Claiming (One-Time / Continuous)

Claims Workflow

Beginning a Claim

You initiate a claim from the order (POL) for the item being claimed. To get to the order, you have two choices:

* Change Expected Date opens a dialog box that allows user to enter a new expected date of arrival for an item or items in the Claims List.

Initiate the Claim Communication 

On the Purchase Order Line Details page, click on Communications tab.

Click on Start Communication:

 The reply-to address on the email claim to the vendor is yours as the library staff member who is sending the claim.

 If the email claim fails to be sent to the vendor, you will receive a notification on the screen. Other than this, there will be no record that the email claim was not sent to the vendor. You can delete the claim from Alma to avoid confusion, and re-create it later if you wish to try again.

Post-Claim Follow Up

By using the Communication tab on the order, all staff involved in tracking a claim can see the current status and conduct follow-up as needed.

From the list of communications, find the claim you're working with:

• Reply allows you to send a new message to the vendor.
  • The text of the original claim message is not included in this response.
  • The message maintains the original subject line, even if you enter a new one, though the new one appears as part of the body of the message.
  • The text of this response is included in the claim that shows up in Alma, which you can see by clicking on the conversation or selecting, “edit”.
• Add a response allows you to add information (the vendor's response or other relevant information) to the conversation.
  • If you receive a response from the vendor in your email, it will not automatically show up in Alma. You can save that email as a PDF and then add it as an attachment here, or you can copy and paste the text from the vendor into this response.
• Clicking on the title of the communication or choosing Edit allows you to add attachments to any communication, though it does not let you edit the message itself.
• Choose Close when the claim is resolved.
  
  • Closing the claim will permanently delete the conversation – and therefore the claim – with no confirmation message.
  • However, you can see that there was a claim in the History for the order:
    1. In the order, on History tab, the POLine Claim will be set to True
    2. POLine Claim is not set back to false when a claim is closed

Notes on Serials Claiming

Serials Claiming In Alma

1. From the Claims List, find the POL with the issue to be claimed
2. Click on Edit, go to the Communications tab
3. Click on Start Communication
4. Type: Choose Claim
5. Subject: Add the POL number and CLAIM

6. In the Body of the communication, detail which issue (with detailed enumeration and chronology info as appropriate) has not been received and is being claimed.

7. Click Send

Serials Claiming Outside of Alma 

Can be accomplished by sending an email outside of Alma or by claiming from within the vendor's system.

To Prevent Claim Duplication   

For all items: Check to make sure the claimed item has not arrived. There can be a time lag from when claims are requested. Claims via Request Tracker or email may have been delayed and the item may have been received. 

For predicted items:  After sending a claim, add a Claims note to the item description of the claimed item. Note that items with Process type Acquisition and Material type Issue (which will be the coding of the unreceived predicted items) do not display in HOLLIS for items created in Alma, items migrated from Aleph with the Process type "technical migration" currently display in HOLLIS. When the claimed item is received, the note should be deleted; edit the item first and then receive it.
 

Example:  

For titles without predicted items: After sending a claim it is recommended to add a Receiving Note in the POL --> Purchase Order Line Details --> Summary tab, detailing which issue was claimed, along with date and initials. The Receiving Note is displayed in the item list in the Continuous receiving work bench, (the receive materials page for continuous orders).

When a Claimed Item has Been Received 

Go to the POL and remove the note about the claim from the Receiving note.

When Does an Order Enter the Claims List?

When an order does not arrive or become activated by the expected date, Alma will add it automatically to the Claims List.

The expected date is calculated differently for Physical vs. Electronic order material types, and for One-time vs. Continuous orders.

One-time Physical PO Lines

When the Expected Receipt date has passed, and no item has been received, the order enters the Order lines with claims task list, where the date is listed as Expected Delivery. 

Expected Receipt date on a one-time physical POL:

• can be assigned by Alma automatically at order creation, based on the values in the Vendor Account Record used on the order
• can be assigned manually by staff
  

Option 1: Automatic calculation of Expected Receipt Date

Example:

Option 2: Set Expected Receipt Date Manually

•  Enter a date in the Expected Receipt date field to override the above calculation
  
  

Continuous (Including Standing order non-monograph) Physical PO lines

Several fields from both the PO line and the item work together to determine when a PO line is sent to claims.

Non-Predicted Items

Claim date is calculated either by:

Expected receipt date + Claiming Grace period

OR

Expected receipt after ordering (days)

 Claiming grace period and Expected receipt after ordering (days) are defined on the vendor account record

Expected Receipt date can be input manually or will be calculated after the order is sent: Order sent date  + Expected receipt after ordering (days)

 If vendor account record lacks defined values for Claiming grace period and the Expected receipt after ordering (days), Expected Receipt date will default to the date the order was placed

Subscription Interval 

Non-predicted items: when any item in the holdings associated with this PO line is received, the PO line's Expected receipt date is updated to the item's Receiving date + Subscription interval

Predicted Items

If there are no items yet on the order, Claim date is either:

Expected receipt date + Claiming Grace period

OR

Expected receipt after ordering (days)

Once there are predicted items, Claim date = Expected receiving date + Claiming grace period

Ex Libris Documentation

• Processing Claims
• Communicating with Vendors