Inventory of home will help insurers

By S.P. DINNEN
sdinnen@dmreg.com

Once you've located the loved ones in your family in the wake of a tornado, Richard Keith advises that you then grab pen and paper as you mentally walk through your freshly destroyed home.

"You need to sit down as best you can and make an inventory" of your belongings, said Keith, CEO and president of West Des Moines-based IMT Insurance. Adjusters can pretty well figure the value of a lost or damaged house, but Keith said Tuesday that they'll appreciate help in gathering evidence on the value of contents.

Standard homeowners' policies cover damage from tornadoes. And in Iowa, Keith said that nearly all homeowners have coverage. So most residents of Parkersburg, New Hartford and other areas of northeastern Iowa whose homes were blasted by Sunday's twister should already have been contacted by insurers' agents who can help them with short-term living expenses and work out details of rebuilding or repairing homes and replacing furniture.

There's no way to predict when or where a tornado will strike, but you can prepare for it financially by making an inventory - preferably beforehand - of your belongings. You can do so by taking photos of each room, or writing down the information.

Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., also of West Des Moines, has an inventory list on its Web site, www.fbfs.com (click on Personal on the Insurance tab, then Iowa, then Property/Homeowners). This electronic inventory can be shipped anywhere - staying out of harm's way - and, like the other inventories, should be periodically updated.

Jason Grant, an insurance agent at the Dick Grant Agency in Waverly, said it also pays to periodically adjust coverage limits to keep up with additions or simple price appreciation of a home.

"The only problem is if people's houses weren't insured for enough," he said.

Even if a policy is for the replacement cost of the home, it's only going to pay to the maximum dollar amount the policyholder purchased.

Iowa Insurance Division Commissioner Susan Voss said claims from losses associated with these storms will include those for covered vehicles, homes, contents or businesses.

"We have urged them to act quickly to service their customers," Voss said of her advice to the state's insurers.

If you aren't able to negotiate an acceptable settlement, Voss asked property owners to contact her office at (877) 955-1212.