Posted 18 Sep 2026
After the loss, the list is the claim.
Carriers still ask for photos, serials, and receipts.
Most owners do not have that list.
These notes are about that hole, and about the catalog that fills it.
The proof
A contents claim is an itemized list, then a second check
United PolicyholdersUnited Policyholders says a contents claim is built from an itemized inventory.
Replacement-cost policies often pay actual cash value first.
The rest is paid after you replace the item and send the new receipt.
The packet has to exist before the fire.
California raised the no-list advance. The rest still needs a list.
California Insurance Code § 10103.7For a total loss of a furnished home in a declared emergency, California now requires a contents advance of 60 percent of the personal-property limit, up to $350,000, without an itemized claim.
That change took effect 1 January 2026.
Anything above that advance still needs an inventory the owner can file.
After a loss, the carrier can ask for proof you may no longer have
Iowa Insurance DivisionIowa’s insurance division told consumers that a carrier may require proof of ownership and value after a covered loss.
Without a list, the carrier often estimates, and the owner is paid less.
They still tell people to photograph items, write make and model and serials, and keep a copy away from the house.
California must accept your inventory form, not only theirs
California Department of InsuranceOn a total-loss contents claim, a California carrier cannot force its own inventory sheet if yours has the same facts.
They must also accept grouped categories where listing every sock is not practical.
A claim packet should stand on its own.
More than half of homeowners have no inventory for a claim
Insurance Information InstituteA 2023 Triple-I survey with Munich Re US asked homeowners if they had an inventory of their possessions for a loss or claim.
Forty-seven percent said yes.
Fifty-three percent did not.
The owner still has to prove the row.
The catalog
The owner still fills the row
Until you enter an item, we do not know about it.
That is the product, not a flaw.
AI may draft a plate or a receipt after you photograph it.
You confirm the row.
Our Coffer
A claim packet needs three photos and four facts
Photograph the item in place, the nameplate, and the receipt.
Write make and model, serial or barcode, where it sits, and the purchase date and price.
That is the starter list.
The catalog is those rows, kept.
Our Coffer
Use AI on a row that exists, or on a draft you confirm
The valuable AI jobs are identify, read a plate, read a receipt, estimate a replacement, and assemble a packet.
None of those invent a house.
Cora already talks. She does not invent items.
Our Coffer
Around the catalog
Regulators still point people at a photo inventory
NAICThe NAIC still publishes a home-inventory app for photos, barcodes, and an export.
That is a dump you hope you can find later.
It is not a catalog a shop and a claim can both use.
The trade still teaches: start the list before the loss
Insurance Information InstituteTriple-I still tells owners to start an inventory now, keep a copy away from the house, and update it after a purchase.
They say an incomplete list beats none.
Start with one item is the same job.
Sortly will export a shop list. It is not a claim packet.
SortlySortly exports a spreadsheet, a photo PDF, or a Dropbox dump.
Shops already pay for that.
The gap is still photos, serials, receipts, and a packet an adjuster will read.
Walkthrough apps now draft a house from video
PrelossPreloss walks a room on video and drafts items, values, and a PDF.
That is useful only if the owner confirms every row.
A draft that invents a fridge is not a catalog.