[loopdoend]

> I'm not even sure what the notarization step was accomplishing: the inventory sheets aren't affidavits.

The percentage of people who see the word "notarized" alongside "inventory sheet" and simply give up must be quite high. Notarization accomplishes nothing besides causing a headache. Insurance companies don't make money by paying out claims, you know.

[meowster]

Notarization just proves it was you who signed something, it has nothing to do with the contents of the document.

Unfortunately a lot of people think notarization gives some kind of legitimacy to a document, or likely in this case, it's probably not the hassle of getting it notarized, but used as a scare tactic to prevent some people from committing insurance fraud by listing inflated or made-up items (people might conflate it with perjury).

[s1artibartfast]

It proves not just who, but when. This can be pretty relevant in a number of situations.

[qingcharles]

Illinois did away with notarization requirements for almost everything a few years ago. Now you can just sign things under penalty of perjury and it's done, which is the right way to go about it.

[lazide]

That, and it would make it harder to claim mistake/accident if the insurance company tried to Prosecute for insurance fraud.

The number of cases of people adding random expensive things that would be added to insurance inventories during a claim has to approach 90% if there is no potential for consequences.

[tgsovlerkhgsel]

It also makes it feel more serious, deterring insurance fraud. Since it has only upsides, no downsides, for the insurance company (except that they'll get bad ratings from customers which they clearly don't care about in this scenario, as most customers don't shop around for them), of course they demand it.

> Insurance companies don't make money by paying out claims, you know.

This is why if you want actual insurance (not "check the 'you must have insurance' box") you don't pick the cheapest company and check reviews, ignoring any reviews that don't mention a claim.