Claims Management & Advocacy
What to do after a loss.
A practical reference for the first hours. If people are in danger, contact emergency services first.
- 01
Protect people
Address immediate safety first. If emergency services are required, contact them.
- 02
Prevent further damage
Take reasonable steps to protect property and operations where safe and appropriate. Do not make repairs that destroy important evidence unless necessary for safety or mitigation.
- 03
Document the loss
Where it is safe to do so, capture what happened while the details are still fresh.
- Photographs
- Video
- Damaged property
- Affected areas
- Incident details
- Witnesses
- Timeline
- Receipts and expenses
- 04
Notify the appropriate people
Who needs to know depends on the situation. This may include:
- The Duncan Group
- Insurer
- Claims administrator
- Property manager
- Landlord
- Legal counsel
- Emergency vendors
- Internal leadership
- 05
Preserve records
Maintain the information that may be needed to substantiate the loss, where applicable:
- Invoices
- Repair estimates
- Payroll information
- Sales records
- Inventory
- Contracts
- Communications
- Expenses
- Damaged property information
- 06
Keep a claim log
A single running record keeps the process from fragmenting across email and memory.
- Contacts
- Dates
- Conversations
- Requests
- Documents submitted
- Open questions
- Commitments
- Next steps
- 07
Stay engaged
Claims can involve multiple parties and long timelines. Understand what information is outstanding and what happens next.
This page provides general informational guidance only and does not constitute legal advice, coverage advice for a specific claim, emergency response advice or public adjusting services. Specific circumstances may require guidance from the insurer, legal counsel, emergency professionals or other qualified specialists.