---
title: "Filing an FNOL"
description: "First Notice of Loss in Wave is the FNOL block in the estimate's right pane. Wave auto-populates it from your first chat message; you can edit any field directly."
group: "estimates"
lane: "how-to"
status: "published"
publishedAt: 2026-05-15
sidebarOrder: 15
tags: ["fnol", "intake"]
relatedSlugs:
  - "estimates/start-an-estimate"
  - "reference/estimate-anatomy"
  - "reference/categories"
sidebarLabel: "Filing an FNOL"
---

A First Notice of Loss (FNOL) is the intake record carriers and TPAs use to open a claim. In Wave, the FNOL isn't a separate form — it's the **FNOL Information** block at the top of the right pane, and it fills in from your first chat message.

## What's in the FNOL block

- **Name** — the insured / customer
- **Address** — loss address (drives [regional pricing](/docs/concepts/how-wave-prices))
- **Phone**
- **Email**
- **Insurance** — carrier name
- **Claim #**
- **Adjuster Name**
- **Adjuster Email**
- **Category** — Cat 1, Cat 2, or Cat 3 (dropdown)

## How it gets populated

Wave reads your first message and pulls everything it can recognize. For:

> *"My customer Jordan Park at 482 Sycamore Lane, Denver had a Cat 2 toilet supply line failure affecting the hall bathroom and hallway."*

Wave will fill in **Name** (Jordan Park), **Address** (482 Sycamore Lane, Denver), and **Category** (Cat 2). Carrier-side fields (Insurance, Claim #, Adjuster) usually aren't in the tech's initial description, so they stay empty until you fill them.

## Editing FNOL fields

You have two paths:

- **Right pane** — click directly into any field and type. Saves on blur.
- **Chat** — natural-language edits work: *"Set the claim number to 24-A-78812"* or *"Adjuster email is sjohnson@statefarm.example."*

## Address gotcha

Wave reads the address **once**, at the start of the estimate, to pick the [regional pricing](/docs/concepts/how-wave-prices) set. **Changing the address later does not reprice existing line items.** If the original address was wrong, start a new estimate.

## Category gotcha

The Category dropdown is part of the FNOL block — change it here, not by editing chat messages. Some line items (containment level, PPE) are derived from the category, so flipping Cat 2 → Cat 3 after the fact means reviewing what's been priced.

## Sending the FNOL

There isn't a separate "send FNOL" action. The FNOL fields appear on the cover page of the exported estimate PDF, so when you [export the estimate](/docs/estimates/export-pdf) the carrier or insured sees the FNOL data inline.

## Related

- [Make your first estimate](/docs/estimates/start-an-estimate) — the FNOL is filled during this walkthrough
- [Estimate anatomy](/docs/reference/estimate-anatomy) — the rest of the right pane
- [Categories](/docs/reference/categories) — what Cat 1/2/3 mean and what they change