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In the Event of an Emergency…

We Carry
by Sara Snuggerud in Sewing Tips

Flood Insurance

Is your sewing machine and fabric stash replaceable if something were to happen to your home? No one plans on having their life turned upside down by a flood, tornado, fire or theft, but it can happen in a blink of an eye.

Let us focus on the valuables in our sewing rooms. Could you describe your sewing room’s contents after emotionally surviving a traumatizing event? Most of us probably could not recall everything.

I contacted our local insurance provider to ask how one would go about getting replacement value of a “Fabric Stash”. And now with some sewing machines valuing $10,000 – $12,000, are these items covered under a basic home owners policy or should there be an additional policy?

Do take time to check with your insurance agent to confirm the type of policy you own and how they best suggest documenting and assessing the value of the contents of your sewing room.

Sewing machines seem to land in the “appliance” category on a basic home owner’s policy. They would be automatically covered without having to do much else. Having proper documentation of the receipt, model and serial number would help expedite any questions on a claim form.

But since fabric is purchased a little at a time and goes into a collection over time, it is not necessary to save every single receipt. (Most of us would not want to know what this would add up to in the first place! Nor would we want anyone else to know!) The best suggestion is to take pictures. Pictures are proof of what you actually have behind those closed closet doors. Do you store fabric in tubs? Open up the lid of each tub and snap a photo.

Our State Farm office suggests, “Take photos of every wall in your home. Make a list of the items in each picture and store the documented information, receipts and serial numbers in a safe deposit box.”

Click here for a great link to creating an inventory list of your own home.

To insure actual sewn quilts and other sewn items, again documentation is key to having some sort of compensation for all your hard work. Keep a diary of photographed finished projects for not only insurance purpose but for recording your projects completion date, fabrics used and maybe even the inspiration behind the finished item.

Taking a little time now could save you thousands of dollars in the future. Just think if you got a check to replace your entire sewing room today…how would you spend it?