Most households have most of this information somewhere. The problem is that it's spread across email inboxes, kitchen drawers, old phone contacts, and one person's memory. This is the complete list of what your household should know and where to find it.
Property
- Landlord or managing agent name and contact number
- Mortgage lender and account number (if you own)
- Buildings insurance: insurer, policy number, renewal date, claims number
- Contents insurance: insurer, policy number, renewal date, claims number
- Gas safety certificate date (required annually if renting)
- EPC rating and expiry date
Utilities
- Energy supplier, account number, and customer service number
- Broadband provider, account number, and router details
- Water supplier (most areas are fixed, but useful to have)
- TV licence renewal date if relevant
Appliances and home systems
- Boiler: make and model, service date, service engineer contact, warranty end date, breakdown cover details
- Washing machine: brand, model number, warranty end date, manufacturer service number
- Oven and hob: brand, model number, warranty end date
- Fridge and freezer: same
- Any other significant appliance with a warranty
Vehicles
- Make, model, registration, and colour for each vehicle
- MOT expiry date
- Car insurance: insurer, policy number, renewal date, claims helpline
- Breakdown cover: provider, membership number, and callout number
- Service history and garage contact
- Finance agreement details if relevant
Insurance
- Life insurance: insurer, policy number, sum assured, where documents are held
- Critical illness or income protection: same
- Private health insurance: insurer, policy number, what's covered
- Travel insurance: insurer, policy number, what's covered (single trip or annual?)
- Pet insurance: insurer, policy number, renewal date
Emergency information
These are the numbers worth having before you need them:
- Emergency plumber
- Emergency electrician
- Boiler engineer or boiler cover callout number
- Nearest out-of-hours GP or walk-in centre
- Gas leak: National Gas Emergency Service 0800 111 999
- Electricity emergency: your distribution network operator (differs by region)
- Water leak: your water company's emergency line
Roost's vault is structured around all of this — property, vehicles, subscriptions, documents, and insurance, each with their own record, renewal dates, and emergency contact. Share your household vault so both people can find anything without asking.
Identification and personal documents
- Passport expiry dates (and whether they need renewing before any upcoming travel)
- Driving licence renewal dates
- National Insurance numbers (useful for tax, benefits, and pension queries)
You don't need to have all of this perfectly organised. You need to have enough of it that when something goes wrong — and something will — you're not searching through old emails at midnight.