Do I need an FIR for a burglary insurance claim?

In practice, yes, and its timing matters. File it as soon as the loss is discovered rather than waiting until you have established exactly what is missing.

Why does my burglary policy talk about force and violence?

Many burglary covers respond only to entry or exit by forcible and violent means, so the physical evidence at the point of entry should not be repaired or cleared before the surveyor sees it.

Report it, then leave the scene exactly as the thieves left it.

A burglary claim needs two things a business rarely produces in the first panic: an untouched scene, and a specific list of what is gone.

In orderFile a police report immediately; tell the insurer the same day; do not touch the point of entry; photograph the scene before anyone tidies; build the list from records, not memory; note what security was in place and working; give the police the itemised list too; report recovered goods immediately.

Procedure/First 72 hours/Burglary Claim

What loses itTidying the premises and then producing a round-figure list of losses. Both look like reconstruction, and both invite the insurer to treat the claim as unproven rather than dishonest -- which pays the same.

Red is the same day. The order is the whole point.

File a police report immediatelyThe FIR is the first document every insurer asks for and its timing is examined. File it the moment the loss is discovered, not after you have worked out what is missing.Immediately
Tell the insurer the same dayBefore the list is complete. The intimation and the itemised loss are two different documents and only the first one is urgent.Same day
Do not touch the point of entryThe broken lock, the cut shutter, the forced window, the hole in the wall. Most burglary covers respond to entry by force and violence, so the physical evidence of forced entry is the cover.Until surveyed
Photograph the scene before anyone tidiesThe entry point in detail, the disturbed area, the emptied racks, the security arrangements as they stood. Pull the CCTV immediately and copy it off the recorder -- most overwrite within days.Day 1
Build the list from records, not memoryStock registers, purchase invoices, serial numbers, the last physical count, GST records. An itemised list that reconciles to your books is worth several times a list of round figures.Days 1 to 5
Note what security was in place and workingGuards on duty, alarm armed, shutters locked, CCTV recording. Many policies carry warranties about protections, and the honest position stated up front is far better than one discovered by a surveyor.Day 1
Give the police the itemised list tooThe insurer will compare the FIR, the police final report and your claim. Three lists that do not match is one of the commonest reasons a genuine burglary claim gets stuck.Days 2 to 7
Report recovered goods immediatelyIf the police recover anything, tell the insurer straight away, whatever stage the claim has reached.If recovered

The quiet oneUnderinsurance. If the sum insured is below the value actually at risk, the average clause reduces the claim in proportion however well the rest of it is run. Check where you stand. It takes three numbers and nothing is stored.

Fire Claim

A fire, explosion, lightning strike or impact loss at a business premises.

Cyber Incident Claim

Ransomware, business email compromise, data breach or a systems intrusion.

The letter that starts it: Intimation of loss.

Take this with you as a text file. It opens with no signal, prints on one page, and forwards to whoever is actually standing at the loss.

FIR done and the loss list still not adding up?

Whoever placed your policy, and whatever stage the claim has reached.

Report a loss Call 92514 56334

Cite this page

Burglary Claim: The First 24 Hours, Claims Desk by RFS, https://claimsdesk.in/procedures/burglary. Checked 13 September 2026.

Quote it, link to it, or reproduce it with the address attached. If you are writing about a claim and need the rule behind a line here, the desk will point you at the source: press and citation.

Three deadlines

Tell the insurer now, not after the assessment.
Notice to anybody else responsible the carrier, the contractor, the police, within the time your policy sets.
Every document within the time the insurer asks for it.