The Lost or Damaged Property Claim SOP

Purpose

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is the written, repeatable process every person follows the same way, so a customer's claim is handled fairly whether it is obviously true, clearly false, or somewhere in the murky middle. A property claim is when a customer says something of theirs was damaged, lost, or went missing connected to your visit. Unlike damage a tech sees happen and reports on the spot, a claim often lands later, by phone, sometimes days after the job, and sometimes as an accusation of theft. How you run the intake and investigation decides whether a legitimate claim gets made right, a false one gets declined without a blowup, and your tech is treated fairly either way. This SOP is the claim process, from the call to the resolution.

Scope

Applies to any claim by a customer that property was damaged, lost, or stolen in connection with your service, reported after the fact rather than caught on site. Covers intake, investigation, the valid-or-not decision, resolution, and closing the record. Damage a tech causes and reports in the moment follows the property damage protocol; this SOP handles the claim that comes to you, including allegations that something is missing.

Roles and responsibilities

Procedure

1. Take the claim seriously and get the full account

However the claim arrives, the first response is to listen and take it seriously, not to defend or dismiss. Get the complete account on the record: what is damaged, lost, or missing, when they noticed, and what they believe happened. A customer who feels brushed off escalates straight to a review or a lawyer. Acknowledge the concern and commit to looking into it, without admitting or denying fault before you know the facts.

2. Open a claim record and set expectations

Open a record and log every detail while it is fresh. Tell the customer exactly what happens next and by when: that you will investigate and get back to them within a specific, short timeframe. Vagueness here breeds anxiety and anger. A clear next step and a real deadline buys you the room to investigate properly instead of being pushed into an answer you have not earned.

3. Handle a missing-property claim with extra care

A claim that something was stolen is different from a damage claim: it is an accusation against a person, and it can be a genuine loss, an honest misremember of where they put something, or occasionally a false claim. Take it seriously and investigate it the same as any other, but do not accuse your tech or the customer before the facts are in. This is the claim most likely to explode in both directions, so keep it factual and calm on all sides.

4. Investigate from the evidence, not from loyalty or fear

Gather the facts: the job record and notes, any before-and-after or arrival photos, the tech's account, timestamps, who had access to the area, and any pre-work walkthrough documentation. Weigh the evidence, not who you like. A pre-work walkthrough that documented the area's condition is often the single most decisive record, which is exactly why capturing it up front pays off here. Do not decide before you have looked.

5. Decide valid, invalid, or unclear, and be honest about which

Reach a clear finding. If the evidence shows you caused it, own it and move to resolution. If the evidence shows you did not, prepare to decline with the facts. If it is genuinely unclear, weigh the size of the claim against the relationship and the reputational stakes; a small, unclear claim is often worth resolving on goodwill, while a large or suspicious one needs the evidence to hold. Name which of the three it is rather than fudging.

6. Resolve a valid claim promptly and completely

For a claim you own, fix it cleanly: repair or replace, matched to the original, on a committed schedule, and loop in your general liability carrier when the loss is significant enough to warrant it. Half-fixing a legitimate claim is worse than not engaging, because now you have admitted it and still left the customer unhappy. Resolve it fully and confirm the customer is satisfied.

7. Decline an invalid claim with respect and evidence

When the evidence shows you are not responsible, decline without hostility. Walk the customer through what you found, show the documentation, and stay calm even if they do not. Some will accept an honest explanation; some will not, and that is the cost of not paying every claim regardless of merit. Document the decision and the basis for it, because a declined claim is the one most likely to resurface as a review or a dispute.

Watch out for

• Getting defensive on the first call. Listen first; a brushed-off customer escalates immediately.
• Accusing anyone before the facts. A theft claim explodes in both directions; keep it factual.
• Deciding by loyalty instead of evidence. Weigh the record; the pre-work walkthrough often settles it.
• Half-resolving a valid claim. Once you own it, fix it fully or you own it and the anger both.

References

• Standard general liability insurance claim procedures
• See related: Customer Property Damage Protocol; Field Photo Documentation Before During After Protocol
• Trade-standard practice for customer claim handling