evidence_pack v1.0.0

name: "evidence_pack" description: > Assemble evidence packages for claims, audits, and disputes: systematic collection, provenance tracking with chain-of-custody records, evidence inventories, and reviewer-ready presentation. Use when someone needs to prepare documentation for an insurance claim, respond to an audit notice, support a warranty or contract dispute, or prove a loss with organized, tamper-evident documentation.

Evidence Pack

Purpose

Turn a messy pile of files, photos, receipts, and messages into a package a reviewer can trust. Whether the audience is a claims adjuster, an auditor, or an opposing party in a dispute, the package answers three questions before they are asked: what happened, what proves it, and why each item can be believed. The method works for insurance claims, audit responses, warranty and contract disputes, and any loss that needs documented proof.

Workflow

1. Scope the claim or request

• Write a one-paragraph claim statement: who is asserting what, against whom, and what outcome is being sought (payment, reversal, refund, dismissal).
• Pull the exact request list from the audience: an audit notice's document list, a policy's proof-of-loss requirements, a contract's dispute clause. This becomes the coverage checklist in step 5.
• Record the deadline and work backward. Late packages lose leverage.

2. Collect with provenance from the start

Gather everything that could be relevant, and capture where each item came from as you collect it. Do not strip metadata or edit files.

• Documents: receipts, invoices, contracts, policies, bills, repair estimates, bank statements. Save originals; note the source (email thread, portal download, paper scan).
• Visual evidence: photos and video of the scene, damage, or condition. Multiple angles, plus close-ups. Note device, date taken, and who took them.
• Official records: police reports, incident reports, inspection reports, medical records. Request them promptly; note request dates so gaps are explainable.
• Correspondence: every email, letter, and chat message with the other party. Include notes of phone calls with date, time, and who was on the line.
• Witness material: written statements plus witness contact information. Get them in the person's own words as early as possible; memories fade.

For digital files, follow the provenance rules in references/provenance.md: hash every original at collection, keep originals read-only, work from copies, and log every handoff.

3. Build the evidence inventory

Create the inventory before you write any narrative. One row per item:

ID: Description: Type (document / photo / official record / correspondence / witness / financial): Date of item: Source: Provenance hash or seal: Supports which fact

Give each item a short ID like E-001. A filled template ships in assets/evidence-inventory.csv. An item with no source and no hash is a weak item; flag it in the inventory and either strengthen it or drop it.

4. Map evidence to facts

For each assertion in the claim statement, list the evidence IDs that support it and note the weakest link. This is where most packages fail: a strong stack of documents proves nothing if none of them ties to the actual assertion. If a fact has no supporting item, you need to collect more or narrow the claim. Write this map as a simple table in the cover memo.

5. Check coverage against the request

Compare the inventory against the audience's request list from step 1. Mark each requested item as satisfied, partially satisfied, or missing, with a one-line reason for anything missing and what you are doing about it. Never pretend a gap does not exist; a disclosed, explained gap beats a silent one every time.

6. Present the package

Ship three layers, in this order:

1. Cover memo (1-2 pages): the claim statement, the fact-to-evidence map, the coverage checklist, and any caveats. A reviewer reads this first and decides whether to trust the rest.
2. The inventory: the full evidence-inventory.csv, indexed by ID.
3. The items themselves: each file named by ID (E-001-receipt.pdf), organized by type, with metadata snapshots attached where relevant.

A presentation checklist is in references/presentation-checklist.md. Print the package structure so anyone can verify completeness without asking you.

7. Freeze and ship

Once assembled, hash the full package and record the hash. Ship the method the audience expects (portal upload, email, physical copy), and keep your own sealed copy of exactly what was sent. Log the send: date, method, recipient, and the package hash.

Output Contract

Every engagement produces:

• claim-statement.md: one-paragraph claim + deadline + requested-documents checklist
• evidence-inventory.csv: full inventory with IDs, sources, and provenance hashes
• cover-memo.md: claim statement, fact-to-evidence map, coverage checklist, caveats
• package/: the items themselves, named by ID, plus a package-hash.txt with the SHA-256 of the bundle
• send-log.md: date, method, recipient, package hash

A package is done when: every requested document is accounted for (satisfied or explained), every item has a source and provenance record, every asserted fact maps to at least one item, and the whole bundle hashes cleanly.

Operating Rules

1. Collect provenance at collection time, not later. A hash recorded at intake proves the file is untouched; a hash recorded a week later proves nothing. See references/provenance.md.
2. Never alter an original. Work on copies. Corrections happen through dated addenda, never silent edits to the original file.
3. One fact, one link. If an assertion has no evidence ID behind it, it stays out of the cover memo.
4. Disclose gaps. An explained missing document is diligence; a hidden one is a credibility hit when the reviewer finds it.
5. Keep your own sealed copy. Send exactly what you keep. If the other side loses the package, you resend the identical bundle, hash and all.
6. Chronology beats volume. Organize and present in date order. A thousand unsorted files is not evidence, it is homework you assigned to the reviewer.
7. Scope to what was asked. Collect everything, submit what is responsive. Sending the whole drive looks sloppy and can hand the other side ammunition.