If you have to make an insurance claim, this might include claiming for valuable possessions. Whether they’ve gone in a burglary or been damaged by fire or flooding, the insurer’s Loss Adjuster will need to know what they’re worth in order to settle your claim.

And, if you can’t provide evidence for that, you might not get the full value.

When put like that, it seems ridiculous not not have a valuation, but the reality is that most of us just don’t get around to it. After all, you’ve probably acquired your possessions here and there over many years, and getting a valuation isn’t likely to be the first thing on your mind.

Even if you’ve kept the receipt, that won’t necessarily help. If you’ve had the item for a while, the price of replacing it could have increased substantially. And, if it was originally a gift or an inheritance, you won’t even have that.

What Can Be Done?

The absolute minimum you need is a photograph of any possession which should be treated individually in an insurance claim. This will help both establish that you had the item and give an idea of what it is and what it might be worth.

That’s not really enough, though. The Loss Adjuster isn’t likely to take anything on trust, so what you really need is a proper valuation of the item in writing that you can present as proof.

You also need to make sure any valuable item is specifically included in your insurance policy. You can discuss this with your insurance broker when taking out the policy, and also remember to notify the insurer if you acquire anything that needs to be added — and then Allied Claims will be able to make sure you get the true value of your possessions.