Documenting Your Home and its Contents for Insurance Purposes, p. 1

Of course you'd rather not think about things like natural disasters or other emergencies that could hamper your ability to live in your home, but it is better to consider them when they have not occurred than to deal with them if they do.

One way to protect your assets is to photograph them. True, you may have receipts for big tickets items, but if for some reason you can't get to those receipts. you'll still want to have a record of what was in your home. Plus, the receipt may not tell the full story; information like the make and model number of an appliance, for instance may not be on a receipt. The more information you can give to your insurance adjuster, the better.

Besides photographing the contents of your home, you can also make a video of your home and of the home itself. This means that not only are you documenting what is inside, but you are also documenting how your home looks on the outside. Things on the outside like fences, gates, swings, gardens matter just as much as what is on the inside.