What do I do with my ruined contents?

If you have water damage, fire damage, smoke damage, sewage damage, or any other loss to your home or business that creates a loss of contents, it is essential that you follow these steps to help to properly document these losses for insurance purposes as well as content restoration purposes.

PRO TIP: If any of your appliances where directly affected by water, sewage or soot they should be checked by a licensed professional that can determine if it will need to be replaced. Ask them to write that on your invoice and submit it to your adjuster. Include the estimated cost to replace on the form below.

Most warranties are void if directly affected by water. Even if they are still working you should ask your adjuster to put that in for claim since it voided the warranty. Very often we see homes with a few inches of water where the water heater was affected. Most likely your warranty is now void.

Inventory Loss Sheet Instructions

(also known as ALE - Additional Living Expenses)

  1. Download the spreadsheet.
  2. Enter in your name, address, date, and claim number.
  3. Create a folder on your phone for your photos.
  4. Take detailed pictures of each item that was ruined due to this loss. Try to get the make, model, and serial number.
  5. Go to your computer and search for each item.
  6. Type in the quantity, a brief description, price and copy the url link where you found the item.
  7. If you need more columns, right click in the cell on the far left and click insert to add more columns.
  8. Do NOT discard any of these items until your adjuster says you can in case they want to evaluate themselves.
  9. Get it in writing/email that you can discard the photos before you eliminate them.
  10. Save as a .pdf file and email to your adjuster when complete.
Indoor Air Quality

How To Save As a PDF

  1. Go to file and click save.
  2. Type in your last name – Claim number
  3. Select save as file type .pdf
  4. Include a link to your shared photo album.

If you wish to print

  1. Click on file and select print
  2. Choose “Fit all columns on one sheet”
  3. Click print

If your home or business is in Northern New Jersey, we’re a company that can provide the expert help you need to clean up and restore your home from water damage,  smoke & odor loss and provide guidance on your contents as well. We are here to help - call PDQ Restoration today at 973-447-3363 to speak with one of our water, smoke cleanup, and odor removal restoration experts.