Stolen tools..

[Joe Chritz]

Thankfully I don't have any missing right now. Well except a few hand screwdrivers and I think they are with all my single socks.

This is actually in reference to Gail's thread on a missing drill. Take a few minutes to walk through your home and shop and write down the make, model and serial of all your tools that have them. Consider adding you drivers license number to those that don't with a vibrating pencil. Do the same for anything of value in the home. Add the new cost of the items with the list and keep two copies. One at home in a safe location and one someplace else.

If your stuff ever comes up missing it increases your chances of recovery exponentially. It is also a huge help if there is a catastrophic event like a tornado or fire.

Joe (hopping off box now)

[Doyle Alley]

Somewhere in all my junk, I have a little program called the Tool Journal. It is a little mini-database where you can store all this information on your computer. I haven't tried to use it yet, but I plan to. If anyone needs a copy of it, send me an email to my work address and I'll send you a copy. It's a little less than 1 meg zipped up.

doyle.alley@vertexinc.com

[Bob Wingard]

Here's another pretty good "freebie" .. .. .. \

http://www.knowyourstuff.org/

[Lee Schierer]

I've also heard that a video record of your home is a good idea. You gothrough each room of the house, opeing doors and drawers to show the contents. You make two copies and keep one at another location. I suppose this could also be done with digital camera. At the very least in the event of a claim you have some proof and a reminder of all the things you had.

[Alain Tellier]

That is what I did a year ago.

I went through all the rooms of the house including the shop and filmed everything. It's good cause you can speak important information about each object and also because it proves without a doubt that you had the actual equipment in the shop not only on a list.

I keep a tape at my house and a copy in my safety deposit box at the bank.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I got one better .

My insirance company is soo good and so service oriented that they never ask questions they just send the check.

If I lose my stuff I'll just make a claim. If I catch the perp in action I'll just fill 'em with lead.

[Rick Doyle]

......Take a few minutes to walk through your home and shop and write down the make, model and serial of all your tools that have them. ......
If your stuff ever comes up missing it increases your chances of recovery exponentially. It is also a huge help if there is a catastrophic event like a tornado or fire.

Joe (hopping off box now)

hi joe,

your post was pretty good timing for me. i just got my house insurance renewal notice and in it was the always present advice to make an inventory of our home and personal belongings - for the exact reasons you state in your post.

i remembered i had a ms excel spreadsheet for doing this and along with the usual insurance company info(i.e. name, policy number, contacts etc.) it has the following fields:

Name of Tool - Make - Model - Serial/ID Number - Date Purchased - Where Purchased - Est. Current Value - Photo?

i've attached a copy of the ms excel file for anyone who wants to download it.

if you'd rather see what it looks like prior to downloading, you can see a sample portion of the spreadsheet at:

http://www.rickswoodworking.ca/workshop.htm#what and download from there for free if you like.

[Steve Clardy]

I've also got the Tool Journal program somewhere. Haven't used it in several years.
I just do the digital camera thing every 3-4 months. Load pics on a disc for safe keeping

[Tim Solley]

I've been talking to my wife for a while about this, and I'll get around to doing it eventually. My plan was to take digital pictures and make a list inventory. I will then put the pictures and spreadsheet on a CD. Two copies of the CD, one for home, and give the other to my insurance agent to put in my file. I may lose the CD, but he probably won't. Then if someone breaks in, I don't have to go looking for my CD, my agent will have it.

Tim

[Jeff Horton]

...My insirance company is soo good and so service oriented that they never ask questions they just send the check.....

Your either self-insured or you have never made a claim of any size with them!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Your either self-insured or you have never made a claim of any size with them!

Nope. there is a third option: You have never had Chubb insurance until you do you do not know what you are missing.
It's like the difference between dating Bella Abzug and Cindy Crawford.

[Frank Pellow]

Here's another pretty good "freebie" .. .. .. \

http://www.knowyourstuff.org/

That looks interesting Bob. I think that I will give it a try.

Right now, I am in the strange postion of having all the contents of my shop well documented and photographed in a "self-rolled" database, but having almost nothing in the house captured. That's because, I built the shop inventory while I was buliding and populating my shop and a bought mostly new tools but over a two year period. Starting to record all the stuff that we have accumulated over the years is a daunting task.

Maybe this "free" software is the incentive that I need to get started. We will see.

[Ian Barley]

Having gone through a house fire which destroyed about 90% of what we owned I can vouch for the difficulty of trying to construct an inventory after the fact. I must walk around with the video camera again!

[chester stidham]

Your right but man do I have a lot of tools not just wood tools but every thing from auto to well it would take me a week to do it and the house to oh man you guys just made a lot of work for me thanks lol.

[Bruce Benjamin]

Your either self-insured or you have never made a claim of any size with them!

I have State Farm and about a 14 years ago or so our house was
burglarized in a pretty big way. My wife actually walked in on them
but they ran out the back before anything happened. This was a
house we rented in Portland, Or. I talked to our insurance agent
and he just told me to make a list of whatever was missing, figure
out what it costs to replace and give him the list. One camcorder
didn't even work. 2 still cameras had problems too. He said it didn't
matter if it worked or not. He just said to find something close to
whatever is missing in a local store and give him the bill. I couldn't
believe it but I ended up making out very well on that burglary and
I didn't even have to come close to lying to him. I could've really
stretched it out but that's not my style. With only one exception,
State Farm has treated my wife and I very well over the past 20
years with at least $100K in claims and they pay right up!

Bruce