Know Your Stuff: Home inventory apps

The weird weather we’ve been having reminds all of us how important it is to know what’s in our home in case we need to make an insurance claim. I have three apps that can help you document your possessions and quickly process insurance claims. These apps should be on everyone’s tablets and smartphones.

Safe is a $2.99 app for the iPhone and iPad that allows you to store and organize your sensitive data. You protect it with a password. Keep insurance info, bank and credit card numbers… any important files or personal information you’d typically store in a real safe. There’s syncing across multiple devices to make sure you always have access to the personal data you need.

The Insurance Information Institute has a handy free app called Know your Stuff for Apple and Android devices. Items are organized by room, and information is stored on remote servers so you can access it from any computer. The software helps keep tabs on replacement values and even provides a maintenance calendar so you can get reminders for things like cleaning vents and having the furnace checked.

Home Inventory is another very helpful iPhone app. At $4.99, it’s on the expensive side but very full featured. You do a room-by-room inventory and can document all your possessions with photos, serial numbers and value estimates. It, too, backs it all up on secure servers protected by strong encryption and you and print or email reports to your insurance agent.

When disaster hits, it’s too late to do an inventory of your home. Consider these apps a necessity.