Glossary term
A proof of loss is a sworn statement of the amount you are claiming, submitted on the carrier's form, inside a deadline the policy sets. Everything else in the file — the photos, the scope, the estimate, the reports — exists to support the number written on it.
Definition
A signed and usually notarized statement submitted to the carrier that states the amount claimed and the facts supporting it: the date and cause of loss, the property involved, the interest of the insured, and the claimed value. The deadline is commonly 60 days from the carrier's written request, but the exact window is set by the policy and by state law — read both, because a late or materially incomplete proof of loss is one of the few unforced errors that can defeat an otherwise valid claim.
Related
The definition is the easy part. These pages cover what the term does to a file once there is money and a deadline attached to it.
The readiness process: what to have in hand before the form gets signed.
Open pageThe short-form definition alongside FNOL, EUO, PPI, and the rest.
Open pageHow claimOS tracks the deadline and assembles the supporting packet.
Open pageWhere the proof of loss sits in the five stages of a file.
Open pageFAQ
Most policies require it within 60 days of the carrier's written request, but the window is set by your policy language and by state law, and some states extend it after a declared catastrophe. Treat the carrier's request letter as the start of the clock and confirm the deadline against the policy rather than assuming 60 days.
It depends on the state and the circumstances. Some jurisdictions require the carrier to show it was prejudiced by the delay; others treat timely submission as a strict condition precedent to payment. Either way it hands the carrier an argument that has nothing to do with the merits of the loss, which is why the date belongs on a tracked calendar rather than in someone's memory.
Usually yes — supplemental proofs of loss are routine when hidden damage surfaces or the scope changes during repairs. The practical requirement is that the supplement is documented as carefully as the original, because the sworn number changed and the file has to show why.
No. Storage is the easy half. The hard half is knowing what is still missing, who owns it, and how many days are left — which is why readiness, not filing, is what usually separates a clean submission from a scramble.
Next step
Thirty minutes, live in the product. Bring a file where this term is doing real damage and we will work it on the call.
