8 Important Personal Documents You Should Scan

Many emergency preparedness experts suggest keeping a physical file folder of vital documents that you can grab when evacuating during an unfortunate event. While safes and cabinets are both viable solutions, they don’t always survive these disasters.

What happens if your personal documents become damaged during an emergency or you don’t have enough time to recover them before evacuation? Consider document digitization as your answer to rebuilding your life after the worst occurs.

Here are eight important personal documents you should scan.

Birth Certificates

Birth certificates are among the essential documents to keep track of, but this form of paperwork is also one of the most common to lose. Because birth certificates are part of your vital records, securing them somewhere with limited access is crucial.

Misplacing a birth certificate can exacerbate concerns, especially if you’re worried it has ended up in the wrong hands. To mitigate the possibility of loss or theft, it helps to scan and store your certificate digitally.

This method can serve as a safeguard to prevent the loss of vital information in the event the physical copy becomes damaged or lost.

While you can contact professionals to help digitize your birth certificate, it’s worth noting that the scanned version bears no validity. While you can certainly store the copy in your files, a digitized birth certificate isn’t acceptable for official business.

Identification Cards

Like your birth certificate, documents that contain additional identification information, like social security cards and state IDs, are vital records that call for physical and digital copies. While physical documentation is acceptable for most businesses, you may encounter some locations that accept digitized versions of cards.

Furthermore, there are a few other forms of identification that you should inquire about scanning and digitizing.

Driver’s License

While keeping your driver’s license within reach is best practice, there may come a time when a driver leaves their wallet at home. Scanning and keeping a digital backup of your license may prove useful during traffic stops.

School or Work Identification

You may have supplemental forms of identification that grant you access to work, school, or other locations. By scanning and keeping these additional documents nearby, you can mitigate the chances of experiencing frustration if you forget them at home.

Health Insurance Cards

Whether they’re yours or someone else’s, health insurance cards can be challenging to keep track of. However, easily accessing these cards is a priority during appointments and other obligations.

Many health insurance organizations mail one copy of identification to the policy owner, but this card can easily be lost or damaged.

However, scanning and digitizing this type of documentation is both smart and necessary. Doing so allows you to easily access information without solely relying on a physical copy.

Immunization Records

A physician’s office may implement gatekeeping strategies to safeguard immunization and medical records, but these practices don’t eliminate the chance of an unfortunate incident destroying essential paperwork.

Fortunately, modern times continue to move toward digitization by allowing medical facilities to provide patients with a computerized version of immunization and medical documentation. This method facilitates the transfer of vital medical information between organizations without requiring paper copies.

While it’s still wise to include physical paperwork in your files, scanning records with the assistance of a documentation digitization service like DiJiFi enables easier storage without requiring the use of excessive storage space.

Prescriptions

Prescriptions and immunization records go hand in hand when discussing the preservation of classified medical information. With medical facilities converting to digital practices, the need for prescription paperwork to travel with a patient becomes obsolete.

Furthermore, the prescription’s digital format bypasses the patient’s hand and travels directly to their preferred pharmacist for fulfillment. However, it doesn’t hurt to have a personal copy of a prescription when becoming a new patient at a new office.

Digitizing this data and providing it to the location responsible for care will facilitate treatment while professionals wait for comprehensive patient files.

Insurance Policies

While proof of health insurance is essential, it isn’t the only policy documentation worth keeping readily available. Scanning paperwork related to your insurance policies can provide substantial benefits in specific instances.

Car Insurance

Suppose you intend to purchase and register a vehicle under your name. Almost all states in the US require proof of car insurance to drive and register automobiles.

If you do not have the physical policy paperwork on hand, you will be left inconvenienced and without transportation.

However, you can scan and store a digital format of your policy so that you can provide it when necessary, streamlining the registration process.

Home Insurance

Whether an individual has homeowner’s insurance is a decision they make at their discretion. However, if you have a policy on your home, keeping multiple copies of the documentation is an idea worth looking into.

For example, suppose your home experiences a fire. You and your family may be able to avoid injury, but this type of situation often results in tremendous property loss that includes damage to personal documents.

If this were to happen, you could expect to lose valuable and essential information about your homeowner’s insurance policy. However, retrieving data isn’t impossible! Scanning and storing a digital copy of your policy can facilitate the process of filing a claim without having to contact additional organizations for information.

Property Deeds

Property deeds are vital legal documents that state ownership of property from a grantor and their grantee. This documentation also holds critical information about the property, including all records of its sale and who bought it.

While you don’t need to provide property deeds for many purposes, having a digital format of the paperwork proves useful when necessary.

Vehicle Titles

Similar to property deeds, a vehicle title is a legal document from your state government stating your ownership of a vehicle. Without it, proving that you own a vehicle would be challenging. Vehicle titles are also essential during sales and when paying off an auto loan.

If you happen to lose the physical copy of your vehicle title, a digital version of the document can also serve as proof of ownership in some situations.

You should scan important personal documents as a way to establish backup copies of vital data. By scanning and digitizing your critical information, you’ll have multiple methods at your disposal that provide protection during unthinkable situations. DiJiFi can assist you with all of your documentation digitization needs!