Disaster Preparedness Checklist
No matter where you live, there exists a risk for disaster – be it from flood, wildfire, or other causes. It's important to be prepared for these situations, so that you can protect your family, your home, and your belongings.
To help make sure that you're prepared, we're providing this checklist, which you can print out and use.
- Keep a detailed inventory of all your belongings, especially your valuables. The best way to do this would be to take a photograph or video of each room, keep all of your cancelled checks and receipts and make a note of the serial number or model of each item. Such meticulous documentation will provide your insurance company with proof of your belongings and help process claims more quickly, should disaster strike your home.
- In your inventory, don’t forget to include items you might not use regularly, such as your holiday decorations or the tools in your garden shed. They may be worth more than you think.
- Consider getting additional coverage for family heirlooms, jewelry, antiques and other valuables. Specialty items like these are rarely covered in a standard homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy.
- Keep copies of your inventory in secure locations easily accessible outside of your home, such as a bank safe deposit box or with relatives.
- Maintain a list of 24-hour contact information for your insurance providers that you can easily access in case of emergency.
- Contact your insurance company annually to stay informed and up-to-date with your homeowner’s or renter’s policy. Make sure you know what it does and doesn’t cover, and get extra insurance (i.e. for flooding, tornadoes) if you need it and don’t already have it.
- Update your inventory and home appraisal regularly in order to account for renovations and new purchases, and make sure that your policy reflects these changes.
- Make sure you know whether or not your insurance policy covers additional living expenses, should you need to temporarily relocate after a disaster renders your home unlivable.
- Confirm whether your assets are insured for the actual cash value or the replacement cost. Actual cash value is the amount it would take to replace or repair your home and your possessions after deducting for depreciation. Replacement cost is the amount it would take to simply replace the item without factoring in depreciation, so in many cases it is higher than the actual cash value. However, if you and your insurance agent think it’s worth the cost to purchase replacement coverage, make sure to add it to your policy.
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Source
http://www.naic.org/index_disaster_section.htm