What Information Insurers Actually Ask For — and Why the File Format Matters More Than People Think

Most home inventory apps solve the same problem the same way: you list what you own, attach some photos, and export a PDF or spreadsheet. That's genuinely useful — but it quietly assumes the specific shape of that export doesn't matter much, as long as the information is all there. In practice, format matters more than most people expect.

What consistently shows up as the core information

Across published guidance from multiple major insurers, a handful of fields come up again and again: item description, purchase date, purchase price, current or replacement value, and a photo. That much is fairly universal — most home inventory tools, including the free ones, already cover this.

Where it gets specific

Several large insurers publish their own inventory worksheet structure — a particular set of columns, a particular way of grouping by room versus by category, sometimes a specific breakdown of category totals. If your documentation doesn't already match that structure, the practical effect is that you (or your adjuster) end up manually reformatting a spreadsheet in the middle of an already stressful claims process — exactly the kind of friction a home inventory tool is supposed to remove, not add back in.

Real-world claims advice backs this up too

Public adjusters — professionals who help policyholders negotiate claims — consistently recommend going further than a basic item list: including both the original purchase price and a separately-stated current replacement cost, plus a link or reference to a comparable item for sale, as evidence for that replacement figure. That's a more specific ask than most generic home inventory checklists mention, and it's a detail worth building into your documentation from the start rather than adding after a claim is already underway.

Why this shaped how we built Contents Proof

This is the whole reason Contents Proof supports exporting the same inventory in a specific insurer's own format, not just one generic layout. Building your inventory once and exporting it correctly for your actual insurer — rather than exporting a generic list and reformatting it yourself later — is the difference this is meant to solve.

What to check regardless of which tool you use

• Does your insurer publish its own home inventory or contents worksheet format? A quick search of "[your insurer] home inventory checklist" usually turns it up.
• Does your documentation separate purchase price from current/replacement value, rather than only tracking one number?
• Do you have a photo attached to higher-value items specifically, not just a general room photo?

This article reflects publicly available insurer guidance and general claims-advocacy commentary; it is not a guarantee of what any specific insurer will accept for a given claim.