Contents Claims and the Inventory You Do Not Have
Contents claims ask you to list and value everything you owned, usually right after losing it. The process favors the insurer by design, and knowing how it works is most of the battle.
The inventory carries the claim
Room by room, with age, condition and replacement cost. Photographs and videos taken before the loss are the single most valuable thing here, and most people do not have them — so reconstruct from purchase records, bank and card statements, delivery emails, and photographs taken for other reasons that happen to show a room.
Depreciation and category limits
Contents are frequently paid at actual cash value first, with the balance recoverable once items are actually replaced. Policies also often cap specific categories — jewellery, electronics, collectibles — at amounts far below their value, which is why those limits are worth reading before a loss rather than after.
Where underpayment hides
In items simply omitted from the list, in depreciation applied by category rather than by item, and in category caps applied to things the policyholder did not know were capped. Each of those is answerable, and each requires the line-item detail rather than a total.
What you can do about it depends on your state
This describes the denial itself, which works much the same everywhere. Whether you can sue under a statute, what you can recover, and how long you have differ sharply — choose the state where your policy was issued.
Common questions
I cannot possibly list everything. What now?
Reconstruct from purchase records, card statements, delivery emails and any photographs that happen to show a room. A methodical partial inventory is far better than an estimate.
Why was my jewellery paid at so little?
Many policies cap specific categories well below actual value. Check the limits in your policy, and check whether a scheduled endorsement applied.
Is this what happened to you?
A free, confidential review can tell you whether the denial holds up — no cost, no obligation.
Other reasons claims get denied
General information, not legal advice. Insurance law differs by state and every policy is different.