insurance
Oh My! Panties, Bras and Rolls of …?
Panties, bras and … what? Rolls of valuable coins in your lingerie drawer? Of these three items, one just doesn’t seem to belong!
If you have a large stash of cash, collections of rare coins or a large number of rolls of coins hidden here, it’s best to place them elsewhere. Why?
People often hide items of high value among their lingerie. Statistics show that this is a common place and, unfortunately, burglars know this, too. It’s one of the first places they look!
Smart people secure proper insurance, but it’s just the first step in securing your financial security. Having a thorough inventory completed by a nationally certified home inventory service will help ensure that you get the benefits you are entitled. Receive a maximized claim by remembering and proving ownership after an insurable event.
Do You Keep Your Ice On Ice By……???
Do you keep your ice, or diamonds as they are more commonly known, in an ice cube tray or bin?
Believe it or not, some do!
That puts a whole new meaning to a “diamonds and ice” event, doesn’t it?
Many burglars know that some people “hide” their jewelry in ice cube trays. Smart people have an inventory of all of their belongings – including jewelry. When you create your inventory, be sure to include close-up photos of your jewelry so you can prove what you owned if it’s stolen.
Take the photos to your insurance agent so they can help you decide if you have sufficient coverage. Most policies have a limit of between $1600 and $2500 (some have a limit as low as $500!). If your jewelry is valued at an amount greater than the limit, your agent can provide a very affordable jewelry umbrella for you to cover the total replacement value that exceeds the limited noted on your homeowners policy.
If The Bookshelf Isn’t A Bookshelf, Why Keep Books On It?
Walking along a wall, we remarked to the homeowner how beautiful their built-in bookshelf was. “Actually,” she stated with a smile, “it’s a closet.” Wow! The wall moved and behind it was a huge walk-in closet!
Not everyone has a house with hidden closets to hide valuables in, so smart people take other steps to secure their financials. One way is to purchase the proper amount of insurance coverage. Another way is to have an alarm system.
Both of these work in different ways. The security system deters thefts, or at least shortens the time the burglars are inside, which of course lessens the loss. The insurance policy will help you recover after the claim is filed.
A third piece to the puzzle is a nationally certified home inventory. This document will help you remember what was stolen – a task that’s difficult when you’re under the stress of the burglary and the deadline given by the insurance company.
This 3-part approach to securing and recovering after a loss ensures your financial future.
Ten More Things A Burglar Won’t Tell You
Last week we shared 10 things a burglar won’t tell you, from information provided by a retired Detroit police office.
Prevention is a way to reduce the chance of your items being stolen from your home or business, though it won’t eliminate it entirely.
We were burglarized twice, so realize how difficult it is to remember everything you own(ed) before the loss. This experience is what encouraged us to provide a nationally certified home inventory service. Needing to file a claim after items are stolen is a difficult task, and you will most likely forget or be able to prove many items listed on your insurance claim.
Though you won’t be exempt from experiencing a loss, here are 10 more things a burglar won’t tell you:
- Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.
- I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.
- I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?
- I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.
- Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.
- To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.
- If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.
- Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.
- You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll take it with me.
- A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television.
You can find this device at Fake TV.
The Cake Mix Belongs In Your Kitchen Cupboard, Not Your…….!
Your Rolex watch in the kitchen cupboard … you’ve GOT to be kidding me! We have this thought process often as we find items in strange places when creating our nationally certified home inventory service. A kitchen cupboard is not a strange place to put a lot of things, but a Rolex watch? We discovered exactly that when documenting the kitchen cupboards for one of our customers. Back behind a bunch of vases, in the cupboard above the refrigerator, we discovered this watch!Got Jewelry?
You should be aware that a jewelry box is one of the first items burglars will grab as they rush through a house. Seriously consider not placing your high-value jewelry items in such a place that makes it easy for the thief!
