With all of the natural disasters that have hit the US this year, now might be a great time to review your disaster plan. Don't have one? The following might be a place to start.
What happened, God Forbid, if your home is totally destroyed? Do you have the right insurance to have the dwelling rebuilt?, Will your insurance cover the Replacement Cost or the Replacement Building. If building codes have changed since your home was originally built, there many have been many "upgrades" to your local building codes. Will your home owners insurance pay for the necessary upgrades or just the replacement costs? Check your insurance policy and check with your insurance Agent. Many of us don't think of these things until it is too late to do anything about it.
What about your household possessions, If your home is totaled, as many were in Joplin MO, will you be able to prove what contents were in the home, the computers, the monitors, the printers, the big screen TV, the TIVO, the jewelery, the cloths, the furniture, the paintings, the tools in the workshop, the gardening tools, the children's toys, clothing, bed, dresser, and on and on and on. Household items are easy to document, take you digital camera and/or camcorder and take a picture of the items, the serial numbers and receipts with date of purchase and amount paid and keep these on a digital SD card. Include pictures of each room in your home to show furniture and condition of the articles you have in your home. Make a copy of the card and get it to your Insurance Agent. Every time you add to the file or subtract from it, buy a new TV and get rid of the old one, or buy a new computer and donate the old one, make a copy of the updated SD card and exchange it for the one your insurance Agent has in his/her files. That way you and they have proof of what your building contained.
Make copies of important documents, medical records, birth records, passport numbers, bank account numbers and bank names, credit card numbers and issuing bank, pet information including vaccine records, doctors and clinic names, marriage license, divorce papers, child custody documents, YOUR WILL, insurance policies, etc., digital scanners or all in one printers can be purchased for $100 or less, scan all important documents, store the images on SD cards and have a copy for your bank vault, personal safe, send it to someone like your mother, brother, sister, best friend, who does not live the same general vicinity. This information may be your only proof of your Driver's license, passport, insurance policies, medical records, savings account information, possessions etc., if disaster should strike you.
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