TL;DR: Before June 1, walk every room with your phone, film everything, and back it up somewhere that isn't your house. This one habit, repeated every hurricane season, is the single biggest thing that speeds up a contents claim after wind or flood damage.
What you need
You don't need fancy software. You need:
- A smartphone with a full charge and cleared storage
- A cloud storage account (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, whatever you already use)
- Your closets, drawers, garage, and attic actually opened up
- Original receipts or bank/credit card statements for big-ticket items, if you can find them
- Serial numbers for electronics, tools, and appliances
- 45 to 90 minutes, uninterrupted
That's it. The goal isn't a museum catalog. It's proof of what you owned and roughly what condition it was in, so an adjuster isn't relying on your memory three weeks after a storm.
A few practical notes before you start: clear at least 10 to 15 gigabytes of storage before you begin, because a thorough walkthrough of a three-bedroom home will generate 20 to 40 minutes of video footage and dozens of still photos. If you run out of space mid-walk and have to stop and delete files, you'll lose momentum and almost certainly skip rooms. Plug in a portable charger if your battery drops below 50 percent. The last thing you want is your phone dying while you're narrating the contents of your garage shelving.
On receipts: don't let the absence of paper receipts stop you from doing this at all. Most major purchases from the last five to seven years show up in your email inbox as order confirmations from Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, or your appliance dealer. Search your email for terms like "order confirmation," "receipt," or "invoice" and forward those emails to a dedicated folder before you start filming. For older items, a credit card statement showing a charge to a specific retailer around the time you bought something is often enough to support a claim, even if it doesn't show the exact item.
Step 1: Pick a hard deadline on the hurricane calendar
Florida's hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, with activity historically peaking in late August through October, according to the National Hurricane Center. Don't wait for a named storm to start documenting. By the time a system is in the Gulf, you'll be busy with shutters and gas lines, not filming your linen closet.
Set the deadline for May 15. That gives you two weeks of buffer before June 1, plus enough time to redo anything you rushed. Put it on the same calendar reminder as your AC filter or your golf cart battery check. Redo the whole walkthrough every year, since your contents change more than you think.
Here's why the annual redo matters more than most people expect: over the course of a single year, the average household adds and replaces thousands of dollars in contents without thinking about it. A new television, a replacement refrigerator, a son or daughter who moved back home with a bedroom full of electronics and clothes, a workshop that quietly accumulated $4,000 in tools, none of that appears in footage you shot two years ago. Adjusters are trained to question claims for items that don't appear in documentation, especially high-value items like jewelry, firearms, power tools, and electronics. An annual walkthrough closes that gap.
If you own a seasonal rental or an Airbnb property, set a second reminder for October 1 to document that property's contents separately before the end of the season. Furnished rentals carry significant contents exposure, and the documentation standard for a claim involving rental property is often higher than for a primary residence.
Step 2: Do a slow video walkthrough of every room
Start at the front door and move room by room, closet by closet. Narrate out loud as you go. Your voice recording becomes part of the documentation, and it forces you to slow down enough to actually capture what you're looking at instead of panning the camera so fast that nothing is legible.
A workable narration sounds like this: "This is the master bedroom, filming on May 12. This is the dresser, top drawer has jewelry, we'll do a close-up of that separately. The television on the wall is a 65-inch Samsung, model number is on the back, we'll get that in a second. The ceiling fan was installed about two years ago, it was around $300 from Home Depot."
That kind of narration does several things at once. It timestamps the footage contextually even if the file metadata gets corrupted. It calls out items that need follow-up close-ups, so you don't forget them. And it gives the adjuster a verbal description that matches the visual, which makes the footage easier to use as evidence.
Move methodically. Open every closet door and film the contents, including shelves and the floor. Open dresser drawers for jewelry and expensive clothing. Pull open kitchen cabinets and film appliances, small electronics, and cookware. A stand mixer, a high-end espresso machine, and a set of good knives can easily add up to $2,000 to $3,000 in a single kitchen, and most people forget to document them entirely because they're just part of the daily landscape.
For each major item, televisions, appliances, computers, power tools, musical instruments, firearms, artwork, bicycles, outdoor grills, pause and do a close-up of the brand name, model number, and any visible serial number tags. If you can't find the serial number tag during the walkthrough, make a note in your narration and look it up later from the manufacturer's website using the model number. Serial numbers matter most for electronics and firearms because they can be cross-referenced against manufacturer records if the item itself is destroyed.
Don't skip the garage, attic, or storage shed. These spaces consistently hold more value than homeowners realize: lawn equipment, pressure washers, generators, kayaks, fishing gear, bicycles, holiday decorations, archived documents, seasonal clothing, and hand tools. A single shelf of power tools in a garage, a table saw, a miter saw, a router, a drill press, can represent $5,000 to $10,000 in contents that an adjuster will want documented. Film those serial number plates directly. If the tool is dusty, wipe the plate before filming so the numbers are legible.
