Published by The Gazette | December 16 2012 | Written by Rich Laden
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MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
Pete Vieth measures a coffee table while Carrie Mitchell enters information on a laptop while documenting items Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, in a home in northeast Colorado Springs. The two are owners of Together We Stand Home Inventory.
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Insurance companies have warned homeowners for years: Make an accurate record of your household contents, and keep it in a safe place in case of an emergency.
The advice has taken on special meaning for Colorado Springs-area residents after the Waldo Canyon fire destroyed nearly 350 Mountain Shadows homes in late June. Some residents of the northwest side neighborhood have spent months battling insurance companies to obtain satisfactory settlements.
The amount received in such settlements hinges, in large part, on what kind of information homeowners can provide to document the value of their contents. And insurance companies want detailed proof of value, not homeowners’ misty-eyed recollections of the items they lost.
That’s why at least two home inventory companies recently were launched in Colorado Springs, part of a growing industry that offers to record and document household contents for a price. In spite of the Waldo Canyon fire’s harsh reality, and warnings from the insurance industry, assembling inventories remains one of those chores that many busy homeowners put off.
“Their intentions are there, but it’s very, very time consuming,” Carrie Mitchell, owner of Together We Stand Home Inventory and Asset Management Group, said of homeowners.
Mitchell, who owned rental properties in Manitou Springs at the time of the fire, had tenants who were evacuated from their residences; she also had friends who were evacuated and stayed at her home. She and her partner in the company, Springs businessman Pete Vieth, had friends who lost everything.
Mitchell, who owned rental properties in Manitou Springs at the time of the fire, had tenants who were evacuated from their residences; she also had friends who were evacuated and stayed at her home. She and her partner in the company, Springs businessman Pete Vieth, had friends who lost everything.
In volunteering with Colorado Springs Together, the nonprofit assistance group that formed after the fire, Mitchell and Vieth talked with several fire victims, most of whom had failed to put together home inventories. They also heard harrowing testimonials from residents who suddenly had 15 minutes to evacuate as the fire approached.
“They spent the 15 minutes snapping pictures (of household contents) and video taping in a panic,” Vieth said.
The pair researched the home inventory industry over the next few months, spent hours talking with insurance company representatives and estate planners and conducted pilot home inventories. They did their first inventory in October.
Together We Stand uses digital photography and a software program to document a home’s contents — taking photos of appliances, electronics, furniture, jewelry, firearms, antiques and coin collections, among other items, while entering detailed descriptions of each item into a computer software program. Inventories start at $349, average about $500 and the final cost depends on how time they spend at a home and how detailed a homeowner wants to get..
“What we’ve learned from the insurance industry is that values that are done based on the homeowner’s self valuation are meaningless to insurance companies,” Vieth said. “What’s important to insurance companies is the photographs, the detail and documentation.”
“What we’ve learned from the insurance industry is that values that are done based on the homeowner’s self valuation are meaningless to insurance companies,” Vieth said. “What’s important to insurance companies is the photographs, the detail and documentation.”
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