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May 6, 1996
Inventory your valuables, Sheriff Hathaway urges
If your home were to be destroyed by fire, could you list all your valuables? If your home were to be burglarized, could you determine everything that is missing? Could you even identify items that are recovered?
"Simple precautions, such as making a written inventory of your valuables, can help protect you against losses from personal disasters and tragedies such as these," Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway said. "It pays to record the contents of your home and the serial numbers of your valuable belongings. When they are recovered, this will serve as positive identification."
You should complete a household inventory form for all items in every room of your home. With an inventory form, you will have a permanent record of the contents of your home and their value readily available. The serial numbers should be listed so stolen or lost articles can be easily identified. If your valuables are stolen or lost, the inventory will be a valuable record for both law enforcement agencies and your insurance company.
Sheriff Hathaway suggested making a photograph of every room in the home, as well as of special or valuable belongings. A copy of the inventory list and one set of photographs should be kept in a safety deposit box.
The Sheriff also suggested engraving the owner's social security number on items that do not have a serial number to provide further positive identification in the unfortunate event that property is stolen.
"Many times we recover lost or stolen property that is never returned to the rightful owner because positive identification cannot be made of the valuables," Sheriff Hathaway said. "Taking a little time and effort to complete a home inventory is really one of the best 'insurance policies' you can have."