Alternative Proofs Of Purchase To Use When Submitting A Claim For Lost Items
When you present a claim for a lost item to your homeowners' insurer, they are likely to request proof of purchase. The purchase receipt is the obvious and ideal proof of purchase. However, this doesn't mean you can't process a claim if you have misplaced the receipt. You may still be able to process your claim if you have these alternatives:
Email Trails
If you ordered the item online, it might be possible to find alternative proof of purchase in your email. For example, the vendor might have sent a confirmation of shipment to your email address. Or you might have corresponded with the vendor on other issues. Just dig through your emails relating to the purchase; if the item has a serial number (SN) (which is the case with most electronic items) or reference number (RN), then finding the email that contains those numbers will unlock a wealth of information via the SN or RN.
Online Payment Platforms
If you paid for the item via an online payment medium, then you may also find proof of purchase by logging into the account. For example, if you bought a piece of jewelry via Paypal, you can log into your Paypal account and go to your account history for information related to the purchase.
Financial Statements
Your financial statements, such as bank or credit card statements, may also come to your rescue if you don't have the original receipt. The financial statement may still be valuable even if it doesn't contain valuable details of the purchase, such as the serial number. For example, it may have the name of the vendor or company that sold the item to you, which you can use to back up your claim.
Videos or Photographs
You can also check videos and photographs of your house to see if they captured the item in question. For example, videos from a nanny camera or closed circuit television (CCTV) and even family photographs may have captured the lost items. Ideally, the videos and photographs should be date stamped and unedited.
Instruction Manuals and Warranties
Even your warranty document or instruction manual may contain information that you can use as proof of purchase. For example, they may list serial numbers, the date of purchase, vendor names and other information you can use to prove you actually bought the item you claim was stolen.
Valuation Reports
Lastly, you may also be in luck if you valued the item in the recent past, and you kept the valuation report. For example, a valuation of a piece of jewelry may contain its condition, grade, color, value, and date of the valuation, among other details. Some valuation reports even have a photograph of the item being valued.
If you would like more information about homeowner's insurance and making a claim, contact Coast Comp Insurance Agency.