The household go-file — the collection of essential documents that travels with the family in an emergency — is the piece of preparedness that’s easiest to defer and most immediately costly when it doesn’t exist. Filing an insurance claim without policy numbers, applying for disaster assistance without proof of address or ownership, or arriving at a shelter without identification: these aren’t administrative inconveniences, they’re multi-day delays during the most stressful period a household will experience.
The go-file takes an afternoon to build, fits in a single waterproof bag, and requires a brief update once a year.
The document list
Identity documents
- Government-issued photo ID for every adult in the household. Copies are adequate for most purposes in a disaster or shelter context; originals are better for anything requiring verification.
- Passports if held (they function as identity + citizenship documentation, and having them available avoids a secondary replacement queue).
- Birth certificates for all household members, including children.
- Social Security cards (or Social Security numbers written in the document bag — these aren’t often needed but are part of disaster assistance applications).
- Immigration documents for any household member who has them.
Property and financial documents
- Homeowners or renters insurance policy. Both the policy number and the insurer’s claims contact number — you should not have to search for the number while filing a claim.
- Flood insurance policy if separate (common when flood coverage is through the NFIP).
- Vehicle insurance policy and contact numbers.
- Mortgage statement or lease agreement — proof of address and occupancy for disaster assistance applications.
- Property deed or lease (or the first page showing your name and address).
- Vehicle titles if accessible.
- Bank account numbers — enough information to access or prove your accounts, not the full statement. A single printed page with account numbers and institution contact numbers.
Medical documents
- Current medication list for every household member: drug name, dose, prescribing doctor, and the condition it treats. This is the document emergency responders and shelter medical staff ask for; a complete medication list does more practical good than the pill bottles themselves.
- Insurance cards (health insurance) — copies.
- Summary of significant medical conditions for any household member with complex medical history, relevant allergies, or device dependencies (CPAP, pacemaker, insulin pump).
- Prescription copies for controlled medications, where available, in case an emergency refill is needed.
- Vaccination records for pets if any household members will be evacuating with animals.
Contact information
- Out-of-area contact name and number (see the out-of-area contact guide).
- Household members’ phone numbers written out — phones die, and the numbers stored in them aren’t always in memory.
- Key contacts: doctor, veterinarian, insurance agents, bank, utilities.
- School emergency contact procedures and the non-custodial pickup list if relevant.
Photos
- Two to four recent photographs of each family member. In a shelter-based or post-displacement scenario, photos used for identification and reunification have been consistently cited in disaster response as valuable, particularly for reunifying separated children with parents.
- A photo of you with each pet. The standard documentation for pet reunification at shelters and emergency animal facilities.
Storage format
Physical copy in a waterproof bag. The go-file needs to survive being grabbed on the way out the door, potentially getting rained on, and possibly being carried for several days. A ziplock gallon-size bag inside a slightly larger bag, or a purpose-built waterproof document pouch (sold at outdoor retailers), works. Do not rely on a manila folder — they disintegrate in water.
Digital backup in encrypted cloud storage. Photograph or scan every document and store them in an encrypted location you can access from any device: a password-manager vault, encrypted cloud storage, or a secure document service. This is the backup when the physical file is unavailable — if the house burns down, the digital copies let you proceed with recovery. Do not rely on this as the primary format; it requires internet access, device availability, and the presence of mind to locate and access it during a stressful departure.
What stays at home. Originals of documents that have permanent significance (birth certificates, passports, deed) should stay in a fireproof and waterproof home safe during non-emergency periods. The go-file carries copies; originals are retrieved if there’s time, or replaced later if there isn’t.
Where the go-file lives day-to-day
It needs to be accessible, not filed away. Options:
- A specific shelf in the hall closet nearest the exit, right above the emergency kit
- A dedicated slot in the grab bag that lives near the kit
- A drawer in a piece of furniture near the front door
The location must be known to every adult in the household and retrievable in the dark and under stress. “I know I filed the insurance policy somewhere” is not a go-file.
Annual update checklist
Once a year — pair it with the twice-yearly kit check in the spring — review:
- Are all ID cards current and unexpired?
- Do insurance policy copies reflect the current policy term and numbers?
- Is the medication list current for every household member?
- Are phone numbers on the contact card current?
- Have any household members been added (new baby, new partner, new pet)?
- Are school and care facility contact procedures still accurate?
This review takes twenty minutes. The consequences of skipping it accumulate quietly: the expired ID, the outdated insurance policy number, the old school address — none of these matter until they matter enormously.
What the go-file enables
The documents don’t make the emergency go away. They make recovery faster and more complete. Insurance claims require policy numbers and proof of ownership. FEMA disaster assistance applications require proof of address and identity. Shelter intake uses identification. Medical care proceeds better with a medication list than without one. Pet reunification uses photos.
A household that has built and maintained this file will move through the administrative layer of recovery in hours rather than days — and will avoid the specific frustration of being unable to prove their own identity and ownership at the moment it most matters.
FAQ
Should originals or copies go in the go-file?
For most documents, copies in the go-file are adequate for disaster context use; originals stay in a secure home location (fireproof safe, safety deposit box) and are retrieved if time allows. Passports and government photo IDs are worth having originals accessible for international travel contexts; for domestic disaster use, copies suffice. When in doubt, a copy plus a digital backup is more recoverable than an original that doesn’t survive the event.
What if I don’t have a fireproof safe?
A good waterproof bag in the go-file, plus cloud-backed digital copies, is a reasonable baseline without a safe. If originals are a significant concern (irreplaceable documents, high-value items), a renter-accessible safety deposit box is available at most banks for modest annual cost.
How do I store sensitive documents digitally without security risk?
Use a reputable password manager’s secure notes feature, an encrypted cloud storage provider, or a dedicated secure document service. The minimum is that the files are password-protected and not sitting in an unencrypted folder in a standard cloud sync. For Social Security numbers and financial account numbers specifically, a password-manager entry (not a scanned image) is preferable.
Do I need to bring the go-file if I’m just sheltering at a neighbor’s house?
For a short-duration local event (minor power outage, a night at a neighbor’s), probably not. The go-file’s value scales with the duration and displacement distance of the event — the longer you may be away and the further from home, the more those documents matter.