Claim
A Claim in Salesforce (primarily in Financial Services Cloud and Insurance) is a standard or custom object representing a request from a policyholder for coverage or compensation based on the terms of an insurance policy.
Definition
A Claim in Salesforce (primarily in Financial Services Cloud and Insurance) is a standard or custom object representing a request from a policyholder for coverage or compensation based on the terms of an insurance policy. Claims track the details of the incident, the policy involved, the claimant, assessments, and the status of the resolution process.
In plain English
“A Claim in Salesforce is a record of someone asking an insurance company to pay for something covered by their policy, like a car accident or storm damage. The Claim tracks who's involved, what happened, what the policy covers, and where the claim is in the process.”
Worked example
A claims adjuster at Harbor Marine Insurance receives a Claim record for a storm-damaged vessel. The Claim ties to the policyholder's Financial Services Cloud Contact, the specific Policy record with its coverage details, the Incident record capturing date/location, and three Attachment records for photos. She assigns an external surveyor via Assignment Rules, who updates the Claim with their assessment and recommended payout. The adjuster approves the payout through an Approval Process, which writes the approved amount back to the Claim and triggers a downstream payment integration - all orchestrated on the Claim record from intake through resolution.
Why Claim matters
Claim is a standard or custom object in Salesforce, primarily used in Financial Services Cloud and Insurance industry templates, that represents a request from a policyholder for coverage or compensation under an insurance policy. A Claim record captures details about the incident (date, type, location, description), the policy involved, the claimant and other parties, assessments and adjusters, and the status of the claim through the resolution process. Claims often link to related objects like Cases, Tasks, Assets (the insured items), and Documents.
Insurance organizations use Claims as the central object for managing claim lifecycles end to end: intake, triage, assignment to adjusters, evidence collection, evaluation, settlement decision, payment, and closure. The structure supports both first notice of loss workflows (where the claim is created from a customer call or web form) and ongoing claim management (where adjusters update progress, document findings, and coordinate with multiple parties). Salesforce Financial Services Cloud provides pre-built Claim object models and processes that align with insurance industry standards.
How to create Claim
Claims are insurance-claim records in Financial Services Cloud's Insurance vertical — a policyholder's request for coverage or compensation against a policy. Standard object in FSC Insurance; tracks the incident, policy reference, claimant info, assessments, and resolution status.
- Confirm Financial Services Cloud + Insurance is licensed
Claim is an FSC Insurance object. Standard Sales/Service Cloud doesn't have it.
- Open the Claims tab (or App Launcher)
App Launcher → Claims. Or from the Policy record's Claims related list.
- Click New
Top-right of the list view.
- Set Claim Number (often auto-numbered)
By default an Auto Number; override only if your back-office system requires a specific format.
- Set Policy Reference and Claimant
Policy: the underlying insurance contract. Claimant: the individual or business requesting payment.
- Set Incident Date and Reported Date
When the incident occurred and when the policyholder reported it. Drives statute-of-limitations checks.
- Set Status (Open / In Review / Approved / Denied / Closed)
Workflow status. Most orgs add custom statuses to match their claims-handling process.
- Set Loss Type and Amount
What kind of loss (Property / Auto / Liability) and the amount being claimed.
- Save
Claim record is created. Add Claim Coverages, Notes, Documents via related lists.
Required. Usually auto-numbered.
Required. Links to the underlying insurance policy.
Required. Open by default.
- Claim is FSC Insurance-specific. Generic insurance use cases without the FSC license should build a Custom Object instead — don't try to repurpose this Claim object outside FSC.
- Claim coverages (sub-records linking specific policy coverages to the claim) drive payout calculations. Without proper coverage linking, payment automation can miscalculate.
- Status workflow is org-customizable. The standard Open → In Review → Approved/Denied → Closed path is the floor; most orgs add intermediate statuses for adjusting / approval routing.
How organizations use Claim
Built a first notice of loss workflow that creates a Claim record from a web form submitted by the policyholder. The Claim is auto-assigned to an adjuster based on incident type and region, and the policyholder receives status updates as the claim progresses.
Tracks Claim status through a defined process: New, In Review, Adjuster Assigned, Awaiting Documentation, Approved, Denied, Paid, Closed. Each status change triggers different notifications and tasks.
Links every Claim to the relevant policy and the Asset (the insured item) so adjusters can see complete coverage information and item history when making settlement decisions.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What does a Claim represent in Salesforce?
Q2. In which Salesforce product is Claim primarily used?
Q3. What lifecycle stages does a Claim typically pass through?
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