Why it decides your payout
After a total loss, the burden of proving what you owned is on you. Adjusters settle from the list you provide, so anything you cannot recall or evidence is simply not paid. Most people recall roughly half of their possessions from memory.
The method that works
Twenty minutes per room, once, with a phone.
- Video-walk each room narrating brands, ages, and approximate prices, then open every drawer and cupboard.
- Photograph serial numbers on electronics and appliances.
- Photograph receipts rather than filing them; email confirmations count as proof of purchase.
- Store everything in cloud storage, never only on a device kept in the house.
- Update after any purchase over a few hundred dollars, and re-record annually.
Categories people forget
Contents of the garage and loft, tools, sports and camping equipment, holiday decorations, kitchen small appliances, clothing counted by category rather than item, and the contents of a home office. Together these routinely account for 20–30% of a contents claim.
Check your contents limit is realistic
Most policies set contents at 50–70% of the dwelling limit by default, which is a guess. Upload your policy to PolicyPal and we compare the contents limit and sublimits against what you tell us you own.
Frequently asked
- Does the insurer accept a video walkthrough?
- Yes, and it is one of the strongest forms of evidence because it is timestamped and shows condition as well as existence.
- What if I have no receipts?
- Photographs, bank or card statements, and manufacturer serial numbers all work. Without any of these, adjusters apply conservative valuations.
- How detailed does it need to be?
- Item-level for anything above roughly $100, and category-level with counts for clothing, books, and kitchenware.
Your policy is the only source of truth
Stop guessing. Check your actual policy.
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