Info everyone should probably have
 

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...e-t175123.html

That ^^^ thread is about LITACATS' aftermath of her fire last year and her new sewing room. That reminds me that I was meaning to post about that kind of situation.

With all of the money that all of us invest in our love/hobby, we need to be smart about keeping records. Anymore, even a basic sewing machine can be an investment, let alone our longarms, computerized machines, etc. It is definitely worth the invest of a few more dollars a month to have replacement value added to your insurance. When you have to replace huge parts of your life, you want to be able to have a working TV rather than the depreciated value of the old TV.

Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that you can never have too much paperwork on the things that you own. In 2001, I was thrown into that 'kettle of fish' because a young man decided that he wanted to drink, smoke marijuana and use some other drugs to celebrate his birthday. And then he made the awful decision to drive. Well, his trip back to his house ended up with his pickup truck parked on top of ME inside my living/dining room. Not an experience I would wish on anyone - except maybe him.

Police photos of the house - http://good-times.webshots.com/album/37183297IxCkJr

I spent literally weeks going through all of my items, piece by piece, reconstructing what we lost. And the hardest was my stitching and sewing things. Looking back, I know that I wasn't compensated for 25% of what I had. So now I keep inventories of everything - televisions, furniture, electronics. Including my sewing equipment and rough estimates of yardages and prices of my fabrics along with 'everything else.' We all have some idea of what we have, but EVERYONE will be surprised.

I have inventories that I keep on my computer. A couple of spreadsheets and just plain lists. On New Years Day every year, DH and I take pictures of every room from every angle. These are a great backup to my inventories. They show what we have, where it was located and the photos are all dated. After the truck crash, I used a lot of pictures that we had taken just in every day life to prove what we had. The photo files are now kept on the computer too.

Every 3 or 4 months - or when we make a big purchase - I update my photos and inventories. If I change anything, I burn two copies of everything onto CDs. One copy is sent to my MIL and the other to my mom. I figure nothing is going to happen to all three houses at the same time. I just start with Carbonite the first of the month, so the burning of the CDs might end, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I pray that no one ever needs their inventories, but you will give thanks if you ever need them. Hopefully, someone can benefit from what my family and I went through and make your recovery less painful.

I agree totally. Though not as extensive as a fire, a few months ago I had water damage to my basement sewing room. Thank goodness we had replacement insurance. They paid for replacing the basement ceiling, new paint and carpet cleaning. They also paid to have not only my sewing machine checked out, but also my quilting machine. I'm a firm believer in it. I was extremely lucky because the only sewing related items I lost were a bulletin board and 2 home made pincushions. I think your idea of making a list of the things you have is a great one. I had no idea how much 'stuff' I had until I had to pack it all up and move it out while the work was being done. I now have a much better idea of how much stuff I have. You have my sympathy for everything you had to go through. I know - it's not easy.

Having worked in the insurance industry for almost 30 years I have to tell you this is great advice. Many insurance companies will work with you, but YOU may not remember all the little details of what is in your home due to the panic of the situation. We tend to remember the biggest, costliest items like a TV. Would I remember that I have 5 lamps just in my living room...probably not. Photos are great and will help jog your memory on all the smaller items.

This is very helpful to those of us who have not been so unfortunate. Thank you very much for helping and encouraging us to do this.

I actually have extra insurance for my mid arm/qbot combo-expensive-but worth it! There is usually an upper limit to the amount of computer/techie $$ in your insurance and I wanted to be sure that this was included.

I looked at the pictures..un real. But I think one was missing..the picture of you with yor hands around his neck would have been appropriate!

That is great advise. I had a house fire about 8 years ago and the whole 2nd story was lost and I had to try to remember what I had up there. That is very hard to do when you lose everything.

