Home inventory checklist for insurance: a three-sitting plan and a claim-day test

Published 2026-10-08

This is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Insurers differ, so ask yours what they want to see before you start. Insurers and regulators publish their own checklists, and they are worth reading too, for example NAIC: Home Inventory and Progressive: how to create a home inventory.

Most checklists give you a long list and leave you to work out how to finish it. Most people stop in the first room. This one is built around finishing: three sittings, a rule for how much detail each thing deserves, and a test at the end.

The detail rule: three tiers

Not every object needs the same effort. Sort what you own into three tiers as you go.

• Tier 1: detail. Things that would cost you real money to replace, such as TVs, computers, appliances, instruments, jewelry, power tools, bikes and art. Give each its own entry: a photo, the brand and model, the serial number, where and roughly when you bought it, and what it cost if you remember.
• Tier 2: group. Things that are worth replacing but are not worth an entry each, such as clothing, kitchenware, books, towels and bedding. Photograph the closet, the shelf or the open drawer, and write one line: what it holds and a rough count.
• Tier 3: skip. Cheap, easy to replace and low stakes. A photo of the room already covers them.

You decide where the line between tiers sits. Someone with a modest home might make anything over a hundred dollars Tier 1. Someone with a lot of valuables will set it higher. Write your line at the top of the list so you apply it the same way in every room.

Three sittings

Sitting 1: valuables and electronics. This is the part that matters most if something goes wrong, so do it first while you still have energy.

• Walk the house and collect every Tier 1 item room by room.
• For electronics, photograph the label or settings screen that shows the serial number.
• Include jewelry, watches, instruments, tools and anything you keep in a safe. List safe contents and where they are. Do not photograph passwords or account numbers.

Sitting 2: the lived-in rooms. Living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and the home office.

• Photograph each wall and each piece of furniture, then open every cupboard, closet and drawer and photograph the contents once (Tier 2).
• Add one line per container: what it holds and a rough count.
• If you work from home, note business equipment separately. Ask your insurer whether it needs its own cover.

Sitting 3: the places you forget. Garage, shed, basement, attic and outdoors.

• Tools, sports gear, bikes, mowers, grills and patio furniture.
• Anything in boxes: photograph the open box and write where the box is.

Short sittings are fine. What matters is that Tier 1 is done first.

Where the list lives

A list that is only on one phone or one computer can be lost with the house. Keep a copy somewhere that is not in your home: a cloud account you can open from a new phone, or an email to yourself. Keep receipts for big purchases with the list, or photograph them. Update it when you buy something expensive and at least once a year, and mark what you sold or gave away so it stays true.

The claim-day test

When you finish, run this ten-minute test as if you had to file a claim tomorrow.

1. Pick five items at random from different rooms, two of them Tier 1.
2. For each one, find it in your list without opening the house, from your copy that is not at home.
3. Can you show what it is, roughly what it cost and a photo? For Tier 1, can you show the serial number?
4. Can someone else in your household find the same list if you are not there?

Anything you cannot answer shows you what to fix. Fix it now, while nothing has gone wrong.

Three mistakes that make a list useless

• Photos with no context. A photo of a laptop does not say which laptop. Write the model next to it.
• A list only on the device that gets lost or damaged. Keep the off-site copy.
• Never updating. A list from five years ago misses the TV, the laptop and the tools you bought since.

When you file a claim

Send your insurer the list in the form they ask for. Ask them early what that is, because some want a spreadsheet and some accept photos and video. Keep your own copy of everything you send, and keep any receipts and appraisals with it.

Keep the list accurate. United Policyholders, a consumer group for policyholders, reminds people that insurance fraud is a felony, so record what you really owned and what it really cost. State Farm and United Policyholders both publish their own guides to creating and storing a home inventory: State Farm and United Policyholders.

Doing it in an app

A photo-based app saves most of the typing, which is the part that makes people give up. Whatever you use, check that you can export the list and open it from another device, since that is what the claim-day test checks.

EasyFinder is a home inventory app on Google Play. You take a photo when you put something away, the app suggests a name, description and tags, and you can organize by room, container or shelf and share a home with the people you live with. It is free to download and has in-app purchases, so look at its Google Play page for what is included at the moment. EasyFinder was built to find things at home, so check that it exports and stores the details your insurer asks for before you rely on it for a claim.