protect your belongings
Of course your most prized possessions are those people that you love. However, if you’re anything like me, there are definitely some material items you own, which you also deem as invaluable. Maybe it’s your computer, where you keep all of your financial records, or that novel you’ve been writing. Maybe it is your grandmother’s antique Opal ring. Maybe it’s a one of a kind painting, or an antique china tea set.
The point is; these items are important to you. But are they important enough that you’ve made an inventory of them, for your own records? If you haven’t, it’s high time that you do so.
While many of us like to think that we are immune to the effects of a natural disaster, the reality is, we live in an area where earthquakes and fires are a way of life. Even if you’re not near high fire zones, year after year hundreds of families lose their houses and belongings to home or wild fires. And, of course living here also means that we are susceptible to earthquakes with astonishing frequency. Unfortunately these facts of life mean that we can’t ever guarantee the complete safety of our treasured belongings.
However, just because you may not be able to fully protect your items from unexpected loss, you can make the most of a bad situation, should disaster strike. How do you do this? By creating and maintaining an itemized list of your prized possessions in the event that you need to file an insurance claim.
Make no mistake, it is often impossible to replace the sentimental value of items lost, but that doesn’t mean you can’t replace some of their monetary value. By inventorying your personal belongings, including descriptions of your belongings, and photos or videos, if you find yourself the victim of a tragedy, you will be in a much better position to include the items on your insurance claim. It should be noted however, that the full value of specialty items may not always be covered under your home owners insurance. In cases like these (for example, owning very expensive jewelry) you’ll need to have each item appraised and “scheduled” as an addition to your policy- but we’ll get to that in a later blog, so stay tuned!
Remember too, that you don’t need to inventory every book, item of clothing, or DVD you own. But it does mean that you need to inventory the more expensive items in your home. Televisions, cameras, media equipment, furniture etc should all be documented in a list, which you store in a safe location away from your home. If possible, keeping receipts is also a good idea.
So what are you waiting for? Start today with getting your home organized by documenting your belongings. But let me warn you, although this may seem like a lot of work, you just might find this task to be more fun than you could have imagined. After all, those walks down memory lane, reminiscing about times past, may just have you wondering when you can inventory your items again. (Hint: anytime you’d like!) For questions about fire and earthquake insurance or other tips for organizing and inventorying your belongings go ahead and shoot me an email at nnicholson@tcinsurance.com
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Nancy Nicholson is no California native. In fact, she spent the first nine days of her life living in Denver, Colorado. But most people don’t hold that against her, as she is a true Southern California girl through and through. As an insurance agent with Santa Clarita Insurance Services, Nancy’s spent the last 20+ years of her life advising clients in all things related to minimizing risk through properly insuring your home, business, auto, life and health. That is, she’s something of an insurance guru, which has led her clients to affectionately deem her “The Insurance Doctor.”
But all work and no play makes for a really dull existence, so Nancy spends her off hours blending work and play via networking with others. She is inspired by other entrepreneurs, and enjoys sharing and hearing the stories like minded friends who also value the personal growth that comes from being professionally successful.
As a mother of two adult children, Nancy’s spare time is spent with friends and family. That is, when she’s not focusing on a long held passion for competitive swimming. In fact after having retired from competitive swimming for 30 years, she’s recently rediscovered her love of the sport, andrecently placed in the top 20% nationwide.
An avid traveler, Nancy loves road trips off the beaten path, and counts Hawaii as one of her favorite getaway spots. In the future she plans to continue broaden the reach of her travels, and remain committed to community and volunteer service, but that doesn’t mean that she has any plans to retire. When you love your job as much as she does, it can hardly be considered work, so she plans to continue helping Santa Clarita Valley residents protect themselves and their futures for years to come. In the meantime, she’s going to share some of her best tips for protecting yourself, here at SceneInSCV.com.Contact Information for Nancy:
Nancy Nicholson | License # 0D50759 | Santa Clarita Insurance Services
28001 Smyth Drive | Suite 107 | Valencia, CA 91355
P: 661-964-0207 x 3202 | F: 818-223-8181
nnicholson@tcinsurance.com | www.santaclaritains.com
Your the best agent! So glad I have you protecting me! Thanks for the great info.