Love the info re: backups...no backup is wrong...but i do want you to know that the online wordprocessors available now can keep your info safely. It is not stored on your hard disk, but rather on the internet. Gmail has a 'Documents' section and when you save things on this section, the documents go off into the ethernet ... this provides 2 huge benefits... one is that your computer could crash today and you would lose nothing except the hardware. The other is that i can be at a friend's house, the library or an internet cafe and pull up Gmail, go to Documents and get into anything I need, print it, edit it, or share it (automatically with any other Gmail user). Other browsers have this facility, Firefox for sure, and probably others... look into them, they can be a great resource for your recordkeeping...

Very good advise, we had a house fire in 1990. Lost everything except family and one dog. Lost all pictures, furniture, applicances, clothes, house and a 6 ft. red tail boa (snake). I learned my lesson and keep very good records now.

First thing I noticed in the living room picture was the quilt. Hope you didn't have to repair it too! Thanks for the good advice.

I am so sorry you went through such an awful experience. My mom had a flash fire from lightening several years ago and dealing with insurance approved repair company was a bigger nightmare than the fire! Hope things went smoothly for you.
I have a question. I was told recently that unless your quilt has been appraised, it is treated like a "blanket" by insurance claim adjusters. Did you find that to be your experience?

Thank you for this info - for those of us who are on the computer all the time, it would be pretty easy to get started with a list made up in Excel, or Word, and as we go, add to it. Thank you again, you never know ...

What an awful thing to have happen . I would have been terrified then yes had my hands around his throat .
I don't have a spread sheet but I did take bunches of pictures at my DD's house I now have to take them here and check to see if my brothers house insurance covers my stuff.
I looked at the pictures and did thing it was sort of ironic the business truck he was driving.

Excellent advice, and one more piece that should be added is, write down all serial numbers for any items that have them. It helps in all areas of a loss, be it fire, electrical, flood, or theft. We have our vids, pictures and all written info safe and secured in a safe deposit box at the bank. When our cabin was broke into... we needed this information for the police department.

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Good reminder to all of us for sure....who'd have thunk something like that would ever happen!
Pictures are great, Take lots!

Thank you for the great advice. With our downstairs flooded a couple of years ago I understand whst it is like to lose things.

Wow this brings back memories. Couple of years ago i was sitting at my sewing machine my back to the bay window (great light) and i heard breaks screeching, turned around and a car had lost control and was comming across all four lanes headed straight for my window, fortunately there were two very mature italian cypress and his car did not fit between them, the trees caught the car and maybe saved a couple of lives but they are gone now :( and i sew beside the window now....where i could bail out if i had to and i have photos of sewing machines. Thanks for the reminder because it is time to update photos !

I work for insurance and we have a brochure for personal inventory. At first glance it looks like a lot but it breaks down your house room by room. Check with your insurance company and they should have these brochures! One example we give of personal property: if you took the roof off your house and dumped it upside down, everything that came out is your personal property.

When our event happened - I don't like to call it an accident because he chose to drive - I was closing down the house for the evening. DH and DS were in bed with our younger Boxer and a foster. Our old girl and I were in the living room listening to the news to find out the weather for the next day. Suddenly I heard the truck coming, look up and saw headlights heading right for me. He took out 2 of the crabapple trees in our front yard and brought them with him. (You can see them in the pictures after the truck was pulled.)

The only reason that I survived is that the slab of the front porch straightened his front wheels and made him come in straight instead of at the original angle. So I ended up under the engine of the truck rather than under the tire. The sheriff figured out that he was traveling about 52mph when he hit the porch. The EMTs could not get me out from under the truck until a tow truck came and moved it. I had a partial fracture of my right hip socket, obviously a dislocated hip and 2nd/3rd degree burns on my right hip and thigh. Compared to what it could have been, I was blessed.

When the driver was arrested, it was discovered that he had been convicted of 8 previous DWIs. AND he was out of jail with 10 hours while I was hospitalized for 20 days.

My husband being somewhat of an SOB sometimes, sends the driver a birthday card every year and includes a copy of the picture showing the tailgate in my front window. But it probably hasn't help. He will only quit when he dies. Hopefully, he doesn't take someone with him.

