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Customer Claims and Damage Handling

Claims management program covering how the facility receives, logs, investigates, and resolves claims for damaged, short, or mis-shipped goods, including a single claim register with acknowledgement and resolution clocks, an evidence pack assembled before any liability discussion, a written liability determination against the storage or service agreement, financial handling of approved claims and carrier recovery, and monthly trending that feeds root causes back into corrective action so the same claim stops repeating.

Audience
The operations manager, the account or client services manager who faces the customer, the inventory and QA leads who assemble evidence, and the supervisors whose areas generate or receive claims
Review cycle
annual
Last reviewed
2026-08-29
Revision
1

What is in the procedure

8 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.

  1. 01

    Purpose

    Fixed

    This procedure defines how the facility handles a claim: a customer, carrier, or consignee asserting that goods were damaged, lost, short, or shipped wrong while under this facility's care.

  2. 02

    Scope

    Customized

    This procedure applies to every claim asserted against the facility regardless of who raises it: a customer claiming damage or shortage found at their end, a consignee refusing product on delivery, a carrier disputing a...

  3. 03

    Responsibilities

    Customized

    The claims owner administers the register: logs every claim, assigns a claim number, starts the clocks, chases the investigation, and closes the claim with a written determination.

  4. 04

    Procedure: Intake, Claim Number, and the Acknowledgement Clock

    Customized

    1. Every claim is logged in the claim register on the day it is received, before anyone forms an opinion about whether it is valid.

  5. 05

    Procedure: Investigation and the Evidence Pack

    Customized

    1. The investigation answers a narrow question: what does the record show happened to these specific goods while they were here, and when did they leave in what condition.

  6. 06

    Procedure: Liability Determination, Resolution, and Recovery

    Customized

    1. The claims owner writes a determination that states, in plain language: what was claimed, what the evidence shows, what the facility concludes, and what happens next.

  7. 07

    Trending, Prevention, and Customer Review

    Customized

    1. Every closed claim is coded with a root cause category such as pick error, packaging failure, load securement, storage damage, forklift handling, labeling error, count error, carrier handling, or supplier condition...

  8. 08

    References

    Fixed

    The facility claim register, which lists every claim with its number, dates, type, value, status, determination, and root cause code.

Best practice

Customer Claims and Damage Handling: no regulation to cite

No public-domain regulation governs this procedure, so it cites nothing rather than inventing authority. It documents the process discipline customers, insurers, and auditors ask to see in writing.

Compliance checklist

What an inspector looks for

  • A single claim register exists, is owned by a named role, and shows every claim with its number, date received, type, value, status, promised resolution date, and root cause code

  • Every claim in the register was acknowledged in writing inside the facility or customer committed window, with a claim number and a named handler

  • An evidence hold was placed at intake: related product and packaging still on site were quarantined and camera footage was exported before the retention window overwrote it

  • Each closed claim has an evidence pack containing the receipt, handling records, photographs, weights, delivery receipt, and seal record that were available

  • Every claim closed with a written determination stating what was claimed, what the evidence showed, and the conclusion, and denials state the evidence relied on

  • Liability was assessed against the customer's current written agreement, and settlements were approved by the named authority within its stated threshold

  • Carrier and third-party recovery claims were filed inside the filing deadline and are tracked to closure under the original claim number

  • Claimed goods were dispositioned only after closure, on written customer instruction, with a retained disposition or witnessed destruction record

  • Every closed claim carries a root cause code, and claims meeting the corrective action trigger have an open or closed CAPA referenced by claim number

  • Claim rate, days to close, and top root causes are reported monthly and reviewed with the customer on the account review cadence

  • No claim is past its promised resolution date without a recorded reason and an escalation owner

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This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.