Question 1

What is a Home Inventory Report?

Accepted Answer

DEFINITION OF HOME INVENTORY REPORT: A Home Inventory Report is a report that documents all of your personal property items (possessions) located in your home or apartment. It is commonly a photogrpahic and video recording of all your home's contents located in you home or apartment structure. This report will include adjacent outbuildings such as sheds. The Home Inventory Report is recommended to be certified or notorized by a third party such as Florida Home Inventory Company.

Question 2

What is the primary reason to have a Home Inventory Report performed?

Accepted Answer

A Home Inventory Report documents the existence and condition of all your personal property items (Possessions) located in your home for a standard homeowners insurance policy. The Home Inventory Report should verify the existence of the personal property items at your home's location at a definite time.

Question 3

Are there personal property items that could be unique and not insured pursuant to a standard homeowners insurance policy?

Accepted Answer

Yes, uniqued  personal propterty items maybe required under certain policies to be insured under a special rider attachment to your standard policy. Personal property items such as:
 • Collectables such as dolls, model trains, sports cards, comic books, stamps and coins
 • Fine art work
 • Furs and speciality appearal
 • Hearing aids and medical devices such as insulin pumps, hearing implants and even artificial eyes
 • Musical instruments
 • Jewelry, silverware and gold items
 • Guns, hunting, sports and exercise equipment

Question 4

Do Insurance Companies encourage Home Inventory Reports?

Accepted Answer

Yes, most insurance company encourage homeowners to document all their personal property items located in a home. Florida Home Inventory will work with any Insurance Company Agent to help their insured document their personal property items located in their home. Florida Home Inventory will work with your insurance company to create a home inventory report based on your insurance company requirements.

Question 5

Can a Home Inventory Report can be used for other documents or agreements?

Accepted Answer

Yes, there are many more uses for a Home Inventory Report. You can use a report for:
 • Wills, Trust & Estate Legal Documents. Including, Prenuptial and Divorce Agreements
 • Tax Filings, Financial Planning or Bankruptcy Documents
 • Verifing the condition of personal property items for a Moving or Transportantion Insurance Contractual Agreement
 • A House or Apartment Rental Agreement (where the rental is unfournish or furnished).

Question 6

How can a person use a Home Inventory Report for a Will, Trust & Estate Legal Document or a Prenuptial or Divorce Agreements?"

Accepted Answer

A Home Inventory Report can be attached to the agreements or documents as a visual recording depicting the existence and condition of the personal property items listed in the agreements or documents.
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Question 7

How can a homeowner use a Home Inventory Report for Taxes, Financial Planning or Asset Valuations for Loans?"

Accepted Answer

A Home Inventory Report can provide a visual record of your personal property items for taxes as well as provide visual assistance in the valuation of those items.

Question 8

How can a homeowner use a Home Inventory Report in moving or transporting personal property items?

Accepted Answer

Often, when a homeowner or renter moves, they will obtain moving or transportation insurance to insure their personal property items against damage or loss. The Home Inventory Report can provide a visual record of the existence and proof of the condition of the personal property items prior to the move or transportation for this insurance policy.

Question 9

How can a Home Inventory Report be used in a furnished house or apartment rental agreement?

Accepted Answer

A landlord or a tenant can use the Home Inventory Report to provide a visual record documenting the condition of the personal property items (furnishings) in the home prior to the tenant taking possession of the home.

Question 10

How does Florida Home Inventory perform an inventory report?

Accepted Answer

Florida Home Inventory Company has developed a process that provides a secure digital record of personal property items. There is often no need to take items out of drawers, curios or closets. Our equipment is small and can record in detail all the items contained in drawers or high locations in the home. As our technician records each personal property item, our system tracks our technician’s movements and position in the home. This verifies for certification that the technician, an independent impartial third party, was in this home on a specific date recording the home owner’s personal property items.

Question 11

Are third-party certifications beneficial?

Accepted Answer

Yes, especially in situations where the homeowner in a dispute as to the existence, condition or ownership of the personal property items or unique personal property items. The Florida Home Inventory Company’s Report sets a time bench mark for the Home Owner’s record of ownership of the personal property items.

