Can they deny my claim just because they investigated it?

We cannot tell you how your claim will be decided. What we can say is that a claim supported by dated documents, with an account that has not changed, is a different thing to assess than one built from memory.

They're asking for years of bank statements. Is that normal?

Broad requests do happen in these reviews. Whether you have to provide what is asked, and what the limits are, depends on your policy and your state — your policy document and your state's insurance regulator are where that is set out, and it is a fair thing to ask them to point to in writing.

I don't have receipts for most of it.

Most people don't. Photographs, card statements, the original listing, a manual still in the drawer, the box in the garage — all of it speaks to what you owned. Where you have nothing, say so rather than estimating confidently.

Is what I write here private?

Yes. It is your account, in your account, and nothing leaves it unless you send it.

If you're answering

Your insurer is investigating your claim

Your claim has stopped moving, or a letter has arrived from a unit you have not dealt with before, or somebody has asked you for a recorded statement. Here is what is usually going on and what to do about it.

Start your side of it Read a real one

Free to build. $59 once, for this case, if you want to download the finished file.

Last updated Oct 10, 2026

What this usually means

Insurers route some claims to a separate team that looks at them more closely. Claims get there for ordinary reasons as often as suspicious ones: the amount is large, the loss happened soon after the policy started, there was no police report, the documentation is thin, something in your account changed between one call and the next, or the type of loss is one they see a lot of.

A referral is not an accusation. What it does mean is that from here on, your claim is going to be checked rather than processed, and the things that decide it are dates, documents and whether your account stays consistent.

What sinks honest claims

This is the part worth taking seriously, because it is almost never dishonesty.

It is inconsistency. You told the first adjuster the television was three years old. Six weeks later you say four. You said the water started on a Tuesday; the plumber's invoice says Monday. You estimated the laptop from memory and the receipt, when you finally found it, said several hundred dollars less.

None of that is lying. All of it is somebody guessing from memory, weeks apart, about things they never wrote down. But to a reviewer working from a file, a claim where the details move is a claim that cannot be verified — and that is the finding that costs people their payout.

The defense is dull and completely effective: write it down once, early, and never guess again.

Start today

Write your account of the loss, in order, with dates and times, before anybody asks you for it again. What happened, when you noticed, what you did, who you called, when they came, what they said, what you have thrown away and what you still have.

Then pull your own documents rather than relying on theirs:

Everything you have already sent them, and the dates you sent it.
Receipts, bank statements or card statements showing what you bought and when.
Photographs from before the loss — birthdays, Christmas, moving day. Your furniture and electronics are in the background of them, on a date. Find the date a photo or video was taken
Photographs of the damage, including the ones you took on the day.
The repairer’s, plumber’s or contractor’s own paperwork.
The police or fire report number if there is one.
Your policy documents and your claim number.
Every message, email and letter with the insurer, in full.

Before a recorded statement or interview

You may be asked to give a statement under oath, or a recorded interview. That is a normal step in this kind of review, and it is also the single moment where most people damage their own claim.

Three things:

Read your own written account the night before. Not to memorize it — so that what you say matches what you have already put in writing.
"I don't know" and "I'd have to check" are proper answers. Guessing at a date, a price or an age and being wrong is what creates the inconsistency that matters.
Write up what you were asked, the same day. Question and answer, in order. You will not get a copy of the recording for a long time, if at all.

Whether to have a lawyer present is a real question at this stage and not one this page can answer for you. If the amount at stake is significant, it is worth at least one conversation.

What to leave alone

Don't throw out the damaged items until you are told in writing that you can. It is the most common unforced error in a property claim.
Don't round numbers up. One inflated figure makes a reviewer reopen everything.
Don't add items you remembered later without saying so. A late addition described as a late addition is fine. One that quietly appears is not.
Don't talk to them on the phone and leave it there. Write up what was said and email it back. How to write down a phone call
Don't post about the loss or the claim anywhere. It is routinely looked at.

What your side looks like when it is in order

BuildMyEvidence is a place to put it. You record what happened and attach what you already have. Everything gets a date and a number.

For a claim under review, that gives you:

One chronology of the loss and of every contact with the insurer since.
Your items, listed and numbered, each with whatever supports it — receipt, photograph, statement line.
A dated note of every call, written the same day, in question-and-answer form.
Your own statement, in your words, numbered, with a page at the end to sign by hand.
Your documents, in the same order as the chronology, with the numbers matching.

You can read every page in full before you pay. The screen copy carries preview marks across it. The file you download is clean, and it is $59 once, for this case. What the $59 covers

It is a record, not an adjuster and not a lawyer. It does not tell you what your claim is worth. It makes your account checkable, which is the thing the review is testing.

Start your side of it

Read one that is already written

Two of our four worked examples are written from this side — somebody answering something they did not start. You can open them and read every page, free.

Case 004 · answering a claimA withheld deposit, from the landlord's side$1,450 held back on a $2,000 deposit. One side had photo pairs twenty-one months apart; the other had a recollection.Case 002 · answering a complaintAccused of the noise, from the other side of the fenceSeven complaints over four months. What the accused neighbor had was a work calendar, and it did more than he expected.

Questions people ask

Can they deny my claim just because they investigated it?: We cannot tell you how your claim will be decided. What we can say is that a claim supported by dated documents, with an account that has not changed, is a different thing to assess than one built from memory.
They're asking for years of bank statements. Is that normal?: Broad requests do happen in these reviews. Whether you have to provide what is asked, and what the limits are, depends on your policy and your state — your policy document and your state's insurance regulator are where that is set out, and it is a fair thing to ask them to point to in writing.
I don't have receipts for most of it.: Most people don't. Photographs, card statements, the original listing, a manual still in the drawer, the box in the garage — all of it speaks to what you owned. Where you have nothing, say so rather than estimating confidently.
Is what I write here private?: Yes. It is your account, in your account, and nothing leaves it unless you send it. Privacy

Start your side of it

Free to build · $59 once if you download it