When the economy takes a down turn, insurance agents usually see an increase in the number of theft claims reported. While we wish that no one had to experience a robbery, here are some tips to make your claim go more smoothly.

-Know your coverage! In most cases a standard Homeowners policy only includes a minimal amount of coverage for commonly stolen items such as fine arts, electronics, and jewelry. You might need to schedule these types of belongings for a specific amount of coverage. Or you may have to insure them on their own policy if they can't be covered on your Homeowners insurance.
-File a police report immediately. This is going to be required by the insurance company to document the theft. 
-Take pictures of any damage to the building before you have it repaired. Your first instinct is to secure your home against future break-ins, but before you have the window replaced or the door repaired, document the damage. You can then submit them with the receipt to the claims adjustor to be included in the claim.
- Although it may be impossible to know everything that was taken, try to give the police an itemized list for the police report. You may even have to file an amended report after you have time to take a full inventory. The reason behind this is that he list of items that you present to the insurance company should match the items listed on the police report. For example, if your list says "movies," but the police report says "video games," the insurance company may refuse to pay for movies.

-Include as much detail as you can. Instead of the police report indicating "various games and movies" were stolen, give the police the number of games/movies that are missing, and the names and titles of as many of them as you can remember. The more information you can provide to the claims adjustor, the more likely he will be able to reimburse you.
-Catalog your personal property! Whether its by taking pictures of your household items, or by scanning digital copies of receipts, the more the better. Because insurance fraud is a growing problem in Florida, insurance companies want to see proof of ownership before they can include it in a claim. Do you have pictures of yourself wearing the missing jewelry? Do you have the original packaging for your gaming system or laptop? Do you have the jewel cases for DVD's and video games? Did you keep the instruction manual for the digital camera? Keep these types of things together in a safe place. If you take pictures you can email them to yourself so you can access them from another location (don't just keep them on the laptop in case that is taken in the burglary.) Or bring them to your insurance agent and see if they will keep them in your file.
Claims are never enjoyable since they start out with damage or theft to your property. But with some planning, you can help to make the claims process less painful so you can get back to normal faster.