Contents insurance claim: what to do after a burglary, fire or water damage

Tell your insurer as soon as you can, and report burglary and theft to the police. Photograph the damage before you clean up, and keep what is broken. Then make a list of what was lost or damaged, with the price and proof for each item. The checklists below give the order. The examples come from Norwegian insurers; your own policy decides what applies to you.

First: make sure everyone is safe

Call the emergency services if anyone is in danger or something is on fire (in Norway, 112 for the police and 110 for fire). Your things can wait.

After a burglary or theft

1. Call the police if you think you are in danger.
2. Take photos of where the burglar got in, and of the rooms, before you clean up.
3. Report it to the police. In Norway you can report theft, burglary and vandalism online at politiet.no. Insurers usually want a copy of the report.
4. Repair the point of entry, such as the door or window.
5. Report the claim to your insurer.
6. List what was taken: what it is, brand and model, when it was bought, what it cost, and the receipt or other proof.
7. If a bike was stolen, give the police its frame number. If, the insurer, says it improves the chance of getting it back.

After a fire

1. Call the fire service if something is burning.
2. Report the fire to the police if your insurer requires it; Storebrand does.
3. Take photos and video of the damage before anything is cleared away.
4. Keep what is damaged until your insurer tells you what to do with it.
5. Report the claim. For major damage, call your insurer directly; many have a claims line open around the clock.

After water damage

1. Close the main water valve and call a plumber.
2. Move furniture and belongings away from the water, and dry up what you can.
3. Take photos or video that show both the cause and how far the damage goes.
4. Report the claim. Your insurer decides whether someone needs to inspect it.

How to document what was lost or damaged

Your insurer needs to know what you had and what it was worth. For each item:

• What it is, with brand and model.
• When you bought it, because age often decides how much is deducted.
• What it cost, and where you bought it.
• The receipt or other proof, such as a valuation or photos.
• Photos from before the damage. If you have a home inventory with photos of every room, this is where it pays off.

Keep receipts for what you have to pay after the event too, such as repairs, a plumber or a new lock.

Excess and depreciation

The excess is deducted from the payout, and many insurers also deduct for age and wear. The rules are in your policy terms and differ between insurers. Read more about value and depreciation in the home inventory guide.

Deadlines

Report the claim as soon as you can. Policies and laws set deadlines; in Norway, the Insurance Contracts Act (§ 8-5) says you lose the right to compensation if the claim is not reported within one year of learning the facts behind it.

A claim report in HYSI

With your things in HYSI, you make the insurance report straight from the app. You choose the items that were lost or damaged and add your policy and claim numbers on the cover. Then you add what happened: the kind of event, when and where, and whether the police know. Each item gets a status: stolen, lost, damaged or destroyed. You can attach photos of the damage and documents from after the event, such as a repair quote or the price of a new item. The report is a PDF with photos, prices and the receipts attached, and you send it yourself from your phone. HYSI keeps nothing about the claim on its servers. Your insurer decides what it accepts as proof. See an example insurance report (in Norwegian).