Your insurance company is on your side. But, they need to protect themselves from bloated claims of value. Since a fire can destroy an item completely, if it is worth a significant amount of money, you need to document its condition can value. There are 2 ways to do this.
First: Keep receipts for high ticket items in a protected space, a good fire safe can do this, but even they can get hot enough to destroy the receipts. So if you take a photo of the receipt with your cell phone, it will get backed up to your provider if you have that setup, if not scan it to your computer with a good backup service provided it will always be there.
Second: Talk pictures of valuable items,and all the areas of your home to prove the existence of the items in your home. This photo inventory will be crucial if there are any disputes to the validity of your claim.
Home owners and Business Insurance policies have limits on the value of personal belongings. Check your policy, if it seems low for a small increase you can rase this amount as you accumulate more possessions, and in the case of a businesses the same applies to fixtures and inventory.
After a fire, you need to document the loss of property. But, DO NOT ENTER THE PREMISSES UNTIL THE FIRE DEPARMENT HAS CLEARED IT FOR REOCCUPATION.
To do this:
Website design and hosting by Business Services Consultants