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Home Inventory and Standard Insurable Unit Description
MarkH
Our condominium corporation recently registered a Standard Insurable Unit Description (SIUD) at the Land Titles Office. The corporation asked owners to confirm the SIUD or show the owner’s variations from the SIUD on their form (nine printed pages!). Having renovated our apartment, there is a multitude of variations! We have a lot of work to do to ensure we have the proper insurance coverage from the corporation and from our own insurers, just for our unit.
Inside the apartment, we have a lot of chattels (belongings) not covered by the corporation’s insurance, and not covered by our extension of the home insurance to cover what the corporation doesn’t cover. Most home insurance policies seem to have a blanket insurance coverage for belongings of a certain percentage of the value of the home, to insure the owner’s belongings. As the value of the property rises and falls with the property market, the value of my belongings also rises and falls – unless I can show there is a specific value for an item that should be covered by my ‘belongings’ insurance, or unless I set a high value for my chattels.
Here’s where the work really begins. While closely examining the corporation’s SIUD list and recording the variations in my unit, it is in my own interest to also inventory my belongings and assign values for insurance purposes. How do I go about that? One advisor said ‘just photograph everything, and keep the pictures in a safe place’ (not on my ‘phone!). That didn’t seem adequate (I’m a pack-rat, I have a lot of stuff).
That’s when one of those little flyers from our friendly Realtor dropped into my mailbox, with an article:
“Home Inventory – Do You Know What You Have?
“When you look around your place, you may not think about how much your belongings are worth. Furniture, clothes, electronics – if your personal property were damaged, how much would it cost to replace? Cataloguing your things may seem overwhelming but, put away the pen, paper and spreadsheet; as always, “there’s an app for that.”
“Photograph belongings and attach receipts with all the information stored in an off-site location.
“A few of the most recommended:
- Encircle – Also enables users to create PDF and spreadsheet reports.
- Sortly – Free version as well as a monthly paid subscription option.
- Magic Home Inventory – Great for planning a move.
- Home Inventory – Desktop and Mobile for Mac users.
“Tip: If you’re with Allstate Insurance, ask about the mylocker home inventory tool exclusive to myAllstate customers (www.allstate.ca)”.
I still need to do these jobs, so I have no experience of them and no recommendations. A quick internet search showed these four apps, and many others, in several lists entitled ‘The Best (seven, eight, whatever) Home Inventory Apps’.
So what do you think, or use and like? Reply below.
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