For the attic, use a flashlight or your phone's torch and film slowly. You don't need to narrate every box, but get a general overview and call out anything you know is stored there by category and approximate quantity.
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Step 3: Photograph high-value items separately
Video is your foundation, but still photos are easier for adjusters and for you to reference quickly. After the walkthrough, go back through the house and take individual photos of:
- Televisions and monitors (screen off so the model sticker is visible; screen on to show it works)
- Major appliances (refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, get the model and serial number sticker on each one)
- Jewelry and watches (lay them flat on a white surface and photograph them together and individually)
- Firearms (unloaded; photograph with the serial number visible)
- Artwork and collectibles (photograph the front, the back with any identifying marks, and any certificates of authenticity)
- Bicycles (get the serial number stamped on the bottom bracket shell under the pedal area)
- Musical instruments (serial numbers are typically inside the body for guitars, on the bell for brass instruments)
- Computers and tablets (flip them over to get the model and serial number on the underside)
- Outdoor furniture, grills, and recreational equipment
For jewelry and watches, consider adding a written inventory alongside the photos. A simple note in your phone that says "Rolex Datejust, purchased 2018, approximate value $8,500" paired with a photo is far more useful than a photo alone, especially if the claim involves a scheduled personal property rider on your homeowners policy.
Step 4: Back up everything off-site immediately
Documentation that lives only on your phone or your home computer is documentation that can be destroyed in the same storm it's supposed to help you recover from. The backup has to happen the same day you shoot the footage, and it has to live somewhere physically separate from your home.
The simplest approach: upload everything to Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox as soon as you finish the walkthrough, while you're still sitting at your kitchen table. Most cloud services will upload automatically if you have photo backup enabled, but verify that the upload completed before you assume it did. Open the cloud app, navigate to the folder, and confirm the files are there.
For a secondary backup, email a compressed folder of the most important still photos to yourself and to a family member who lives in a different region. If you lose power and internet access for two weeks after a storm, which is a realistic scenario in Southwest Florida, having a copy with a sibling in Georgia or a parent in Tennessee means someone can send your documentation to your insurance company on your behalf.
If you use a home inventory app like Encircle or iInventory, these platforms are designed specifically for insurance documentation and give you a structured way to attach serial numbers, purchase prices, and photos to individual items. They're not necessary, but if you're the type of person who finds structure helpful, they're worth exploring. Many public adjusters and insurance professionals recommend Encircle specifically because it exports in a format that's easy to hand directly to an adjuster.
Store a printed summary, not the full video, just a one-page list of major items with estimated values and serial numbers, in a waterproof document bag that goes with you if you evacuate. Digital is better for storage, but paper doesn't need a signal.
One final note on why this actually matters
Contents claims after a hurricane are frequently underpaid, delayed, or disputed, not because insurers are necessarily acting in bad faith, but because the burden of proof falls on you. You have to demonstrate what you owned, in what condition, and at what value. Without documentation, that proof collapses into a list you wrote from memory after the storm, which an adjuster has every right to scrutinize.
Homeowners who walk in with timestamped video, close-up photos of serial numbers, and a written inventory consistently move through the claims process faster and with fewer disputes than those who don't. The footage doesn't guarantee a full payout, coverage limits, depreciation schedules, and policy exclusions all play a role, but it eliminates one of the most common friction points in a contents claim: the question of whether you actually owned what you say you owned.
Ninety minutes in May. Back it up. Repeat next year.
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Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to document my home contents before hurricane season?
Set a deadline of May 15, giving yourself two weeks of buffer before the official June 1 hurricane season start. By the time a named storm is approaching, you'll be too busy with shutters and evacuations to film your belongings. Repeat the full walkthrough every year since household contents change significantly over time.
Do I need receipts for everything I plan to document?
No, and you shouldn't let missing receipts stop you from documenting at all. Email order confirmations from retailers like Amazon or Home Depot, as well as credit card statements showing purchases at specific stores, are often sufficient to support a claim. Search your inbox for terms like 'order confirmation' or 'receipt' to locate past purchases.
What rooms and items are most commonly overlooked during home documentation?
Garages, attics, and storage sheds are frequently skipped but often hold significant value, including generators, lawn equipment, power tools, and seasonal items. Kitchen appliances and small electronics like stand mixers and espresso machines are also commonly forgotten. A garage full of power tools alone can represent $5,000 to $10,000 in undocumented contents.
Where should I store my home inventory documentation so it survives a hurricane?
Never store documentation only on your phone or home computer, as these can be destroyed in the same storm. Upload everything to cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud the same day you shoot the footage, and email key photos to a family member in a different region. Also keep a printed one-page summary of major items in a waterproof bag to take with you if you evacuate.
Why do contents claims often get underpaid or disputed after a hurricane?
The burden of proof falls on the homeowner to demonstrate what they owned, in what condition, and at what value. Without documentation, adjusters must rely on memory-based lists written after the storm, which they have every right to scrutinize. Homeowners with timestamped video and serial number photos consistently resolve claims faster and with fewer disputes.
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