Guide
A checklist to run before a claim is submitted
Nothing on this list is difficult. All of it is easy to skip on a Friday afternoon, which is exactly when most claims get written.
In short
Most of this checklist is trivial in the bay and impossible three weeks later. Move the capture to the repair and the claim gets easy.
Before the machine leaves the shop
Failure photographed — the fracture, wear pattern, or contamination, not just the component. Once the part is scrapped this cannot be recreated.
Meter reading taken from the machine — at failure, off the display, not from the last service record.
Serial verified against the plate — not transcribed from the invoice or the delivery note.
Failed part retained if the programme may want it — check your dealer policy manual for what your programme expects and for how long.
Before the claim is written
Causal part identified — which part failed and caused the repair, distinct from the list of parts replaced.
Codes mapped to the failure — aggregate, sub-aggregate, part and defect codes describing what actually happened rather than what was fitted.
Complaint, cause and correction written for a stranger — readable by someone who was not in your shop and is not in your trade.
Before it is submitted
Rates checked against the current schedule — not carried across from a previous similar claim, because schedules change and a stale rate is a bounce.
Submission date inside your window — measured from whatever event your programme says starts the clock, which may not be the one you assume.
The two habits that make the list redundant
First: capture evidence at the repair rather than at the claim. Almost everything on this checklist is trivial while the machine is in the bay and impossible three weeks later. A shop that photographs failures as a matter of course has removed the most common denial category without anyone doing warranty work at all.
Second: separate writing claims from running the service department. Not necessarily by outsourcing — by making it a scheduled block of somebody's week rather than the thing that happens when nothing else is on fire. Claims written under time pressure fail on this checklist in predictable places.
We are, obviously, in the business of being the answer to the second one. The first one costs nothing and you should do it regardless.
Related guides
- How long do equipment dealers have to file a warranty claim?
Filing windows vary by manufacturer and programme. What matters more than the number is knowing what starts the clock and how long your claims actually take.
- Why equipment warranty claims get denied
Most denials fall into four categories. Only one of them — genuine ineligibility — means the money is actually gone. The other three are fixable.
- How to build a warranty claim evidence package
A complete claim file answers the approver's questions before they are asked: causal part, failure evidence, meter reading, verified serial, and a trail tying them together.
- How to reduce warranty claim aging in a service department
Warranty claim aging is caused by claims competing with work that has deadlines. Measure the lag per claim, then fix the queue rather than the people.
If you would rather not do this yourself
That is what we are for
We prepare, document, and submit manufacturer warranty claims for equipment dealerships. Bring a month of repair orders and your last few denials to a call, and you will get a straight answer about what is recoverable — whether or not you hire us.