Contents & ALE claims management: hundreds of contents lines priced and checked in hours, not weeks
Hundreds of contents lines priced and checked in hours, not weeks.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Software that takes a policyholder's contents inventory and living-expense receipts from arrival to payment: every line priced at like kind and quality, depreciated, checked for duplicates and special limits, and every ALE receipt checked against what the family normally spends. Contents & ALE Claims Management adds agents that do the reading, matching, pricing and checking; the contents specialist decides and signs.
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After a fire, a family rebuilds from memory a list of everything they owned — hundreds of lines in their own words: “TV, big one”, “Books — about 180”, “Mia toys — bins of them”. Each line needs a product, a like-kind price today, an age and a depreciation, then a check against the policy's special limits. Two family members list the same grill, and the duplicate is found by eye. For many items the only proof is a photo that does not say “65-inch OLED, 2024 model”.
Living expenses run in parallel: weekly hotel folios, meal slips, mileage logs, rental deposits. Only the increase over the family's normal month is owed; refundable deposits, alcohol and pre-loss receipts are not, and costs that stop are offset. Nobody projects when the ALE limit runs out until it does. Meanwhile the family waits to be paid.
Estimated split for a whole-house inventory of a few hundred lines, by hand and with the solution.
Seven agents read, match, price and check every line and receipt; the contents specialist decides and signs.
The Mill Creek Fire destroyed the Marchettis' home at 2241 Juniper Hollow Rd, Medford, on Aug 23, 2026. Their inventory arrived on Tuesday, Oct 6. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Renata opens claim CL-26-0418827. The agents read and priced it overnight: 381 lines, 2,048 items from 3 sources, room by room, the family's words and figure on the left and the like-kind item, age, replacement, depreciation and cash value on the right. One band sums it up — 12 photo matches with 1 waiting for her, 12 lines that need her, 9 duplicates, 10 lines over a limit.
“Marchetti: 381 lines priced overnight · 1 photo left for you.”
Leah's spreadsheet (319 rows), Daniel's 3 handwritten pages (52 lines) and a shared album of 220 photos and videos that adds 10 items found only there. Every handwritten line shows, in the margin, the line it became — and whether it is a duplicate or falls under a limit. Nine items written twice are counted once.
Rows with no room were placed by the words: “Lucas — jeans” → Lucas’s room.
Line 1 says “TV, big one in the living room — $1,500, Black Friday 2024”. No receipt; the only picture is frame 0:41 of Christmas morning 2024.mov. Renata presses “Match this photo to a product”: the agent finds the TV, sharpens the crop from 4 neighbouring frames, measures the screen against the 80-inch door (64.6 in → 65″ class), reads the design and matches 412 sets sold 2022–2025.
Six steps in 9.4 s: Lumora LM65-OC4 at 96% — LM65-QN3 61%, Brevik B65-U8 34%.
The OC4 was discontinued in March 2026, so the like-kind set is the LM65-OC6: Brightway $1,849.99, Northgate $1,899.00, ValuMart $1,829.00 — the median wins. Bought Black Friday 2024, 1.8 years of an 8-year TV life: 22.5% depreciation, cash value $1,433.74. Renata accepts, and every total reprices to $214,153.99 replacement cost.
Priced $349.99 above the family's figure: they wrote what they paid on sale; the policy owes today's price for the same set.
Nine pairs written twice, side by side — the grill on Leah's sheet and on Daniel's pages, each with a “They are two” button if they really were. Three special limits under Coverage C: cash and Grandpa's 12 gold coins ($3,960 listed, pays $200), Leah's bookkeeping equipment ($4,654, pays $2,500), two kayaks, trailer and paddles ($3,444, pays $1,500). Eleven lines need a person: groupings to confirm, the painting, Leah's jewelry and the quilts held for an appraisal, and the aquarium's fish, which are not covered.
Flags only — never removes a line. A person decides every duplicate.
The normal month comes from 3 months of card statements: groceries $1,320 and the commute $266 are taken off; home utilities ($412) stopped on Aug 23 and are offset; the mortgage continues and is not a living expense. The auditor reads the six receipts from Oct 9–11 and tracks the $4,600 rental deposit as refundable, not paid. Every cut names its rule — a pre-fire grocery shop, a Laurel Inn folio sent twice, $64 of bar items.
“6 receipts checked · 1 refundable deposit tracked.”
So far $21,735.50 over the normal month, inside the $24,000 advance. At $5,907 a month in the rental, the advance runs out around Oct 24 and the $84,000 limit lasts to about Aug 2027. The rebuild in Tom Whitaker's estimate is due in April 2028, 8 months later.
“Tell the family about the gap now, not next summer.”
Replacement cost of 369 priced lines, $214,153.99, less $83,347.08 depreciation, is $130,806.91 actual cash value. Less $5,011.32 above the three limits and $13,350.00 held for appraisal, $112,445.59 is owed; less the $40,000 contents advance of Sep 2, $72,445.59 is due now. $80,500.40 of depreciation is paid back as items are replaced, within 36 months of the loss.
Renata types her name to sign $72,445.59 by direct deposit. It is above her $25,000 authority, so it goes to Marcus Bell, claims supervisor, to co-sign. Renata signed at 10:42, Marcus at 10:47, and the payment and the statement went to Daniel and Leah.
“Approved and sent.”
One page, drafted from the schedule and edited before it goes: what is paid today, what comes back as they replace, the nine items that appeared twice, the three special limits, the three items that need an appraisal — and how long the living-expense limit lasts at today's costs.
