1. How it usually happens
The scene is familiar: you come home to find the sofa turned into contemporary art, or the neighbour's dog decides your hedge is a buffet. Sometimes the damage is small and manageable, other times it involves third parties and the matter gets more serious.
Many react in two opposite ways: either minimising ("well, it happens") or immediately thinking of a formal claim. Reality sits in the middle. An animal has natural behaviours, and not every scratch or broken object deserves an insurance claim.
A typical anecdote: a cat jumps on a shelf, a vase falls and breaks. It is sorted in half an hour. It is different when the same cat causes more substantial damage in someone else's house: clarity is needed there.
From the insurance's perspective, what counts is reconstructing what happened concretely. From your perspective, it is useful to have clear elements to decide whether and how to proceed.
2. What you need to prove
When the damage is relevant, you need to show simply and coherently what happened.
It can be useful to prove:
- That the damage exists and what it looks like
- When it happened
- Where it happened
- That it was caused by a specific animal
- In what circumstances it happened
- Any communications between involved people
- State of the good before and after the damage
The goal is to reconstruct the situation clearly, leaving little room for interpretation.
3. What to collect
Gathering evidence is simpler than it seems, you just need to do it immediately.
- Photos of the damage from different angles
- Videos showing context (environment, object positions)
- Photos of the place before the damage, if available
- Chat or message screenshots between parties
- Any written statements or agreements
- Repair or replacement quotes
- Receipts or documents related to the damaged good
- Notes written by you on how the episode occurred
A useful detail: a "wide" photo of the environment helps understand dynamics much better than an isolated close-up.
4. How to proceed
As soon as you notice the damage, take a few minutes to document calmly.
Observe the scene as it is, without fixing everything immediately. Then gather the necessary material and organise the information.
- Take photos and record short videos before intervening
- Collect any testimonies or messages
- Write a brief description of the event
- Save everything in a dedicated folder
- Keep original files without modifying them
After gathering the material, you can use ExistBefore to timestamp it. This way you have a clear reference of when those contents already existed.
5. Mistakes to avoid
Some mistakes make everything more complicated than necessary.
- Tidy up or clean before documenting
- Taking only one unclear photo
- Not capturing the context of the damage
- Leaving conversations scattered or deleting them
- Modifying images or videos
- Immediately activating a formal procedure for minimal damage
A useful tip: use common sense to evaluate if the damage really requires an insurance step or if it can be resolved directly between the involved people. When you do need to document, doing it immediately and timestamping files with a free attestation gives you an orderly and usable foundation.
6. After documenting
Once everything is collected, you can decide how to move.
- Talk to the involved person and evaluate a direct solution
- If necessary, contact your insurance
- Share documentation in an orderly manner
- Request any quotes or technical evaluations
- In case of disagreements, consider support from mediation services or associations
Having clear documentation allows you to handle the situation with more peace of mind, leaving room for a simple solution when possible, without turning every scratch into a formal issue.