FEMA Disaster Assistance Documentation Guide

If you've experienced property loss from a declared disaster, documenting what you lost is one of the most important steps in applying for FEMA disaster assistance. Applications move faster and more smoothly when your documentation is thorough — quantity, condition, replacement cost, and photos where you can get them.

This guide covers what to document, and gives you a free way to organize it quickly, even under difficult circumstances.

What to document for each item

• Item description and quantity
• Purchase date, if known
• Estimated replacement cost and current value
• Whether you have a receipt
• A photo, if the item or its remains are still accessible

Document by room, and don't skip the obvious items

It's easy to focus on big-ticket items and forget the smaller, everyday things that add up — kitchenware, clothing, tools. Working through your home room by room, the same way you'd have walked through it before the disaster, tends to produce a far more complete list than trying to remember everything at once. If you've already lost the item itself, our guide on photo limits on the Free plan is worth checking if you're documenting a large loss.

Build it online, free, aligned with FEMA guidance

Contents Proof lets you build this documentation quickly — room by room, with a photo attached to anything you can still photograph — then export a PDF formatted to align with FEMA's personal property and proof-of-loss documentation guidance, including quantity, replacement cost, and a receipt indicator per item.

Contents Proof is a self-prepared documentation aid based on publicly available FEMA guidance. It is not an official FEMA form and does not guarantee eligibility for, or the amount of, any assistance.