PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISALS

Do you know the current value of your most treasured antiques, fine art, collectibles and jewelry?

Asset Verification, Inc. – A Full-Service Inventory & Appraisal Firm

Many individuals lack current personal property appraisals for their high-value possessions. As a result they have inadequate homeowners insurance, even for items currently covered under their Valuable Articles schedules. AVI can help! We provide insurance-approved, certified appraisals for all your personal property so you can properly schedule those items on your homeowners insurance. Imagine your peace of mind when you have complete documentation in the event of an insurance claim due to theft, fire, or natural disaster. Certified appraisals are also vital for estate planning or transfer, for tax purposes after charitable donations, and for many other legal matters.

Inventory Services

AVI’s highly trained Inventory Specialists catalog the personal property contents of your residence room by room using a detailed process called Object ID. Developed by the Getty Museum as a way to precisely describe and identify precious art and aid in its recovery when stolen, Object ID is considered the international gold standard for appraisal professionals. Careful cataloging leads to accurate appraisals. Your possessions are unique and our Inventory Specialists will carefully photograph, measure, describe and record every detail.

Appraisals

After your items are inventoried, we objectively appraise your items using a process accepted by the appraisal industry known as Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices or USPAP.¹ Whether we appraise the contents of your entire home or just a few high-value items, our standards are the same and meet insurance and IRS reporting guidelines. Asset Verification offers 4 different types of Inventory and Appraisal Packages, designed to meet the needs of every homeowner or renter.

See more about our 4 types of Inventory and Appraisal Packages

Appraisals

After your items are inventoried, we objectively appraise your items using a process accepted by the appraisal industry known as Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices or USPAP.¹ Whether we appraise the contents of your entire home or just a few high-value items, our standards are the same and meet insurance and IRS reporting guidelines. Asset Verification offers 4 different types of Inventory and Appraisal Packages, designed to meet the needs of every homeowner or renter.

See more about our 4 types of Inventory and Appraisal Packages

Why Does AVI Use Object ID?

Getty Object ID is the ideal tool for developing accurate appraisals of your personal assets.
It’s the international standard for establishing a unique identity for fine art and your objects.
Protocol involves photographing and recording over a dozen aspects of each piece.
Initiated by Getty Museum as a universal tool for recovering lost or stolen art.
Developed in collaboration with museums, the insurance industry, law enforcement, customs agents, and appraisers.

Aggregate Valuation

With our inventory and appraisal reports in hand, you can make informed decisions based on facts instead of estimates. For our All-Inclusive Package clients, after we inventory and appraise your entire home, we calculate the Aggregate Value or the total dollar value of all your personal property assets. In our experience, more than 70% of U.S. homes are underinsured because coverage limits are too low. So we also provide a comparison of your current homeowners’ insurance contents coverage with suggested future coverage based on your new aggregate value. This report is also used to identify the item categories that would benefit from being scheduled. Having the aggregate valuation is also critical in the event of a homeowners insurance claim, equitable division of marital property or estate settlement.

Reports and Deliverables

Our detailed reports vary according to the Inventory and Appraisal Package you choose. For example, when you purchase our most popular All-Inclusive Package, we deliver all the room-by-room details of every cataloged object, including images, appraisals, and a summary appraisal report. This report includes your aggregate value, homeowners insurance comparisons, and a list of all your appraised assets worth $2500 or more. Our multiple reports also include a powerful search engine to quickly locate each object in the report. Custom reports are also available.

Sample Appraisals

Replacement Cost Sample

Charitable Donation Sample

Estate Tax Filing Sample

Contact us for more information about how you can increase the return on your insurance premium dollar, protect your high-value personal assets in the event of a loss, and insure your property with accurate appraisal information rather than estimates.

Secure Data Warehousing

All our appraisal work is completed in-house and stored under a unique client ID number in our secure, encrypted, web-based storage vaults for a minimum of five years. Some Packages offer personal access to your files on our server so you can update your inventory as needed when it changes. For example, as an All-Inclusive Package client, you also have the option to purchase our Asset Manager Service. This optional service provides annual updates or additional custom reports for various purposes including homeowners insurance coverage changes, estate planning or settlement, charitable donations, or legal proceedings.

⁽¹⁾ USPAP-compliance refers to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice that set performance and ethical standards for certified appraisers. These standards are designed to ensure that your valuations are developed in an unbiased manner to the highest standards in the appraisal industry.

AVI Helps Clients Recover From Catastrophic Losses

Facts Are Stubborn Things When Filing a Claim

Our client’s vacation home in Highlands, NC was struck by lightning and regrettably, the home was destroyed in less than two hours and deemed a total loss. There were two pieces of good news in this tragedy: 1. The client was not at home during the fire and 2. AVI had cataloged and appraised the contents which had led to increases in coverage and additional insurance riders. The cost of replacing the contents was over $3,000,000. The insurance company decided to fight the claim by first calling it arson, and when that was debunked, they filed a lawsuit disputing the size of the claim. This lawsuit went on for almost a year, but the day before our appraisal group was to be deposed, the insurance company wrote a check for the full amount of the claim plus legal fees incurred by our client. “Facts are stubborn things.” Without our documentation of the home’s contents and our detailed appraisals, the story would have ended tragically for our client.

Exact Reconstruction Far Easier With AVI’s Digital Images

Our client’s elegant condominium was contaminated with water and sewage and had to be gutted and rebuilt. AVI had completed an all-inclusive appraisal for this client and our digital documentation of the architectural embellishments in the condominium was so accurate, it allowed the client to leave the city during most of the reconstruction. The client was able to give the contractor AVI images from before the incident and simply state, “I want every wall, all the molding, cabinets and pieces of parquet replaced exactly as you see in these images.” Our detailed images were also of great benefit to the decorator, as she replicated the placement of paintings and furnishings to their original locations. Having a roadmap for reconstruction and redecorating allowed our client the confidence that daily supervision on site was not necessary.