Smart people will place the pieces in a safe deposit box or elsewhere in the house where a burglar will have difficult gaining access. If you have a safe that is small and capable of being carried away, have it bolted to the floor.
Professional burglars know they have a limited time in the house when there is an alarm system. Make it difficult for them to minimize your loss. Also have a home inventory so you can prove ownership and remember what was taken. This will be quite beneficial as you complete your insurance claim. In the stress of the aftermath of this invasion of your privacy, the chance is great that you will forget many items that are missing. A nationally certified home inventory professional will create a thorough document so you are prepared when something like this happens.
No Way! You Keep THAT In Your Child’s Closet?
No Way! Your kids honestly have fur coats and leather jackets in their closets?
Actually, that’s a smart place to put them. According to a Detroit Police Officer, burglars state that they rarely go into the kids’ rooms when they’re burglarizing a home.
Smart people know how to properly take care of their belongings, and this is a great tip.
Though these coats and jackets we inventoried belong to the adults, hanging them in the kids’ closets will help ensure they’re not stolen if a burglar breaks into the home. It’s also a wise choice to secure a home inventory so the items that are stolen can be identified and proven when the police recover them. Photos and a description of these high-value items are also an essential part of recovering funds from your insurance company after a loss. If you don’t want to bother creating your home inventory, click here to locate a nationally certified home inventory professional.
Record Contents Now to Ease the Claims Process Later
PRESS RELEASE
Nationally certified home inventory professionals help you remember and prove ownership when filing an insurance claim after a loss.
Tornado season has started early this year, and many reports are stating this country should expect a more than normal amount of storms and tornadoes in 2012. Seeing the current devastation in the Midwest, people are asking how those who suffered a loss could ever receive an equitable insurance claim.
While in the comfort of your home, without the stress of a disaster or pressure of a deadline, try to write down every item in the room. Imagine having to do that after you just suffered a loss – possibly a complete loss – of all contents in your home or business.
Next think about the CDs, DVDs, and video games. “Many of our customers are shocked when we tell them how many they own. Often, they underestimate by the hundreds,” explains owner Mike Hartman. At a low average of $15 each, and if just 100 were forgotten, this would equate to a loss of $1500. It’s easy to see how quickly a financial loss can add up, just on these 3 categories of items.
Adding to the dismay of disaster victims, there is a misunderstanding about how the insurance claims process works. The majority of people believe that if they have insurance, they will just receive a check without question. Not so, according to insurance websites. When a home or business experiences a loss, the insurance company will request a detailed list of each item lost or destroyed, along with a description. This requested information includes a model number and serial number for electronics and appliances. The time it takes to prepare this document, without being able to refer to a pre-disaster inventory, often can be months. Some state they reach the deadline and are required to submit an incomplete claim.
Hartman Inventory is a nationally certified inventory service that prepares this document of personal belongings prior to a disaster. This allows their customers to file their claim quickly, accurately, and thoroughly. A maximized claim enables the disaster victim to get back to where they were much faster and with more financial assistance than those who do not have a personal property inventory.
The process is a well-honed system that records the home or business belongings in a format preferred by the insurance companies. The finished portfolio is delivered within 10 days, with an option to also secure the information on an encrypted online backup service. This ensures the information is safe in the event of a disaster.
Due to the increased awareness of the need for an inventory, and the growth of the home inventory industry, the founders have developed a home inventory turnkey business package, Hartman Inventory Systems, to help others start their own inventory business. This business package includes an operations manual, hands-on training, a complete marketing package, continued support and mentoring, a business coach and much more.
About Hartman Inventory, LLC: Hartman Inventory is a nationally certified personal property inventory service provider, serving home owners, renters and small-to-medium businesses since 2004.
Airing Your Dirty Laundry
This phrase is often used when people tell things about themselves that others might not know. And, it’s usually not-such-great-stuff (therefore, “dirty”) that they share. The intent is to air all of your dirt so you feel better. Thus, “airing your dirty laundry.”
