An email about three crushed pallets
A customer emails three weeks after delivery. Three pallets of boxed goods arrived crushed, and they want the value credited. The delivery note in the file says 'received in good condition', or does it? The scan is fuzzy. The driver who did the run is on nights this week. His photos, if he took any, are on his phone. The loading was done by the customer's own staff at the collection point, and whether the load was properly secured by them or by your driver is something nobody wrote down.
So begins a month of emails between your office, the customer, the driver and your insurer, each asking for something the others have to go and find.
Why claims are so slow to answer
The problem is rarely the claim itself. It is that the facts needed to answer it were never collected together, and every day that passes makes them harder to find.
- Clausing on delivery notes is only read when paperwork is sorted, days later.
- Driver photos stay on personal phones, or are never taken.
- Collection paperwork and loading notes are filed separately from the delivery.
- Tracking and temperature data expire from the telematics system after a period.
- Claims are tracked in the inbox, so deadlines and the claim's status are easy to lose.
What the drag costs
Claims that cannot be answered with evidence tend to be settled against you, simply because you cannot show otherwise. The time spent assembling evidence after the fact comes out of the office's week. Deadlines set by your terms or your insurer can be missed. And customers judge you on how a problem is handled at least as much as on the problem itself, so a slow, uncertain answer does more damage than three crushed pallets.
The claims file we build
- Drivers capture photos at collection and delivery in the driver app, especially of how the load looked when loaded and when the doors were opened. Clausing is recorded at the moment of delivery.
- A claim file opens automatically when a POD shows clausing, or when the office logs a customer report against a load.
- The file pulls together everything about that load: collection and delivery paperwork, photos, the tracking trail and stop times, temperature data if relevant, driver and vehicle, and any subcontractor involved.
- Every email with the customer, insurer or subcontractor is attached to the file, with dates.
- Deadlines you set from your terms or insurer's requirements are tracked, with reminders before they pass.
- When the claim goes to your insurer or broker, the pack is exported as one document. The outcome is recorded, and reports show claims by customer, lane and cause.
| Evidence | Where it is today | In the claim file |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery clausing | On paper, read days later | Recorded at delivery |
| Photos | Driver's phone, maybe | Attached to the load |
| Tracking trail | Telematics, until it expires | Saved when the claim opens |
| Correspondence | Several inboxes | Filed with dates |
| Deadlines | Remembered | Tracked with reminders |
Handling a claim afterwards
When a claim arrives, the answer starts with a file that already exists, not a hunt. You can reply to the customer quickly with the facts: what the load looked like at collection, when it arrived, what was signed. Some claims are resolved at that point. Others go to your insurer with a complete pack. Across the year, you can see whether damage clusters around a customer, a site or a type of load, which is usually more useful than any single claim.
Decisions about liability and settlement stay with you, your terms and your insurer. We build the file, not the verdict.
Is this how claims go for you?
- Claims arrive weeks after delivery and you cannot find the evidence.
- Drivers do not routinely photograph loads.
- Clausing is spotted when paperwork is sorted, not on the day.
- Claims are tracked in email threads.
- You settle claims because you cannot show otherwise.