What Proof Do I Need for a Theft Claim?
A police report, a list of what's missing with its value, and receipts, photos or appraisals showing you owned it.
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Putting the claim together after a break-in
Start with the police report, since most insurers require one before they'll pay a theft claim at all. Then build your list. Write down every item taken, what you paid or what it's worth, and when you got it. Receipts are the strongest proof, but photos of the items, old credit card statements, or even pictures where the item shows up in the background all help. For anything expensive, like jewelry or electronics, an appraisal or owner's manual with the serial number carries weight. Your insurer may ask for proof of ownership on each item separately, so don't just total up a number and submit it. Check your policy's personal property coverage limit, and look for separate caps on jewelry or cash, since those are often much lower than the overall limit.
Check what your policy actually caps
Jewelry and cash limits catch people off guard after a theft. Comparing policies now shows what each one pays for high-value items before you need to file a claim, not after.
Scheduling items so the limit doesn't surprise you
Most policies cap jewelry theft at a few thousand dollars total, no matter what the overall personal property limit says. Cash has its own low cap too, often a few hundred dollars. If you lost a ring worth more than that cap, the policy won't pay the difference unless you've scheduled it. Scheduling means listing the item separately on your policy, usually with an appraisal, and paying a small added premium to insure it at its real value. This is the fix for the jewelry and cash limits mentioned earlier, and it only works if it's done before the theft, not after.
An appraisal for a scheduled item should be recent and from someone qualified to value that type of property, a jeweler for jewelry, a dealer or specialist for art or collectibles. Keep a copy somewhere other than the house, since a copy that was sitting in a drawer next to the stolen item doesn't help much. Some insurers accept a detailed receipt in place of an appraisal for newer purchases, but for anything inherited or bought years ago, an appraisal is usually the only proof that holds up.
Electronics, bikes, musical instruments and tools fall under the general personal property limit rather than a special category, but a single expensive item, a high-end bike or a serious camera setup, can still eat up a large share of that limit on its own. If you own something like that, check whether scheduling it separately makes sense too, since it would then be covered on its own terms instead of competing with everything else in the house for the same pool of money.
For items taken while traveling or from a car, coverage usually still falls under the same personal property coverage, since that coverage typically follows the belongings rather than the house itself. But theft from a vehicle sometimes carries its own sub-limit or requires signs of forced entry to qualify, so the proof needed can include more than the police report, like a photo of a broken window or a towing receipt. The declarations page will show whether off-premises theft is covered the same as theft from the house, or whether it's reduced.
What if you can't find a receipt for something that was taken
Not everything stolen has a paper trail, and insurers know that. Older items, gifts, things bought in cash years ago, none of these come with a receipt sitting in a drawer. In that case, the claim leans on whatever else shows you owned it and roughly what it was worth. A photo of your living room with the TV in the background, a credit card statement from when you bought the laptop, an old insurance appraisal, even a warranty card, all count as evidence. The goal is to show a reasonable adjuster that the item existed, that it was yours, and what it would cost to replace.
For common items like clothing, kitchen goods or furniture, insurers generally don't expect a receipt for every single thing. They're more used to a detailed list with reasonable values and will often accept it as long as it lines up with what a household like yours would plausibly own. The harder items are the expensive ones with no documentation, a watch, a musical instrument, something inherited. For those, it helps to describe the item as specifically as possible, brand, model, approximate age, and let the adjuster price it using that description rather than leaving it vague.
Some insurers will accept a sworn statement, sometimes called a proof of loss affidavit, where you attest in writing to what was taken and its value. This isn't a substitute for evidence when evidence exists, but it can carry a claim forward when none exists. It carries less weight than a receipt or photo, so claims that rely heavily on sworn statements sometimes get challenged or reduced. If your estimate seems high relative to what's typical for that kind of item, expect the adjuster to ask for more support or offer a lower settlement until you provide it.
Going forward, a simple habit closes this gap before it matters. A phone video walking through each room, closets and drawers included, done once a year, creates a timestamped record of what you own. Store it somewhere other than the house, like a cloud account or email draft, so a break-in or fire doesn't take the documentation along with the items. It won't replace an appraisal for a specific piece of jewelry, but for the bulk of a household's belongings, it's often the difference between a claim that moves quickly and one that drags on while you try to reconstruct, item by item, what was actually in the house.
Before you need this again
Find your personal property coverage limit and any separate jewelry or cash caps on your declarations page. If something you own is worth more than those caps, ask about scheduling it now, while there's time.
