BURGLARY CLAIM: THE FIRST 24 HOURS
The first 72 hours, from Claims Desk by RFS

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.

WHAT LOSES IT
Tidying 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.

1. File a police report immediately  [Immediately]
   The 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.

2. Tell the insurer the same day  [Same day]
   Before the list is complete. The intimation and the itemised loss
   are two different documents and only the first one is urgent.

3. Do not touch the point of entry  [Until surveyed]
   The 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.

4. Photograph the scene before anyone tidies  [Day 1]
   The 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.

5. Build the list from records, not memory  [Days 1 to 5]
   Stock 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.

6. Note what security was in place and working  [Day 1]
   Guards 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.

7. Give the police the itemised list too  [Days 2 to 7]
   The 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.

8. Report recovered goods immediately  [If recovered]
   If the police recover anything, tell the insurer straight away,
   whatever stage the claim has reached.

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Claims Desk by RFS - claimsdesk.in - 92514 56334
We run insurance claims end to end, including on policies placed
elsewhere. Nothing here is legal advice, and what your policy pays
is decided by its wording and the facts of the loss. Where this
says 'the time your policy sets', read your own wording: the
periods genuinely differ and a wrong one costs the claim.