what the total actually is.
If you come home and find the door forced or items missing, do not go in alone. Step outside, call 911 and wait for police. The inventory can wait until later; that is the point of having done it already.
Our take
A home inventory is the cheapest piece of burglary protection you can do, because it works after everything else has failed. Serial numbers, a phone video of each room, and a copy stored somewhere the thief cannot reach will cover most of what an insurer asks for.
Common questions about home inventories
What should a home inventory include?
Maine’s Bureau of Insurance lists the item, price, date acquired, brand, model and serial number, plus receipts. Texas recommends photos or video of each room.
Where should I keep my home inventory?
Away from the home. Texas advises storing it off site, Maine suggests a safe or fireproof place or a PDF copy, and the NAIC recommends a second location.
How often should I update a home inventory?
Texas says to update it after new purchases, and the NAIC recommends reviewing it every year.
Do I need a home inventory if I rent?
Yes. A renter’s policy covers your belongings, and the claim depends on being able to show what you owned.
What if I find signs of a break-in when I get home?
Do not go inside. Move to a safe spot and call 911.
Who checked this
True Security Gear does not run a test lab and does not take units apart. One half of the work is documents: manufacturer specs, certifications, and seller claims checked against the paperwork. The other half is the record owners leave behind, in verified-buyer reviews, owner forums, and warranty complaints. Where that evidence is thin we say it is thin, rather than filling the gap with an adjective. The criteria are on How we evaluate.
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