When submitting a claim it is key to ensure all the supporting information is present. Entering the condition the insurer needs to assess, linking the invoice items that make up the financial total, attaching the supporting documents the insurer expects, and — for non-integrated insurers — keep the claim status up to date as the insurer processes it. Pre-authorisations follow the same shape but link estimate items instead of completed invoices. Getting these five things right is what determines whether a claim settles cleanly or comes back with queries.

💡 In short: On the Condition step, record the diagnosis and treatment dates and tick the invoice items that relate to it. On Attachments, add a Pet Timeline PDF, files from the pet record, or files from your computer. For "Other" claims, update the status and settlement amount as the insurer responds. Pre-authorisations work the same way but search estimate items rather than completed invoices.

The Condition step describes the medical reason for the claim. It's required for every claim and pre-auth — the wizard won't let you submit until every required field is green.

💡 Vetsure shows the policy period inline. A purple "Policy Period Coverage" panel appears under the date pickers showing the policy start and end dates. If your treatment dates fall outside coverage, Lupa blocks submission with: "It does not appear that cover was in place at the time of treatment. Please contact the Vetsure Team for assistance."

The bottom half of the Condition step is where you tick the invoice line items that make up the claim's financial total.

Click Add Invoice in the Invoice Items section. Lupa shows a search filtered to the claim's treatment date range and to the right invoice status:

Each matching invoice expands to show its line items — every product and service billed. Tick the items that relate to the claimed condition, leave the unrelated ones unticked. Each item shows:

A claim can include items from multiple invoices — common for ongoing conditions where treatment spans several visits (initial consult, X-ray, surgery, post-op checks). Open each invoice in turn and tick what's relevant.

📍 One claim per item. Items already linked to a different active claim are flagged "Attached to a different claim" and cannot be selected. They become available again only if the existing claim is moved to Declined or Nullified.

As you tick items, Lupa recalculates three totals automatically (rounded to two decimal places):

⚠️ At least one item is required. The Condition step won't tick green and the Submit Claim button stays disabled until at least one invoice (or estimate) item is linked. Lupa shows "Please add at least one invoice item" on claims, "Please add at least one estimate item" on pre-auths.

The Attachments step is the last step of the wizard and the most flexible — it accepts three sources of files in three stacked sections, in this order: Pet Timeline, Pet Record, and Your Computer.

Click Attach Pet Timeline to generate a PDF of the pet's full clinical history and attach it in one click. This is the easiest way to give the insurer the patient's complete record without exporting and re-uploading manually.

📍 The Attach Pet Timeline button is hidden if the claim has been submitted, settled, declined, or nullified. The timeline is also auto-deleted if the claim is not submitted within 15 minutes — start the wizard, attach, and submit in one sitting where possible.

The Attach from Pet Record section lists files already saved to the pet's profile (lab reports, imaging, scanned letters). Tick the ones you need and click Add Selected to copy them into the claim.

The bottom section is a standard file picker — drag and drop, or click to browse. Multiple files at once is fine. For Vetsure claims, the picker shows a hint: "The file must be under 5 MB. Accepted formats: Microsoft Word and Excel documents, JPG/PNG images, PDF documents, MSG/EML email files." The actual size cap is 10 MB; treat 5 MB as the practical guideline if your insurer's email gateway is strict.

Each attachment carries a status that tells you where it is in the pipeline.

If you are recording the claim details to submit through an external provider portal, you can download the claim form and pet timeline from this dialogue.

💡 Vetsure auto-attaches a Claim Details PDF on submission. Even if you skip Attachments, Vetsure receives a generated summary so the assessor sees a complete claim. The Pet Timeline and your own files are added to that.

Pre Authorisation is currently only available for Vetsure insurance policies. A pre-auth is the same wizard you'd use for a claim, but with three operational differences. Use a pre-auth before high-value treatment to confirm the insurer will cover it; use a claim after treatment to be reimbursed for what was done.

Status updates only apply to "Other" (non-integrated) claims. For Vetsure and VetEnvoy claims, status flows in automatically as the insurer's system processes them. For "Other" claims — anything you submit by post, email, or the insurer's own portal — Lupa is just your record-keeping system. You're responsible for keeping the status current.

🔒 Reverting a submitted claim to Draft or Initiated to edit invoice items, attachments, or condition details requires the Update Submitted Claims permission. Without it, the dropdown only allows forward transitions.

When the insurer settles a claim — usually for less than the claimed amount because of excess and policy caps — record what they actually paid:

For bulk updates — for example, marking a batch of submitted claims as Settled when an insurer pays a monthly run — use the claims list:

⚠️ Integrated claims are skipped automatically. If your selection includes Vetsure or VetEnvoy claims, Lupa shows "{count} integrated claims won't be affected" and only updates the "Other" claims. Bulk updates can never override the integrated insurer's automatic status.

✅ Best practices from practices that run Lupa: