Orlando, Florida -- (SBWire) -- 03/14/2012 --Devastating tornadoes can be the most difficult natural disasters to clean up after because in addition to destroying a home, they can toss a family’s belongings across town or even across the state.

Business owners and homeowners are encouraged to keep diligent records of personal property in order to help adjusters pay off claims promptly and thoroughly.

“We recommend keeping an itemized list of belongings including a description of the item, when it was purchased and how much it cost so we can determine its replacement cost,” said Orlando home insurance representative Lee Rogers of the Florida Insurance Group. “Everything of value in the home or office needs to be listed and that list needs to be kept in multiple locations – not just on the computer.”

Keeping a list of valuable items in a safe deposit box or a relative’s home can help make sure the list of valuables is not lost with the valuables themselves, he said.

There are web-based services that make it easy to inventory the articles in a home or business because walking around the house with a pad and pencil can be a challenge. Knowyourstuff.org is a website from the Insurance Information Institute that helps with inventorying the items in a home or business and stores the information for homeowners and business owners.

“Online services can make inventorying the valuables in the home easier than the traditional pad and pencil way of doing things,” Rogers said. “This way, if a homeowner buys a new tennis bracelet for his wife or some expensive stereo equipment in the man cave, he can add it to the itemized list without having to find the list in a drawer somewhere and copy it for the relatives or the safe deposit box.”

To learn more about Florida home insurance, call 1.888.525.2210 visit http://www.floridainsurance.com.