DAYTON — The peak of severe weather season in Ohio runs through April, May, and June. AAA has tips to help prepare for if the worst should happen and you need to make a claim after a significant or total loss.
Dan Scroggins, AAA Managing Director, suggests taking a video of everything in your home and then uploading it to the cloud when you’re done.
“Really helps jog your memory in the event of a loss and no item is too small,” Scroggins said. “From big screen televisions and treadmills to kitchen tables to clothes in your closet, the bed that you sleep in. It’s all important to get video documentation. If it’s a total loss you’re not going to remember everything that you had, so that video record is going to be essential to make sure you get yourself back to where you belong.”
Specifically he says collectibles, firearms, art, and jewelry should not only be documented on video but get a list and actual appraised values and serial numbers if you have them.
Scroggins said this is one of the most common problems he sees when people are dealing with a loss and this kind of documentation helps ensure you can get fully restored to your previous level.
“The biggest two things are firearms and jewelry,” Scroggins said. “Somebody gets a piece of jewelry as a gift and they forget to add it to the policy. There’s general $1,000 to $1,500 limit for unscheduled jewelry for an individual piece under a policy. Same thing for a firearm. Anything like that you want to get it appraised or get it endorsed with a serial number or GIA certification, whatever you have to demonstrate what that value is make sure that you provide that.”
Scroggins said a fireproof box can be invaluable to store important documents.
“It allows you to not only keep everything in one spot but it also allows you to lock it up tight and keep it safe against a fire in the event that one happens. Birth certificate, social security card, insurance paperwork, anything important you should throw in this box.”
In preparing for significant winds or possible tornadoes you should also take note of and get any dead or rotting trees taken down.
“One of the worst things that can happen during a windstorm is a tree falling on your property,” Scroggins said. “Trees are heavy, they can cause extensive damage. So anything you can do in advance of a storm to mitigate the chance of a loss will put you in better position to not have that loss in an event of a wind storm.”
Scroggins said specificity is also important. If you document you have 15 dress shirts you may need to document where they came from because otherwise the cost to replace them would be at the lowest value dress shirts available.
He said the more you can document the better it will be should you need to make a claim to try and be made as whole as possible again.