The quilt was not salvageable. It was shredded, saturated with oil and gas, and partially burnt. I had 11 framed cross stitch items - only two were salvageable. And I lost the custom draperies on my front window and the two quilts on the couches. I still had the two quilts that were on the couches - I just haven't been in a position emotionally to tackle their repairs. I don't know if I ever will.

State Farm was fabulous with the recovery. The three quilts were only covered as manufactured quilts. The prices were determined on the fair market value for quilts from places like JCPenney, etc.

I have found out that since I also take pictures of them when we do the inventories, and list them on the inventory, and because I have quilting machines, supplies, etc., the agent said that the valuation would be handled differently. She did say that if I have a quilt appraised it would be covered at that cost. I have had three quilts appraised because they won ribbons in various competitions.

Luckily I haven't had to find out about then new price information. :)

I am so glad no one was hurt or killed. What a fright! Thank you for your tip.

I love what your husband does. Sorry I would have to include a list of hospital bills etc and tell him to think about them every time he lifted a drink to his mouth. If I had time I am sure I could come up with other "sob" stuff to do.

I agree. You didn't mention, but did you also have extensive injuries? I just can't imagine what kind of H#$% that was for you. Glad to know you have survived and are able to help others not have to go through what you did. Thank you for sharing.

Oh, I just read the other post. Wow, under the motor? yes that is better than a tire. I understand why it may never be something you can face to repair those quilts. Too many memories in them.

Thank you for your advice. I need to look into our notes.

Another idea is to have all important documents, negatives/ cd's, lists of personal property , etc etc. In a safe deposit box. The small annual fee is more than worth it to know that everything is 'backed up' and in a secure location.

Thanks for the advise. Although I know I should do it, I haven't. But it is now on my to do list.

Thanks so much for the information. I am so sorry you had to go through such an experience but I will definitely learn from it and start documenting things in my house.

Great advice!

Good advice!

How terrible, I have also learned you life can change in a minute. We had a house fire Nov 2nd that was started by a paper shredder. We lost our 4 very loved pups, which was the worst of it. I am currently working on an inventory of our house.... it is so amazing what stuff you have. My sewing machines melted and fabric was charred and smoked.
I wish I would have had pictures to go from. You do remember the big stuff but after living in a rental its all the little stuff that adds up! Our insurance lady that is working with me on my inventory is a sewer (clothes) and a crafter so at least she understands how much my stash and stuff could amount too. So thats a plus! At least take pictures of all your rooms if you don't want to invest the time into list! Stuff like this happens to other people we tend to think, but
it could happen to anyone!

Pictures also help if you're robbed. I know because my Aunts house was robbed while she was in the nursing home. There were a couple of things that if we hadn't had pictures of I'd have totally forgotten them.

After we moved into our new rental and settled in, my husband and I went from room to room with a video camera. We went over each piece of furniture, every photo and picture, the drapes, the quilts, you name it. If it belonged to us, we documented it in word and with video. We talked about when and where we bought the pieces, how much they cost, and what they meant to us. I'd hold up a quilt and talk about how much time, effort and money went into making the quilt. We had some beautiful art, mixed in with the usual stuff, and I pointed out all of the really good stuff. I also pointed out the original art, made by artist friends of mine, that could never be replaced. We did this in every room. If something had a serial number, I read it off. We had a collection of DVD's, and we videoed them and talked about how much (approximately) they originally cost. My sewing room showed my machine, it's serial number, its age, price, and so on. I knew how much fabric I had in my stash (it goes on a card pinned to each piece) and I gave the total number of yards present, and the total value based on the average price I'd paid for it. We did that for EVERY room in the house. Then we made CD copies. They're all over: our safety deposit box, the executor of our estate, good friends who live nearby. And every 6 months, we update the video, and start with: "Here are the new additions for: then give the dates. Thank goodness for video! We started doing this after suffering a huge loss when lightening struck our house and blew out every electronic we had. We had replacement insurance, sure, but it only replaced what we had; it didn't give us the newest model. Still better than nothing!

Thanks to all sharing this good advice.