Inventories help victims recover from post-holiday theft

With the holidays comes the joy of giving and receiving gifts.

With that, however, can come the heartbreak of theft, too.

Sometimes, preventative measures won’t stop the most determined thief, but there are still steps that can be taken ahead of time for victims to recover more quickly.

Insurance agents and law enforcement officers suggest taking an inventory of personal property — especially new items — to make it easier to recover them or their value.

Hartsville Police Chief Tim Kemp said it’s easy to take such an inventory of belongings using digital cameras, then storing that information on a flash drive for handy reference.

Serial numbers also are invaluable in helping investigators recover what was stolen. Many children, for example, get bicycles for Christmas and parents should immediately write down the serial numbers, Kemp said.

“One of the first things thieves do when they steal bikes is change things around or paint them,” he said. “If we have those serial numbers, they are unique to that particular bicycle.”

Kemp also suggests engraving or putting some type of permanent marking on an item to show that it is yours.

“Unless we can pinpoint somehow what the item is, it’s not something we can necessarily recover,” he said.

Timmonsville resident Renee Graham learned the hard way how important it is to have an inventory of one’s belongings.

Two years ago, she was the victim of a burglary five days after Christmas. To make matters worse, she had lived in her house for barely three months.

Graham said thieves took about $4,000 worth of Christmas gifts and other items from her house. She had receipts for her recently purchased gifts, such as video games and game systems, but had no serial numbers for the gifts and no inventory to aid police in recovering her stolen jewelry and firearms.

“People don’t realize that those receipts don’t have serial numbers on them,” Graham said.

Shortly after the crime, she learned about renter’s insurance and immediately took out a policy. To her surprise, she said, it was “extremely cheap.”

“I had jewelry I inherited and had no pictures or anything,” she said. “With stuff like that there is no serial or model numbers. I definitely do have pictures of that stuff now.”

Florence Allstate agent Mark Hanna suggests people take documenting their belongings a step further by using a video camera to record them in addition to taking photographs and creating an inventory list.

“Take a picture of the whole room, then detail pictures of particular items in that room, too,” he said.

When it comes to jewelry, Hanna said, make sure to write down a good description of the item which includes karat weight, type of gold and an appraisal value, in addition to having photographs.

Home and renter’s insurance policies will cover loss of items stolen from a residence and vehicle, but only up to a certain amount. To get all of your money back, Hanna suggests scheduling high-dollar items onto the policy. Scheduling means listing those items on a policy separately to ensure full reimbursement in the event of theft or damage. Some items people typically schedule are jewelry, guns, silver, furs, art, computers and expensive stereo equipment.

“If you have a vast collection of something, you’re probably going to exceed whatever the coverage that policy originally came with and you need to extend coverage to those items,” he said.

At bare minimum, Hanna said, an inventory list is better than no list at all, but don’t keep the only copy in your home.

“Put it somewhere away. Someone’s not going to steal a list, but a fire will destroy everything,” he said.

If you are a victim of theft, call law enforcement first and file a report. Hanna said any insurance agency will require that for reimbursement.

Last but not least, Hanna suggests people schedule annual reviews with their insurance agent to make sure their policies are up-to-date.

“People buy things or renovate their homes all the time. We want to make sure we know what’s going on in our customers’ lives so we can make sure they’re protected,” he said. “That’s why an annual review is key.”