Free checklist
A first-party property claim is assessed on scope and valuation. The scope needs measurement and pricing support; the valuation needs a defensible basis for effective age and useful life.
14 items across 4 categories. This is a general guide for a typical claim of this type, not an exhaustive or jurisdiction-specific list. Confirm exact evidentiary requirements with counsel before submission.
Depreciation is where most property claims are disputed. Documenting how effective age was determined and which age/life tables were relied on is what separates a negotiable position from an assertion.
A checklist is only useful if you know why each item is on it. Reviewers do not ask for records to be thorough; they ask because each one answers a specific question that the calculation on its own cannot.
What it proves. Determines whether the policy pays actual cash value or replacement cost, how ACV is defined and which endorsements alter either. Coverage disputes usually resolve inside the form.
Where it comes from. Your carrier or broker. Request the complete form with all endorsements, not the summary.
What it proves. Sets limits, deductibles, effective dates and named insureds. It also confirms which policy period the loss falls in.
Where it comes from. Carrier or broker. Get the dec page in force on the date of loss.
What it proves. Anticipates the argument that some of the damage predates this event and supports an effective-age determination.
Where it comes from. Prior claim files and the property's CLUE report if you can obtain it.
What it proves. Establishes the extent of damage before repairs begin. Once mitigation starts, unphotographed damage becomes very hard to claim.
Where it comes from. Take them yourself before anything is touched, plus whatever the adjuster and any mitigation contractor captured.
What it proves. Quantities drive the estimate. A scope disagreement is often really a measurement disagreement.
Where it comes from. Your own measurements or the estimator's sketch. Note ceiling heights and openings, not just floor area.
What it proves. Ties the damage to a covered peril. Without it, causation is the carrier's argument to make rather than yours to rebut.
Where it comes from. A retained engineer. The carrier's own expert report is discoverable and worth requesting.
What it proves. Documents the extent of water intrusion into materials that look undamaged, which is where scope disputes concentrate on water losses.
Where it comes from. The mitigation contractor's moisture logs, taken at the time of drying.
What it proves. The scope, priced. Each line is separately reviewable, which is the point: a lump sum invites a lump-sum counter.
Where it comes from. Your contractor or estimator, ideally in the same estimating platform the carrier uses.
What it proves. Independent corroboration that the estimated pricing is what the market actually charges.
Where it comes from. Two or three bids per major trade. One bid is a price; three is evidence.
What it proves. Supports unit pricing where an estimating database is out of date, which matters most on materials that have moved sharply.
Where it comes from. Suppliers, dated as close to the repair period as possible.
What it proves. Permits and code-required upgrades are frequently omitted from a first estimate and then disputed as an add-on.
Where it comes from. The local building department's published fee schedule.
What it proves. Depreciation is age divided by useful life. Effective age is a judgement and an undocumented one is where most of the disagreement in an ACV dispute sits.
Where it comes from. Roof or system installation records, permit history, prior inspection reports, or a contractor's condition assessment.
What it proves. Names the source for useful life so the number is traceable rather than asserted. Different tables give materially different answers.
Where it comes from. Published depreciation guides, the carrier's own tables where disclosed, or manufacturer's stated service life.
What it proves. Identifies the second payment you are owed once repairs complete and starts the clock on any statutory window for collecting it.
Where it comes from. The carrier's estimate and payment worksheet, which should show ACV paid and depreciation withheld as separate figures.
These are the omissions that cost real money, in rough order of how often they come up.
Once drying, demolition or board-up begins, undocumented damage is effectively gone. Photograph everything before anything is touched, including areas you assume are undamaged.
Depreciation turns on age over useful life. If nobody can say where the effective age came from, the entire ACV figure is open.
A growing number of states bar depreciating the labour portion of a repair. Check the state rule before applying depreciation to the full amount, because this moves the number materially.
Several states set a window for completing repairs and claiming the withheld depreciation. Missing it forfeits the second payment entirely.
The estimate is replacement cost: what the repair costs at today's prices. Actual cash value is that figure reduced for depreciation. Under a replacement cost policy the carrier typically pays ACV first and releases the withheld depreciation once repairs are complete.
Not on every loss, but on any loss where causation could be disputed, which includes most water and most structural damage. Without one, causation becomes the carrier's argument to frame.
Two or three per major trade. A single bid is just a price; several from independent contractors is evidence of what the market charges.
The ClaimDuke calculator carries this same checklist. Tick what you already have and add your own items and they carry through to the Excel workbook, the Word document and the PDF report you export, so what you hand over shows exactly which records are in the file and which are still outstanding.
Free to calculate, with a free one-page summary. Paid reports add your branding, a live-formula Excel workbook and the cited methodology behind every line.
Evidentiary expectations and the underlying entitlement both vary by jurisdiction. ClaimDuke carries a cited reference for all 50 states + DC covering statutory interest, actual cash value and labor depreciation, delay-claim limits and injury liability.
