Burglary claim closed at 87% of our stated list - sharing exactly what saved us from the lowball (and what we wish we had done before the break in)

This is part venting and part trying to be useful. We came home from a long weekend in March to a kicked in side door, our bedroom completely tossed, and most of our valuables gone. Stolen items: jewelry from my grandmother, both laptops, two cameras, an antique watch, and weirdly the espresso machine. Police report filed within 2 hours of getting home, claim opened the next morning.

Insurance offered $14,300 on a stated $36,000 list within the first week. The adjuster told us anything we could not document was capped at an "estimated value" of $200 per item. The jewelry alone was worth more than her entire first offer.

What turned it around was a folder my husband had built years ago that i used to roll my eyes about. He photographed every valuable in the house, kept appraisals for the jewelry in a fireproof box, and saved receipts for major electronics in a labeled folder. He even had photos of the espresso machine box with the serial number visible (no idea why he saved that one). We submitted a 47 page proof of loss with photos, receipts, appraisals, and serial numbers. After about 6 weeks of back and forth they paid $31,400 against the $36,000 list, plus a separate scheduled rider payout on the jewelry that got us close to full replacement on those pieces.

Things i learned the hard way: photograph everything, write down serial numbers, and if you have anything worth more than your contents sublimit get it scheduled. Our jewelry sublimit was $2,500. The appraisal on grandmothers ring alone was $11,000. Without the schedule we would have lost over $8,000 on that one item.