Whether you suffer the effects of a fire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, or theft, there’s no substitute for having an up-to-date photo inventory of your home, a record of both the structures on your property and your personal belongings. This photographic inventory is invaluable when you need to show police stolen or damaged items, when you need to identify recovered items, and when you need a reference point after a catastrophe such as a fire, earthquake, or tornado.
Safeco senior claims representative Kristine Brandes, working in Safeco’s “storm room” during the aftermath of the Seattle earthquake, offered sage advice for preparedness and post-damage recovery.
At a minimum, Brandes suggests creating a photo inventory of your home to document the structure and your belongings. Start by taking overview pictures of each entire room first. Then, in each room, take pictures of individual items of significant value such as jewelry, electronic equipment, antiques, and unique items. “[Insurance claims adjusters] need good pictures of items so that when we are assessing damages and trying to evaluate what we should pay, we have a better idea of the characteristics of each item,” she explains.
Brandes also recommends keeping a record of the serial number (useful in the event of theft and recovery), year, make, model, date of purchase, purchase price, condition, and a description of the item. Be sure to keep receipts, owner’s manuals, canceled checks, and credit card receipts with the images. If you want to keep electronic records, scan the documents into your computer.
An alternative to keeping photographs is recording your belongings on video. The advantage of video is that you can walk and talk while you’re shooting. However, Brandes notes that digital still images can be sent via e-mail with a claim. “If we get a still digital photo, we can store it in the [customer's] file electronically,” she explains. “If we get an electronic video or media player file, we can’t store it in their file. So for standard, basic claims, still photos are great and they save time.”
If you have both a still and video camera, check with your agent to see what your insurance company recommends.
Photo inventory shooting tipsTaking pictures of your household belongings can be more challenging than you expect. For example, for small items, you may need a background that doesn’t compete with the details of the item you’re shooting.
Before you begin It’s a good idea to get backgrounds and equipment ready in advance. Here’s a short checklist:
- Have a dark, flexible poster board, craft paper, or dark cloth handy. Used as a backdrop, these items will help show off the detail and intricacy of small items, such as jewelry, collectibles, and silver.
- Consider using or buying small plastic display stands for small items. These inexpensive stands are available at antique and craft stores, and they come in handy for all sorts of photography projects.
- Shoot within the recommended range of your flash. For many interior pictures, you’ll need a flash. Check the camera manual for the minimum and maximum distance range of your flash, and then shoot within the recommended range. In most cases, it’s not a good idea to take a close-up picture of small items using an on-camera flash because it can obliterate the details you want to preserve. Try using a lamp or flashlight instead of the flash, or bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling. You can sometimes diffuse and reduce the intensity of the light by placing a thin cloth over the flash.
- Set the white balance on a digital camera for the type of light you’re using – incandescent, fluorescent, or flash. Or, on a film-based camera, filter for the light – appropriately.
- Set the date function on your camera before you begin shooting. If your camera doesn’t have a date function, include the date when you process the digital image in an image-editing program such as Picture It!
Taking the pictures To create an inventory, use a systematic approach and don’t overlook infrequently used items.
- Wide, overall room shot: Start by switching to wide mode, using a wide-angle lens, or using panoramic mode. You will likely need to take two or more shots to get the entire room. Remember the maximum range of your flash, and if it falls short, be sure to turn on room lights and bring in other lighting if necessary.
- Detail shots: It’s good to be systematic in taking inventory shots by working from large to small and from top to bottom. For example, after you take pictures of the overall room, move to the next smaller items such as the dining table, arm and side chairs, buffet, china cabinet, and sideboard. Take pictures of wall hangings, window coverings, and carpets. Then move to china, silverware, crystal, serving pieces, tea sets, glassware, and collectibles.
- Aperture: Use the smallest aperture possible under the lighting conditions – for instance, f/8 or f/5.6. This aperture will maintain better edge-to-edge detail. If necessary, use a tripod to steady slow shutter-speed shots. To show fine markings, switch to macro mode.
- Silver and china: Take pictures that show the pattern of your silver and china, and then turn items over to take a picture of the information imprinted on the back. If you’re shooting with a digital camera with on-camera flash, be sure to check the image in the LCD to ensure that the details are clear. If not, reposition and reshoot.
- Enclosed items and reflective surfaces: For items that reflect light, such as framed pictures, mirrors, appliances, and sculptures, move at a 30- to 45-degree angle to the item or until the reflection is diminished or gone. Instead of photographing through buffet or entertainment-center glass doors, open the doors before you shoot, or take out representative pieces and photograph them on the background paper or cloth.
- Drawers, closet doors, and cabinets: Open all drawers and doors and photograph the contents. Pull out items in the depths of cabinets, such as small appliances, pots and pans, cutlery, and serving pieces.
As you take pictures, don’t overlook outdoor and seasonal items such as the barbecue grill, patio furniture, golf clubs, bicycles, and lawn equipment. Also remember infrequently used items like tools or musical instruments.
Don’t forget to photograph your cameras, lenses, and accessories. For priceless family photos, be sure to regularly scan negatives, copy them onto CDs, and store the CDs in fireproof containers or off-site in safety-deposit boxes. The same advice applies to prints and digital images.
What’s next? After you have the preventive inventory shots, be sure to make copies. Keep one copy in a fireproof container, and keep another set offsite in a safety deposit box, or at a relative’s or friend’s house. As you buy new items or replace belongings, be sure to update your inventory and the copies you stored offsite.
Post-loss claims photos
After damage has occurred in disasters such as an earthquake or flood, always photograph the damaged items and scene. “Take photos that tell the story of what happened,” Brandes advises. “Then write a list of the claims and attach the photos.” You can also use the pre-loss photographs for comparison and verification of the property and condition.
As an example of good post-loss photos, Brandes tells about a friend who had a 30-inch television fall screen-first to the floor during the Seattle earthquake. “She took a picture of the TV on the floor, and then she tilted it back up and took a picture of the cracked glass on the front of the TV,” Brandes recounts. “These kinds of pictures allow [claims agents] to see the extent of the damage and know that it’s something we can’t just go and get repaired.”
For catastrophic circumstances, Brandes tells people to take pictures of exterior and interior damage before cleaning things up. Include overall, wide-angle images, and shots of individual damaged items. After you take a comprehensive series of pictures, then you can clean up the mess. “We don’t expect people to live in a messy house or around broken glass until we can get out to see it,” she said. “We tell people to do what they need to do to be safe and comfortable.”
For non-catastrophic damage, Brandes recommends focusing in on the scratch or dent so the adjuster can assess how to adjust for the damage.
Final tip
From the post-quake experiences in Safeco’s storm room, Brandes found that many people do not know the details of the insurance coverage they purchased, nor do they know the deductibles that apply to special coverage.
“We are seeing that a lot of people haven’t taken the time to read the policy, or they did not ask their agent the tough questions like what would happen if there were an earthquake – what they would be covered for,” Brandes observes. She recommends that people get familiar with the details of their insurance coverage and know what the deductibles are on all policies. Her advice: “Just know and understand the insurance you’ve purchased.”
