Instructions · 01

Getting started

Signing in, the screen layout, the dashboard and how to find things.

Open the panel address
Use the address your CTO gave you. The first time anyone opens a brand-new install they see an install page; after that, everyone lands on the sign-in page.
Accept your invitation (first time only)
New users are invited by email by the CEO or CTO. The email contains a link to set your own password. You also need to confirm your email address; an unverified address cannot use the panel.
Sign in
Enter your email and password. If you have switched on two-factor authentication you will be asked for the six-digit code from your authenticator app, or a recovery code.
Optional: switch on two-factor
Open the account menu (your name, bottom of the sidebar) → Two-factor authentication. It is recommended, particularly for the CEO and CTO, but it is optional by decision: nobody is forced to enrol.

Sessions

You are signed out after 120 minutes without activity. Your work on a form is only saved when you press its save button, so save before you leave a claim open for a long time.

Never share a login

Every change is recorded against the person who made it. Sharing a login makes the audit trail wrong. If someone needs access, ask the CEO to invite them.

The screen layout

The panel has one sidebar on the left, a page heading and the work area on the right, and an account menu at the bottom of the sidebar. On a phone or narrow window the sidebar becomes a menu button; open it, pick a page and it closes again. A Skip to main content link is the first stop when you press Tab.

The sidebar

Menu item	What it is for	Needs
Overview	The dashboard: deadline tiles for every open claim.	Everyone
Tasks	Your to-do list across claims.	Claims view
Claims	The claim list, with saved views: Open, Received today, Received yesterday, Historical.	Claims view
Scheduling	Survey appointments and the diary.	Scheduling view
Estimates	Insurer quotes (schedules of works) across claims, and the schedule of rates.	Insurer quote view
Work orders	The operational queue of work phases and purchase orders.	Work order view
Network	Contractors and surveyors.	Contractors view
Surveyors	The network filtered to surveyors.	Contractors view
Onboarding	New network members waiting to be approved.	Contractors view
Compliance	Network documents that are expiring or need review.	Contractor compliance
Insurance clients	The insurers and their referral contacts.	Insurers view
Policyholders	The people whose homes are claimed on.	Customers view
Properties	Risk addresses.	Customers view
Finance	Money queue: authorised, invoiced, received, outstanding.	Finance view (CEO/CTO)
Reports	Claim reports queue.	Reports view
Administration	Users, organisation and every setting.	User admin (CEO/CTO)

You only see the items your role allows. If a colleague has a menu item you do not, that is your role, not a fault. See Roles and access.

The dashboard (Overview)

The Overview is a set of deadline tiles built from every open claim. It refreshes itself every two minutes while you look at it.

Filters: All claims or My claims; one insurance client; and an "action needed only" box.
Summary row: Open claims, Late (actions past their deadline), Due now and On time.
Tiles are grouped as Intake, Survey, Scope and decision, Repairs, Orders and invoices, and Customer service. Each tile counts claims on track, due and late.
Drill-down: click a count and the list of those exact claims opens below, each row opening the right step of the claim.

Where the deadlines come from

Deadlines are the service levels set by management (for example "book the survey within 2 working days of receipt"). Working days skip weekends and England & Wales bank holidays.

The green Create a claim button at the top right starts the new claim form.

The claim page

Everything about one claim lives on its own page. It has three parts.

1. Summary banner

Claim number (e.g. CLM-2026-00001), insurer and their reference, policyholder, address, handler, priority, status, flags, and the single next action the panel suggests.

2. Journey rail

Fifteen steps down the side. Each shows a state, so you see at a glance what is complete, in progress, outstanding or blocked. The Go to step picker jumps to any step.

3. Tabs

The detail of the claim: details, contacts, policy, correspondence, documents, photos, videos, investigation, complaints, sales call and activity.

What the step states mean

State	Marker	Meaning
Complete	✓ green	Everything the step needs has been recorded.
In progress	◐ amber	Started, not finished.
Outstanding	! red	Due now and not yet done.
Blocked	× dark	Cannot progress: something else must be fixed first, or the claim is closed or cancelled with the step unfinished.
Not applicable	– grey	This kind of claim does not need the step (for example repair steps on a survey-only instruction).

Every state shows a word and a symbol as well as a colour, so the rail never relies on colour alone.

The claim tabs

Claim details: Reference, instruction type, dates, peril, description of loss, handler. Locked fields are changed with Amend, which asks for a reason.
Contact details: Policyholder and risk contacts; export contacts as CSV.
Policy details: Cover, excesses and policy sections.
Other contacts: Occupiers, letting agents, brokers, key holders and anyone else.
Correspondence: A log of emails, calls and letters, with optional follow-ups.
Connected claims: Other claims at the same property or for the same policyholder.
Documents · Photos · Videos: Everything filed on the claim, with access rules.
Investigation indicators: Validation prompts for staff who handle the claim (restricted).
Complaints: Complaint register for the claim (restricted).
Sales call: The call that records the customer's choices before the repair.
Activity: The audit timeline: who changed what, and when.

Two drawers open from any claim page: Tasks and Notes. Both are modal dialogs: Esc closes them and focus returns to the button.

Finding things

Claims list: search by claim number, insurer reference, policyholder or address; choose a saved view from the Claims sub-menu.
Tasks: the Tasks page lists your open tasks; claim page → Tasks drawer shows the ones for that claim.
Postcode check: the first screen of a new claim finds any property or claim already on that postcode, so you do not duplicate.

Browser only, online only

Claimpanel is used in a web browser on a computer, tablet or phone, and needs an internet connection: there is no offline mode. (An install-as-app option for staff was decided but has not been built yet.)