RV DAF Claims: How They Work and Who Files Them. A DAF claim covers defects and damage found when a new RV arrives at your store. Your team takes the photos; Dealer Suite 360 files and follows the claim to payment.
What a DAF claim is
DAF stands for Dealer Authorization Form: the inspection your dealership runs when a unit first comes off the truck, before it goes into inventory. Dealers also call these arrival claims or damage-at-arrival claims. Anything wrong with the unit at that moment, a factory defect or damage in transit, is on record before a customer has ever touched it.
That makes DAF claims some of the cleanest claims a dealership files. There is no question of use or abuse, no customer waiting on the repair, and the manufacturer is still answerable for the condition the unit was shipped in. The catch is timing and documentation: each manufacturer sets its own window and its own rules for arrival claims, and a finding that is not documented at arrival is much harder to claim later.
Who files a DAF claim
The claimant is always your dealership: the claim goes on the manufacturer’s dealer portal under your dealer account, and the manufacturer pays your store. What varies is who does the work. In most stores it lands on a warranty admin or a service advisor, between everything else on their desk, and arrival claims wait until someone has time.
With Dealer Suite 360, the filing is ours. Your techs photograph the unit in the DS360 app; our claims specialists analyze the photos, decide what is claimable, build the claim and file it on the manufacturer portal under your dealer access. Dealer Suite 360 is never on site: your team does the inspection with the app, we do everything after it.
From the truck to the payment
Your dealership handles the inspection and the repairs. We handle everything around them.
Photograph on arrival
Your tech opens the unit by VIN in the DS360 app and photographs it on arrival: VIN tag, exterior, roof, interior and every finding, with a close-up and a context shot. Visible transit damage also goes on the delivery paperwork before the driver leaves.
We screen and build
Our specialists review every photo, drop what isn’t claimable, separate transit damage from factory defects, and write each line with Complaint, Cause and Correction, labor operations and the right photos to the manufacturer’s standard.
We file and follow
We file the DAF claim on the manufacturer portal, log the claim and pre-authorization numbers, order and track the parts, answer information requests, object to denied lines, request payment and close the claim.
Why DAF claims get short-paid or denied
Every one of these is a documentation problem, and every one is something we catch before filing.
Filed too late
Manufacturers set reporting windows for arrival findings, and they are not the same from one manufacturer to the next. We file to each manufacturer’s current policy, not a generic rule.
No photo on the line
Manufacturers approve or deny each line on its own documentation. A finding without its own close-up and context photo, tied to the VIN, is easy to deny.
Transit and factory mixed together
Transport damage and build defects can follow different paths depending on the manufacturer’s process. We separate them so each finding goes where it can actually be paid.
Dealer prep claimed as a defect
Routine prep work is not a manufacturer defect. Our claimability screening keeps it off the claim so it doesn’t drag down the lines that are claimable.
Thin descriptions
A line that just says “leak” or “trim loose” invites questions. We write Complaint, Cause and Correction so the reviewer sees what was found, why, and what fixes it.
Claimed again at PDI
A finding already claimed at arrival should not be filed again before delivery. We check the unit’s claim history by VIN before every filing.
DAF, PDI or warranty: where each finding goes
The same unit can produce three kinds of claims over its life at your store. What is wrong when it arrives belongs on the DAF claim. What your techs find at the pre-delivery inspection, and was not there or was missed at arrival, belongs on the PDI claim. What the customer reports after delivery is a warranty claim, and Manufacturer Warranties Apply.
Keeping those apart is part of the job. Because every claim in your portal is tied to the unit’s VIN, we see what has already been filed on each unit and keep each finding on the right claim, once.
Go deeper
DAF claims: dealer questions
What does DAF stand for in RV warranty claims?
DAF stands for Dealer Authorization Form. It is the inspection your dealership does when a new unit first arrives, and the claim built from it covers the defects and transit damage found at that moment.
Who files the DAF claim with the manufacturer?
The claim is always your dealership’s and is paid to your dealership. With Dealer Suite 360, our claims specialists build it and file it on the manufacturer portal under your dealer access, then follow it through to payment.
Does Dealer Suite 360 inspect the unit when it arrives?
No. Dealer Suite 360 is never on site. Your team inspects the unit by taking photos in the DS360 app; we analyze the photos and do all the claim work from there.
How long do we have to file a DAF claim?
It depends on the manufacturer: each one sets its own reporting window and rules for arrival claims. The safe habit is to photograph every unit the day it arrives, so we can file inside the window of whichever manufacturer built it.
Is transit damage claimed the same way as a factory defect?
Not always. Depending on the manufacturer’s process and the delivery terms, transport damage may be handled differently from build defects. Note visible damage on the delivery paperwork before the driver leaves, and photograph it in the app; we route each finding the way that manufacturer requires.
What does it cost to have you handle our DAF claims?
DAF claims are included in every plan: one flat monthly price, no per-claim fees, and you keep 100% of what we recover. See Pricing for the plans.
Every new unit that comes off the truck can carry a claim. Book your free claims audit and we will show you which arrival claims your dealership is leaving unfiled.