Protect Your Important Documents
There is no shortage of reasons to protect your important documents and get them in order in a place where they cannot be lost.
Think of it as the “go bag” for labor, but instead for in case of emergencies. Recent years have taught us that natural disasters can happen any time of the year and sometimes with little to no notice. Never be without the things you will need to rebuild your life.
According the to the American Red Cross a majority of Americans do not have important paperwork below scanned and saved to either a jump drive, CD, or in the cloud.
Here is a list of items to prepare for unexpected events.
Driver license
Passport
Health Insurance Card
Insurance Policies *
Mortgage and other loan papers
Property deeds
Car title and registration
Marriage license
Your will
Last years tax returns
Your bank account numbers
Your brokerage account number
Prepare a backup of photos showing what you own.
While on the topic of documents it’s also a good idea to keep up to date photos documented that show all the contents of your home. During a recent emergency, I went through and took photos of every room, the contents of every drawer and cupboard. This might seem excessive, but it has two purposes. One, to prove to the insurance carrier that you actually owned the things you said in the event of a loss. Second, to allow you to accurately replace everything. It’s easy to forget all those kitchen gadgets, bowls, etc that you only use once a year. Or, what about the garage…I bet you can’t dictate everything in there unless you have a serious case of mechanic ocd.
Regardless if an unexpected event ever occurs, it’s easy and a good idea to be prepared, protect your important documents today.
Bancorp Insurance has a copy of your insurance policies electronically filed if you are a current customer. However, for any insurance policies that you may not have with us, you should scan them. We recommend you have two scanned copies of all important paperwork. Put one copy into a safe deposit box and the other somewhere safe at home. If you don’t have a safe deposit box using an online service such as Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud or Google Drive are easy ways to backup computer files to the cloud. It will save you hours of your time putting your life back together if you take a few minutes to organize your important paper work now!
For more information on emergency preparations, checkout this video from the American Red Cross.
Written by: Rex Lesueur
Bancorp’s insurance experts are available to provide you with a free review and consultation. Contact Us – Bancorp Insurance Call 800-452-6826
Disclaimer: This content is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be used in place of consultation with our agents.
