How to make a home inventory for renters insurance

What does renters insurance cover, and what does your landlord's policy cover?

Renters insurance has three parts: coverage for your belongings, liability coverage, and additional living expenses if a covered loss makes your home unlivable. It does not cover the building. Your landlord's insurance pays only to repair the building, so if a fire destroys your furniture, clothes and electronics, you should not count on the landlord's policy for any of it.

Triple-I lists the causes a renters policy typically covers as fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm and certain kinds of water damage. Most renters policies do not cover floods or earthquakes. Flood coverage is available through the National Flood Insurance Program and a few private insurers, and earthquake coverage may come as a separate policy or an endorsement, depending on where you live.

Why make a home inventory before you ever file a claim?

The NAIC names two jobs for it: it helps you judge how much personal property coverage you need, and it helps with filing a claim.

Without one, you are rebuilding the list from memory, usually in the days after a fire or a burglary. Whatever you forget is easy to leave out of the claim.

What do you record for each item?

The NAIC lists the essentials: brand name, make and model, serial number, purchase date and price, a receipt if you have one, and a photo of the item. Two additions make the list more useful at claim time:

• Where it is. The room, and the shelf or closet if it matters. It makes the list easy to check against the home.
• What it would cost to replace today. Triple-I advises valuing your possessions at current prices, because replacing something means paying today's price, not the price you paid.

The NAIC also says to check drawers, closets and the garage, which are the places a list tends to miss.

How do you build the list without losing a weekend?

1. Start with what costs the most. Electronics, jewelry, tools and larger appliances first, so that even a half-finished list covers most of the value.
2. Work one room at a time. Finish a room before you leave it, and photograph each item and its label as you go.
3. If you are short on time, film it. The NAIC's advice for a rushed inventory is to quickly videotape or photograph every room. Open the drawers and closets as you go. A video helps, but it is not a list: it does not record serial numbers or prices, and nobody can add it up. Fill in the details afterwards.
4. Add it up. Total the replacement cost of everything, room by room.
5. Put a copy somewhere else. Details are in the last section below.

The NAIC publishes a free app for this, called NAIC Home Inventory, for iPhone and Android. It groups belongings by room or category, scans barcodes, and lets you export the inventory at any time. A spreadsheet works too, and so does paper. What matters is that the list exists and that a copy survives the loss.

What does a finished list look like? A worked example

These figures are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not prices to rely on. Suppose a one-bedroom apartment:

Say the policy's personal property limit is $10,000. The list is already at $8,550 and has not reached the bathroom, the books, the linens, the coats or the closet shelves. Whether the limit is enough is something you can only answer once the list is finished, which is the point of making it. If the finished total is above the limit, you are underinsured. If it is far below, you may be paying for more coverage than you need.

Which belongings need extra attention?

The NAIC notes that typical policies limit what they pay for valuables such as jewelry, heirlooms, antiques and art, and that you can buy extra coverage. On many policies the dollar caps on jewelry, watches and furs apply to theft in particular, so read how yours is worded. The NAIC suggests renters check whether their limits cover antiques, art, jewelry and electronics, and Triple-I notes that a separate floater can add coverage for costlier items such as jewelry, furs, collectibles, sports equipment and musical instruments.

The limits are in your policy and vary by insurer, so read yours or ask your agent. Photograph these items closely, and keep any receipt or appraisal with the list.

Where should you keep the inventory?

Somewhere other than your home. The NAIC suggests keeping a copy with a family member or your insurance agent, and emailing it to them works. Triple-I suggests keeping it away from the house, in a bank deposit box or with a neighbor or relative. A cloud folder you control also works, as long as you could open it from a borrowed phone. A list that only exists on a laptop in the apartment is lost with the apartment.

Add large purchases when you make them, and go through the list once a year. Your renewal date is a natural reminder. For what a claim needs beyond the list, see proof of ownership: what an adjuster asks for.

Questions

Sources

• Triple-I: Your renters insurance guide
• Triple-I: Insurance for your house and personal possessions
• NAIC: Understanding your homeowners or renter's policy (July 2012)
• NAIC: Disaster preparedness (May 2014)
• NAIC: Home inventory app page

Last reviewed October 27, 2026. General information, not insurance or legal advice — your policy's wording decides what is covered and how it is valued.