What to do after a fire, theft, or flood

The period right after a loss is stressful, and it's also when the evidence for your claim is most at risk of disappearing — damaged items get thrown out, memory of exactly what was in a room starts to fade, and the pressure to just clean up and move on is real. A few concrete steps early on make a meaningfully stronger claim later.

Document before you clean up

Photograph or film the damage and the affected areas before anything gets moved, discarded, or repaired — including things you're certain are a total loss. Insurers generally want to see the actual condition, not just a description of it after the fact. If a safety hazard means something has to be removed immediately, photograph it first if you possibly can.

Report the loss promptly

Most policies have a notice requirement — contact your insurer as soon as reasonably possible after discovering the loss, rather than waiting until you've fully assessed everything. You can always add details to a claim already in progress.

Compare against your existing inventory, if you have one

If you documented your belongings before the loss, this is where that work pays off directly — a real, dated record of what you owned is far stronger evidence than reconstructing a list from memory weeks after the fact, especially for a large loss covering many items across several rooms.

If you don't have one yet, reconstruct what you can

Old photos (including ones just taken for other reasons — a birthday party, a home listing, a video call background), receipts, credit card statements, and warranty registrations can all help re-establish what you owned and roughly what it cost.

Keep records of costs during recovery too

Temporary housing, emergency repairs, and replacement essentials are often covered under additional living expense provisions in many policies — keep receipts for these as you go, since they're easy to lose track of once things settle down.

Having a real, dated inventory from before a loss ever happens is what makes all of this dramatically less stressful. Home Inventory Scanner exists specifically so that record exists before you ever need it, not after.