To document damage at home, you build four records at once: dated photographs and video taken before anything is moved, an itemized written list, every receipt for anything you spend, and a log of every phone call with the date, the name of the person and what was said. The order matters, because images taken before anything is disturbed cannot be recreated afterward.
This article is general information about documents and recordkeeping. It is not insurance or legal advice. Questions about coverage, limits, exclusions, deductibles, whether to file a claim at all, or whether anything applies to your own situation belong with a licensed insurance agent or broker, with your own policy documents, and with your carrier. This covers the record only.
One thing sits above all of it. Anything involving water, electricity, gas, heat, smoke residue, mold or the structure of the building is work for qualified professionals, and the only instructions to follow about handling it are theirs and your carrier's. Nothing here tells you how to deal with any of that, or asks you to delay a call to anyone in order to take a photograph.
How to document damage at home: the sequence
Once the situation is in professional hands and you have been told what you may and may not touch, the record is yours to build. Work in this order.
- Note the date and time you first became aware of it, and write it down before you do anything else. This single detail anchors the whole file and is the one most often reconstructed later.
- Photograph and film everything in its current state, before anything is moved, cleaned or discarded, and only where it is safe and permitted to be present.
- Write the itemized list of what is affected, room by room, while the images are fresh.
- Start the call log at the first call you make or receive, and keep it going.
- Keep every receipt for anything you spend from that point forward, with a note of what it was for.
- Keep originals of everything, and work from copies.
- Store the whole file in two places, one of them off site.
Set up the file before you start filling it. One folder, named for the date, with a subfolder for photos, one for video, one for receipts, and a single document for the list and the log.
Document damage at home with photographs and video first
Images are the part of the record that has a deadline. Everything else can be written up later.
Shoot wide first, then close. For each affected area, take a wide shot from each corner so the whole space and its relationship to the rest of the home is visible, then medium shots of each wall or zone, then close shots of each individual item. Include something in the frame for scale on close shots, such as a ruler or a common object.
Specific shots worth taking deliberately:
- Every affected room, from the doorway, before stepping in.
- The transition points between affected and unaffected areas.
- Each individual item on your list, from two angles.
- Serial plates, model numbers and maker's marks on anything that has them.
- The contents of cabinets, closets and drawers, opened on camera.
- Any area a professional points out, after asking whether photographing it is permitted.
- The exterior from each side of the home, and the property around it.
Then film the same ground. Walk slowly, keep the camera level, and narrate what you are passing and the date as you go. One clip per room, named for the room.
Check that your device is recording the date in the file information, and do not edit, crop or filter anything. Keep the original files exactly as they came off the device, and make your copies from those. If someone else took photographs, note who took them and when.
The itemized list
Photographs show; a list counts. Write it room by room, in the same order as the rooms in your home inventory if you have one, with one line per item.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Room | The room, then the container or location within it |
| Item | Plain description, one line |
| Make and model | As printed on the item |
| Serial or ID number | Exactly as printed, taken off the plate |
| Quantity | A count, or "set of 6" |
| Date acquired | Month and year is enough; write "unknown" if it is |
| What you paid | As shown on the receipt, if you have one |
| Receipt on file | Yes or no, and the file name if yes |
| Photo reference | The file names of the images of that item |
| Condition before | A plain factual description |
| Notes | Repairs, custom work, inscriptions, anything specific to your unit |
Write what you observe and nothing more. Describe condition in plain words rather than reaching for a conclusion about cause, extent or value — those are assessments, and assessments belong to the professionals and the carrier.
If your home inventory already covers an item, note the inventory row and you are most of the way through the line. This is the point at which an inventory built on a quiet weekend pays for itself.
Receipts and out-of-pocket records
From the moment you become aware of a loss, anything you spend becomes part of the record. Keep every receipt, including the small ones.
Keep a single running sheet with the date, what was bought or paid for, who it was paid to, the method of payment, and a one-line note of what it was for. Photograph each paper receipt the day you get it, because thermal receipt paper fades, and keep the paper anyway in one envelope.
Receipts come in several forms, and all of them count: tills and card slips, emailed order confirmations, invoices from tradespeople and contractors, delivery notes, and statements showing a payment went out. Save emailed receipts as files in the receipts folder rather than leaving them in a mailbox.
Do not throw away damaged items or packaging without asking your carrier first. Whether something can be discarded, and when, is their instruction to give.
The call log
The call log is the cheapest record to keep and the one most people wish they had started earlier. Open a document, or use the back pages of a notebook kept with the file, and write one entry per contact.
Each entry gets five things:
- The date and the time.
- Who you spoke to — full name, spelled out, plus any reference, extension or claim number they gave.
- Which organization they were calling from or that you called.
- What was said, in plain summary, including anything you were asked to do or send.
- What you agreed to next, and by when.
Log emails, texts, letters and voicemails in the same place, with a note of where the message itself is saved. Ask for names at the start of a call rather than the end, and write the name down while you are still listening.
When you send anything, add a line recording what you sent, to whom, how and on what date. A record of what left your hands is as useful as a record of what came in.
Originals, copies and where it all lives
Keep every original — paper documents, photographs as they came off the device, receipts, letters. Send copies, not originals, unless you are specifically instructed otherwise, and log it when you do.
Store the whole file in two places that cannot be affected by the same event: the working copy wherever you are using it, and a complete copy somewhere physically separate, such as a cloud account or a drive kept at another address. Photos and video are the largest and most easily lost part of it, so copy those first rather than last.
Keep one index page at the front of the file naming what exists, where each piece is kept, and the date you last added to it. Tell one other person in the household where the file is and how to open it.
A dated set of images, an itemized list, a receipt sheet, a call log and two copies of the lot are the whole record. For the itemized list template, the receipt sheet and a printable call log, see the Free Resources page.
