Business insurance claim checklist

The first days after a loss decide how smoothly a claim goes. Evidence disappears, deadlines run and people say things they should not. This checklist puts the steps for six kinds of claim in order and gives you one place for the facts an adjuster will ask for.

How to use it

1. Pick the type of claim: property damage (fire, water, storm, theft), liability, commercial auto, workers' comp, cyber incident or crime. The list below it changes to match.
2. Tick each step as you finish it. A progress count and a Next line show where you are. The lists run to 9 steps for property and cyber, 8 for liability, auto and workers' comp, and 7 for crime.
3. Fill in the incident notes: date and time, location, what happened, people involved, witnesses, police or fire report number, photos and where they are kept, notice given to the insurer (date, how and to whom), claim number, adjuster contact, and anything else. Your phone, email and the adjuster's letters are the sources.
4. Use Print for a paper copy, Download as text for a file named claim-notes.txt that includes the steps you ticked, or Save on this device to keep both in your browser. There is one set of notes shared across claim types. Do not save claim details on a computer other people use.

The math

There is no calculation. Progress is the number of ticked steps out of the steps in the list, such as 3 of 9. The Next line shows the first step you have not ticked.

Assumptions and limits

• These are general steps. Your policy's conditions control: notice, cooperation, proof of loss and suit-limitation clauses differ by form and by state. Read yours or ask your agent.
• Several steps carry hard deadlines. The standard ISO property form (CP 00 10) requires a sworn proof of loss within 60 days after the insurer asks for it, and other forms differ. In workers' comp, OSHA requires a fatality to be reported within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours (29 CFR 1904.39). State comp deadlines vary.
• In liability claims, do not admit fault or make voluntary payments, and send any demand letter, summons or lawsuit to the insurer immediately. Tender to any party whose policy names you as an additional insured.
• In a cyber incident, call the insurer's claims or breach line before hiring vendors, and do not pay a ransom without the insurer and counsel, because sanctions rules may forbid it. Contain systems but do not wipe them yet.
• In a crime claim, call your bank first to stop or recall a transfer, and talk to counsel before confronting an employee.
• The tool does not know your policy, your coverage or whether the loss is covered. Reporting a claim does not mean it will be paid.
• A public adjuster or attorney may be worth hiring for a large or disputed loss. This tool does not replace that advice.

For the full process see how to file a business insurance claim, step by step, the pitfalls in the most common mistakes businesses make with claims and why timing matters in notice of claim and late notice: why timing matters. Type-specific guidance is in the commercial property claim process, step by step, the workers' comp claims process for employers, and what happens when you file a cyber claim. The glossary defines a notice of claim and a proof of loss.

Where the figures come from

• OSHA reporting deadlines: OSHA, Report a work-related fatality, hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye.