Start Your Home Record

Four steps, one room at a time: choose a room, take photos, describe belongings, save a backup.

A useful pre-loss home record starts with clear photographs of rooms, a few notes about important belongings, and a copy kept somewhere safe.  It does not replace any detailed item-by-item inventory, receipts, or other information an insurer may request after a loss.  Before Your Claim is built around making that first record manageable.

The Before Your Claim app is still being tested and is not yet open to the public.  This page explains how it works and shows you how to begin today with the camera you already have.  Nothing on this page saves photographs or records, and nothing here is a backup.

How it works

1.  Choose a room

Give your home a name, then add one room.  Start with the room you use most, or the one with the most in it.  Rooms can be grouped by floor, so a larger home stays organized.  In the app, this is Start with One Room.

2.  Take photos

Wide photos work best.  Stand in a doorway or corner and fit in as much of the room as you can, then take another from the opposite corner.  One photo can show many things; you don’t need to list them one by one.

Open closets, cabinets, and drawers that are safe to open, and photograph what is inside.  On a phone, use Take a photo.  To add pictures you have already taken, use Choose photos.

3.  Describe notable belongings (optional)

You do not need an entry for every belonging.  Add one for the things that matter: something valuable, hard to replace, or easy to forget.  A short description is enough, such as “Miscellaneous tools.” Then tick each photo that shows it.  If you know them, you can add details such as the brand, model, serial number, or a receipt.

4.  Save a backup

The app being tested is designed to create a downloadable home backup that you can later import, together with a readable PDF report.  It also has a separate Save PDF option.  These functions are still being tested; do not rely on them as a secure or complete backup until they have been verified on the released version.

Once the app is approved for public use, keep at least two copies of any successful backup in safe places, with at least one copy away from home.  The planned Import Home Record feature is intended to help move a backed-up record to another device.

Begin today, without the app

You can start your record now with your phone’s camera:

• Pick one room.  Take two wide photographs from opposite corners.
• Open one closet or cabinet and photograph what is inside.
• Photograph the labels of two or three valuable items, such as a television, a tool, or an appliance.
• Copy the photographs to a second place you trust, such as a computer or a private cloud account, and open one to make sure it works.

Our guides explain each step in more detail: How to Photograph Your Home Before a Loss and Where to Keep Your Home Inventory So a Loss Cannot Take the Only Copy.

What is available now

Common questions

Does it cost anything?  The guides are free.  The app is intended to be free when it is released.  See Why Is This Free?

Do I need an account?  No.  There is nothing to sign up for.

Where is my record kept?  The app is designed to keep records on your device, in its own storage or the browser.  You decide where to keep any exported backup.  Verify that a backup opens before relying on it.

Can Absolute Adjusting see my record?  The versions now being tested are designed not to send your rooms, photographs, or notes to Absolute Adjusting.  That design will be checked again before public release.  If you choose to share a record with someone, that decision is yours.

Is this a complete inventory?  No.  It records the rooms, photographs, and belongings you choose to include.  After a loss, your insurer may require more detailed information about individual items.