Question 12

How long does it take to perform an Inventory?

Accepted Answer

Florida Home Inventory has developed a process that takes approximately two hours to record a 2000 square foot well-furnished home.

Question 13

What kind of home inventory documentation does the home owner receive when the home inventory is completed?

Accepted Answer

We then provide the homeowner with a one-inch binder containing the Home Inventory Report on two Secure Digital Cards. We also provide a written certified and notarized statement of completion by the technician. We also include other valuable information useful for any natural and manmade disasters. Our binder includes 5 sections containing an emergency manual, a section to list important phone numbers, information on weather conditions from thunderstorms to hurricanes. We have also included a section containing local evacuation route maps as well as NOAA All Hazards Radio channels and coverage maps. All our information on storms and emergency procedures is provided by government agencies. We consolidate this information for the home owner.

Question 14

Once the homeowner receives the Home Inventory Report’s Secure Digital Cards (SD Cards), what should they do with them?"

Accepted Answer

Each SD Card contains a copy of the Home Inventory Report. The binder has attached and under seal one SD Card. We recommend the home owner keep this SD Card under seal and attached to the Binder. If you must evacuate your home you can take the entire binder with you. The second SD Card we recommend giving it to someone not located near you to store, preferably someone in another state. An out of state relative is a perfect person to keep your second SD Card.  If all else, store it in a safe deposit box at a Bank as far away from your home as possible. Distance is important if a natural emergency threatens your area and home. You can reproduce yourself or request Florida Home Inventory to provide additional copies of SD Cards.

Question 15

When should a person update their existing home inventory?

Accepted Answer

We recommend up dating your Home Inventory Report each time you move or make big adjustments to your personal property items. There really is no standard of expiration date for a report. We consider the report more of a bench mark in time. Local insurance professionals have recommended that it would be best to update at the most every 3 years and at the least every 5 years.

Question 16

Does Florida Home Inventory Company keep a record of the Home Inventory Report?

Accepted Answer

No, Florida Home Inventory Company does not keep a record of the Report. The only copies of the Report are given to the home owner. Florida Home Inventory Company cannot reproduce the Report if the home owner loses both copies.

Question 17

Is there any special training or certifications for your technicians?

Accepted Answer

Currently, the home inventory industry does not have a body of knowledge or a recognized industry wide national certification. There are groups that claim to have a certification process but they are fringe with no real competency testing.
However, Florida Home Inventory trains all our technicians in house on the use of our equipment and unique recording process.
Florida Home Inventory always works in a team of two. All our technicians have had a very complete criminal back ground checks and / or are active members of Citizens Emergency Reponses Team members (CERT). We like to use CERT members because of their relationship with the local sheriff’s departments, training and back ground certifications.
Florida Home Inventory will never conduct an Home Inventory recording without the presence of the home owner and two of our technicians’ present. We also request that the home owner verify the technician’s credentials prior to allowing the technician to enter their premises. If the home owner requests we also can provide the home owner with a unique code prior to our arrival that only Florida Home Inventory Company technicians and home owner will know.  An added layer of protection. We value the home owner’s privacy. No information about the home owner is ever given to any third party.

Question 18

Can the Home Owner request additional copies of the Home Inventory Report?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the home owner can request additional copies of the Report but must make the request prior to performing the recording of the Home Inventory. No home owner information is stored once the report has been delivered.

Question 19

How long does it take to get a Home Inventory Report from the recording to issuing the binder?

Accepted Answer

It takes approximately 7 to 10 days to issue the report. This time depends on scheduling the recording and the case load of each of our technicians.

Question 20

What is the busiest time of the year for Florida Home Inventory Company?

Accepted Answer

So far, Florida Home Inventory Company has been busy all year. In the late spring, we often have many clients who are going back up north and request a Home Inventory Report prior to leaving. Since many residents are now full time Floridians, Florida Home Inventory Company is busier when named storms begin to appear in the Atlantic and Gulf. Currently we are staffed to handle most requests for Home Inventory Reports as soon as we receive them.