In the field of claims accounting, there is a type of claim that is a pain in the butt - the extra expense claim. Extra expense coverage is usually provided as an add-on to a business interruption policy. Basically, any steps you take following the loss to reduce the time out of commission will be reimbursed by the insurance company. Insurance companies want to pay the least amount they can, so they will pretty much pay for you to get back up and running quickly to avoid paying for your operating expenses and lost net income.
However, extra expense is very difficult to prove. Not only must the expense be above and beyond the normal expenditures of the business, it also must reduce the loss. Also, it is often limited to the amount the loss is reduced.
Luckily, for the most part, it is up to the adjusters to figure out whether to accept or reject expenses based on that - it is my job to detail them out, and specify whether it is supported, unsupported, or something that should not be there. An example of an expense that would be a 'Noted Exception', or not accepted, would be an invoice dated 8/1/2005 on a Hurricane Katrina claim. It's obviously not related to the hurricane at all. Yes, these kinds of things happen. Usually they are mistakes, but I bet some of them get put in hoping we make the mistake.
Anyway, when you get an extra expense claim, you have to go through each and every invoice, input them, check the dates, check the amounts, make sure there are no duplicates, make sure the expense makes sense, make sure the expense is not the personal plumbing of the manager of the business, etc.
It's a lot of work, but it feels good to be done. Unless the total doesn't add up, and then you have to go back through it.
I've never gotten it perfect the first time.
I probably never will.