Though insurance companies encourage it, the process of taking an annual household inventory takes a special blend of obsessive-compulsive and materialistic tendencies.

But help is on the way.

In January 2005, an entrepreneur in Maryville, Ill., developed a computer program to ease this process. The name of Jeff Counton's company and software are the same and suggest exactly what consumers should be doing -- CYA, or Catalog Your Assets.

The program comes with a DVD to guide homeowners through the process of snapping pictures or taking video of the different items in each room of their house. The computer software comes on a second disc that allows users to tabulate a complete description of their possessions.

Similar software is available for free from the Insurance Information Institute (www.knowyourstuff.org). Many insurers provide paper worksheets for customers to complete. However, CYA estimates how much insurance you need, based on the inventory.

Counton, president of CYA, developed the idea when he realized he did not understand how his insurance worked. In talking with his agent, he saw that he was underinsured.

Counton recognizes his greatest challenge is the same one insurance companies face -- motivating people to prepare for the unknown.

"People don't always do what is smart," he said. "They think it's never going to happen to them."

Tia Lindell, a spokeswoman for State Farm Insurance in Missouri, said most customers rely on their agents' estimates. That can be a problem when calamity strikes.

"Unfortunately, it's kind of rare to see a home inventory list," Lindell said. "It may not sound like an exciting activity to go and catalog all your belongings, but a current inventory can really save customers a lot of time, money and frustration in the settlement process."

Insurance companies assume no responsibility in keeping consumers up to date, despite the opportunity doing so would present to sell more insurance.

Tiffany O'Shea, a spokeswoman with the American Insurance Institute, said companies do not look at inventories as a selling tool, but as a line of communication.

"We hope consumers will be prepared and do this ahead of time, rather than doing this after a disaster when it's really hard to reconstruct thoughts of the things you had," said O'Shea. "Agents are not going to walk around your house for you. It's up to you to make sure you have the adequate amount of coverage."

But even when consumers are properly covered, Counton thinks homeowners would find the recovery process archaic.

"If you have a loss, they're going to hand you a stack of worksheets," he said. "If you lost a portion of your home or your whole home … you're not going to want to do that."

Counton designed the program so homeowners instead could hand their agents the disc and a packet of photos. He recommends keeping completed copies of the disc at a bank safety deposit box and with relatives in another state.

Though the company has sold more than 50,000 copies of its software through its Web site, www.cyatoday.com, Counton said he currently is concentrating on developing distribution deals with several insurance companies, including State Farm, Allstate Insurance and Farmers Insurance Group, to distribute the CYA program to their customers.

He already has gained the attention of Farmers Insurance Group agent Lance Mayfield in Viburnum, Mo. Farmers now distributes the software as a marketing tool to customers in parts of Illinois and Missouri, Mayfield said. He hopes customers will see it as a unique way to interact with their agents.

"Farmers Insurance will honor your inventory as much as anybody would without a lot of microscopic looks into your life," Mayfield said. "But in extreme cases, there may be questions about whether you actually owned specific things. If you would have taken those items with minor documentations and given your insurance person a copy of it, you can see it would eliminate problems."

By Christopher Boyce
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
cboyce@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8345

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Copyright © 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Taking stock

Here are tips when taking an inventory of your home's assets.

• Videotaping is as effective as photographs. The important thing is to shoot every room from each corner to fully cover it.

• Make sure to get close shots of smaller items like decorative china or antique jewelry.

• With electronics and appliances, take close shots of serial numbers.

• Keep copies of receipts for high-end items.

• Insurance companies recommend a recovery packet update every other year or at least any time a major home remodeling project is completed, or when any new high-end furnishings are purchased.

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Source: Catalog Your Assets