“$80,500.40 more is yours as you replace things.”
The same family's claim, seen by the four people who work it — in their own words, and what their day looks like now.
Seven agents read, match, price and check every line and receipt; the contents specialist decides and signs.
Treats each contents claim as one piece of work: runs the six specialists as the family's lists, photos and receipts arrive, keeps the schedule current and drafts the payment recommendation and the family's statement.
Turns spreadsheets, handwritten pages and photo albums into one numbered list of lines, each with its source cited — the row, the page and line, or the photo.
Finds named items in the family's photos and videos and matches each to a specific make and model, measuring size against things of known size — a door, a counter, an outlet.
Prices every line at like kind and quality today: the same model, or its current successor of the same grade, at three approved retailers; the median wins.
Applies the carrier's life table by category and age, capped at 80%, and keeps the held depreciation to be paid back on replacement.
Finds duplicates across sources and rooms, applies special limits, and flags items not covered or needing an appraisal.
Checks each receipt against the family's normal month and the guidelines, tracks the advance and projects when the limit runs out.
Accepts and signs; supervisor co-signs above $25,000. The agents propose; a named person decides.
The specialist can ask about anything on the claim in plain words — or ask for a draft. Every answer names its sources.
Why is the TV priced above the family's $1,500?
Because the policy owes today's price for the same set, not what it cost on sale. The only picture is a frame of Christmas morning 2024.mov at 0:41. Measured against the 80-inch door, the screen is 64.6 inches — a 65″ class; bezel, logo and panel match the Lumora LM65-OC4 at 96%. The OC4 was discontinued in March 2026, so the like-kind set is the LM65-OC6: Brightway $1,849.99, Northgate $1,899.00, ValuMart $1,829.00 — median $1,849.99.
Which lines hit a special limit?
Ten lines in three groups. Cash and Grandpa's gold coins ($3,960 listed) fall under the $200 money limit. Leah's laptop, monitors, printer, filing cabinet and dock ($4,654) are her bookkeeping practice's, so $2,500 on the premises. Two kayaks, the trailer and paddles ($3,444) fall under the $1,500 watercraft limit.
When will the living-expense limit run out?
So far $21,735.50 over their normal month, inside the $24,000 advance. In the rental they will spend about $5,907 a month above normal, so the $84,000 limit lasts to about Aug 2027 — 8 months before the rebuild is due in April 2028.
Draft the statement for Daniel and Leah
Done — a one-page statement in plain words: what we pay today, the depreciation they get back as they replace, the nine duplicates, the three limits and the three items that need an appraisal. It is on the Payment tab for you to edit and send.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
What Cedar Valley Mutual decides, the agents follow — and every change is a new version with a name on it.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes per line | 3 retailers · use the median | Your approved retailers (8 on the sample) |
| Discontinued model | Current successor, same grade and size | Your successor rule |
| Never price below | The family's own receipt for the item | Your floor |
| Photo match a person must accept | Below 90% | Your threshold |
| Depreciation | Life table v4 · cap 80% | Age from receipt, then photo date, then the family's words |
| Special limits | HO-3 form: money $200 · business property $2,500 · watercraft $1,500 | By policy form |
| Living expenses | Only the increase over the normal month · mileage $0.70 a mile | Not living expenses: alcohol, refundable deposits, costs before the loss |
| Authority and sign-off | Specialist up to $25,000 · supervisor co-signs above | Any named co-signer |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample claim data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (Insurance Journal / Swiss Re, Aug 2025 — the January 2025 Los Angeles fires, about $40 billion insured and more than 16,000 structures destroyed). People, companies, products and retailers named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that takes a policyholder's contents inventory and living-expense receipts from arrival to payment: every line priced at like kind and quality, depreciated, checked for duplicates and special limits, and every ALE receipt checked against what the family normally spends. Contents & ALE Claims Management adds agents that do the reading, matching, pricing and checking; the contents specialist decides and signs.
For each line it finds the same model, or its current successor of the same grade and size when the model is discontinued, takes three quotes from your approved retailers and uses the median. It never prices below the family's own receipt for the item and never steps down a grade.
Yes. It reads spreadsheets, handwritten pages and photo albums into one numbered list, cites the row, page and line or photo frame for each line, and keeps the family's own words. The photo matcher measures items against things of known size and matches them to a make and model; below 90% a person accepts the match.
It builds the family's normal month from their statements, pays only the increase over it, and offsets costs that stopped. Duplicates, receipts before the loss, alcohol and refundable deposits are cut or tracked with the rule named, and it projects when the advance and the ALE limit run out.
Yes. The coverage checker compares every line across sources and rooms, groups lines under the policy's special limits, and flags items not covered or needing an appraisal. It flags only — a person decides every duplicate and takes out any line.
Yes. The agents recommend; they never sign or pay. The contents specialist signs within authority — $25,000 on the sample — and the claims supervisor co-signs above it. Every step is on the activity trail.
Yes. Quotes per line, approved retailers, the discontinued-model rule, the photo-match threshold, the depreciation life table and cap, special limits by form, living-expense rules, authority and response times are all settings, and each change is saved as a new version with a name on it.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your policy forms, depreciation guide, living-expense guidelines and a sample of past contents files — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own inventories first.
A coverage position on day one, every answer tied to the policy wording.
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1-min demoWe'll run Contents & ALE Claims Management on a sample of your own inventories and receipts.