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Make a home inventory for insurance in an hour

After a fire or a burglary, nobody remembers what was in the hall closet. An hour now with a phone camera saves days later.

Updated
2026-10-05
Reading time
3 min
Written by
casaq editorial
Expert review
Not yet reviewed
Statute checked
No statute quoted
The short answer

Walk every room filming slowly, opening closets and drawers; then list high-value items with purchase date, value and serial number; then store the video, list and receipts somewhere other than the house. Update it after big purchases. Regulators recommend exactly this because it makes coverage decisions and claims easier.

Why it matters

A complete list of your property helps you decide how much coverage you need and makes filing claims easier; Texas’s Department of Insurance recommends including the date you bought each item, its value and its serial number where you can [1]. Ready.gov’s financial preparedness advice is similar: keep access to financial and insurance records so recovery can start quickly [2].

The one-hour version

  1. 15 minutes: video. Walk each room slowly, narrating. Include closets, storage buildings and the garage, and open drawers, as the Texas guide suggests [1].
  2. 20 minutes: the list. Electronics, appliances, jewelry, art, tools, bikes: brand, model, serial, approximate purchase date and price.
  3. 10 minutes: photos of labels. Serial plates on appliances, the water heater and HVAC units also prove their ages for your home record.
  4. 15 minutes: store it off-site. Upload to cloud storage and keep a copy with a relative. Receipts for major items go with it [1].

Check special limits

Home policies usually cover personal property up to a percentage of the dwelling limit and limit what they pay for things like jewelry and art; if you own expensive items, ask about added coverage [1]. Your inventory shows whether you need it.

casaq explains and organizes; it does not give insurance or legal advice or predict what a policy covers. Your policy, your agent and your state insurance department are the authorities on your coverage.

Keep it current

  • Add big purchases the week you buy them.
  • Re-film once a year (pick a date; casaq can put it in your calendar).
  • After a loss, photograph damage before making repairs, and make only temporary repairs until the insurer sees it [1].

Upload the inventory video stills, receipts and serial-plate photos to your casaq record (private, exportable, deletable).

Attach it to your home record

Sources

  1. Texas Department of Insurance, “Home insurance guide”. Retrieved 2026-10-05.
  2. Ready.gov (FEMA), “Financial Preparedness”. Retrieved 2026-10-05.

Information, not legal, insurance or engineering advice. Spot something wrong? Send a correction; accepted corrections are logged publicly with a date.