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Article published Feb 29, 2008 Taking Stock: New business will catalog your valuables in case of loss
By Melanie Tucker of The Daily Times Staff
If you had to, could you come up with a detailed list of everything in your home?
Do you have receipts for the big ticket items like flat screen TVs?
Probably 85 percent of us would have to answer no to both of these questions. Robin Raines, who spent years in the insurance business, said in the event of a fire or other disaster, having that inventory list can be the difference between getting reimbursed adequately for losses and sleepless nights spent worrying about the future.
Raines had that very experience. Her home burned to the ground 13 years ago and her family wasn't able to salvage anything. While in the insurance business, she met with client after client with similar circumstances. That's when Raines came up with the idea for her home-based business, Home Inventory Solutions.
It works this way: Raines meets with the homeowner to inventory everything in the home, using a camcorder and digital cameras. With the homeowner present, valuables, appliances, furniture, collectibles and even clothes and shoes are inventoried, photographed and added to a list that will be provided in about seven days, along with DVD and photo CD. She can scan in receipts for expensive purchases and provide a history of valuable artwork the homeowner may want to share. Raines said she doesn't give out the information to anyone but the homeowner, and even removes it from her computer once the homeowner has his or her information.
"I feel really strong about this," Raines said. "In the insurance business, you hear everybody's sob stories. On average, a client will lose between $10,000 and $30,000 per claim because they don't realize what they had."
Eric Kurtz, insurance agent for American National Insurance in Maryville, said he has been instructing his clients for years to keep inventory lists and videos of their homes' contents.
"It helps in two areas," he explained. "No. 1 it helps you prove something. ... And when it comes to fires, people will remember things two or three years after, things they should have put on their claim."
Raines bases her fee on a home's square footage. She said it takes her between four and eight hours to go into a home and document its contents. She will then use software to print out a detailed list and place it in a binder. She suggests that homeowners either give the items to a relative for safekeeping or place it inside a safety deposit box.
Most people, Raines said, underestimate the value of their personal items. She said the inventory will be a way to accurately determine that.
Kurtz is letting his clients know about Home Inventory Solutions. He said having to sit down and make up such a list in the days after a home fire is much too stressful.
"It's difficult enough when you are calm," he said. "Think about if you just had a fire. You lost things. Your whole life is interrupted. Then you have to sit down and fill out paperwork."
Raines just started her business in January and has worked with clients in Knoxville and surrounding areas. A resident of Maryville, she wants to get the word out here. In addition to inventorying homes, she will also do the same for churches.
It doesn't matter if you live in a house worth $30,000 or $300,000, Raines said. Everyone wants to be able to replace their things in the event of a disaster.
It is no secret you could do the inventorying yourself, but Raines is making her expertise available. She is licensed and insured. She is also still licensed as an insurance agent but no longer works in that arena