Sampling motor claim files without drowning in volume

A practical way to stratify motor claim samples for insurance claims accounting audit work in Malaysia.

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Motor books in Malaysia produce enough claim numbers to tempt a random sample that never touches the heavy files. For accounting audit purposes, stratify first by paid amount bands, then by presence of recovery or third-party settlement, then by whether the file crossed a reserve threshold during the period.

Within each stratum, select enough files to cover the posting paths you care about: straight settlement, partial settlement with recovery, and write-off. Read the ledger lines beside the claim notes; do not test the application in isolation from the books.

This approach takes longer to design than a simple random pull, and it yields exceptions finance can prioritise. Volume alone is not a sampling strategy.