This time, however, we’re talking about real laundry. Dirty clothes that were washed and then placed in your dryer. The next time you do your laundry, consider this information.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), dryers and washing machines were involved in one out of every 23 home structure fires reported in 2003-2006 (most recent statistics). Dryers accounted for 92% of the fires, washing machines, 4% and washer/dryer combos, 3%, for a total of $194 million in property damage!
Failure to clean the appliances is the leading cause of these fires!
To help you prevent fires related to washing machines and dryers, here are 5 safety tips:
1. Do not use the dryer without a lint filter.
2. Clean the lint filter before or after each load of laundry.
3. Remove lint that has collected around the drum.
4. Don’t overload your dryer.
5. Turn the dryer off if you leave home or when you go to bed.
For additional washer and dryer safety tips, visit the NFPA website.
No one expects to have a fire. Similar to a car accident – no one anticipates one, but there certainly are a lot of them every day! Take precautions. Also have a home inventory. Then, if you do have a fire, you’ll be able to recover quickly and with a greater insurance settlement.
5 Reasons Insurance Agents Refer Home Inventory Services
Why would an insurance company want their policyholders to have an inventory of their belongings?
This is a question we’re often asked when talking to people who are interested in starting an inventory business with the guidance and advice through the Hartman Inventory Systems and becoming an member of the Hartman Inventory Group.
We’ve asked that same question to agents, regional managers, area directors and corporate executives. Every single person answered that an inventory will help the policyholder maximize their claim. Visit any insurance company’s website, and you’ll find this information for all to read. They encourage personal property inventories for their commercial and homeowner policyholders. To many, it sounds counter-intuitive. Most suspect that the insurance companies don’t want to pay out, so why suggest an inventory?
You’d think that insurance agents would rather their clients not recover well after a disaster. After all, having an inventory to refer to results in a much higher dollar settlement. Nevertheless, here are the top 5 reasons why they encourage their customers to do so:
1. Honesty When your agent tells you it is important to have an inventory, suggests that you create one, or refers an inventory service professional, they are being honest. They know the company will require a list of the items you want replaced, so you’ll recover better if you have this information. And they also know how difficult it will be if you don’t.
2. Customer Service If you don’t have an inventory, then need to file a claim, there is little they can do to help you remember what you owned. This will be between you and the adjuster, not your agent. Your agent knows that part of good customer service is educating you and making sure you realize the importance of having this information documented before you need it.
3. Saves the agent time and frustration Consider how much smoother a claim will be if you have an inventory. Then think of the stress, strain, and turmoil you’ll experience if you don’t have the photos and written report to help you complete the claim process. Agents spend a great deal of time with disaster victims because of repeated phone calls in which they receive requests for assistance and advice. They also find themselves fielding many complaints when their customers discovered they needed an inventory and state they were never told to create one.
4. Renewals You’ve heard that it costs more to find a new customer than it does to keep a current one. If the agent doesn’t tell their insured that they should have an inventory, they risk losing that customer as soon as the insurance claim is settled. I spoke with a person who had a house and barn destroyed by a tornado. Stating that his agent never told him to compile an inventory of his belongings, he was quite emphatic that he would be finding a new agent as soon as his claim was settled. Unhappy customers don’t remain as customers.
5. Referrals Insurance agents depend on referrals (as many professionals do) to build their businesses. The person I mentioned above believed that his agent, “didn’t care about what would happen to me, he just worried about his own loss when people file a claim.” Though I don’t believe this to be true, perception is reality, and it is heightened when someone is stressed and making quick judgments. He will also be inclined to tell all of his friends and neighbors. He actually even told me, a total stranger. Keeping customers happy brings new customers.
Insurance agents know how busy their customers are, and know the inventory service provider will be of great assistance before and after a loss. Their customers are happy because the agent referred a service that was of great benefit.
(We have arranged to provide a discount with many local insurance agents – ask your agent today! We are bonded and insured and have recently completed our national certification.)
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