• matured claim – a claim based on a debt that is due for payment.

unliquidated claim – a claim whose existence or amount is not agreed upon by the parties; or that cannot determined by applying rules of law or mathematical calculation.  The amount, if any, if often determined by a fact-finder (a judge in a bench trial or a jury in a jury trial).

Terms for Claims which have No Merit:

colorable claim – a claim that appears legally well founded, but may actually be false or invalid.

false claim -an assertion or statement that is untrue, especially overbilling.

fraudulent claim – a claim for any benefit or payment based on an intentional fraudulent misrepresentation.

frivolous claim – a claim that has no legal basis or merit. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b).

stale claim – a claim that is barred by the statute of limitations or the defense of laches. — aka stale demand.

Filing Claims Against
Government Agencies, Officers, etc.:

Filing a Claim against an Officer or Government Agency – a self-help walkthrough.

claim against decedent’s estate – a debt that could have been enforced in a court against the decedent during his lifetime.

claim and delivery – the name of an action to recover personal property wrongfully taken or held and, in some circumstances, to recover damages.

enhanced-injury claim – a cause of action in which a defendant’s liability stems from the defendant’s negligence or defective product that resulted in harm caused by another to be more serious than it would have been.

Types of Claims
Asserted after a Civil Action
has been Commenced:

claim (prayer or demand) for relief – a complaint and any pleading which sets forth a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim.  — aka demand for relief; relief; prayer for relief.

counterclaim – a cause of action within the defendant’s answer which may have been used to sue the plaintiff in a separate action; used in opposition to or as a setoff against the plaintiff ’s claim.

• compulsory counterclaim – if a defendant fails to assert a compulsory counterclaim in the original action, that claim may not be brought in a later, separate action.
• permissive counterclaim – does not arise out of the same subject matter as the opposing party’s claim or involves third parties over which the court does not have jurisdiction, and may be brought in a later, separate action.

cross-claim – a claim asserted against a codefendant(s) or coplaintiff(s) in a case and that relates to the subject of the original claim or counterclaim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(g). — aka cross-action; cross-suit.

third-party claim – a claim to property held by the defendant, set forth in a third-party complaint.

Types of Claims generally pertaining to
Business & Commerce:

false-association claim – based on the wrongful use of a distinctive name, mark, trade dress, or other device to misrepresent sponsorship, origin of goods or services, or affiliation.

commercial tort claim – business-related claim arising in tort pertaining, typically relating to fraud and conversion, etc.

consumer claim – a person’s legal claim based on having purchased defective goods or services for a noncommercial purpose.

maritime claim – a claim related to a ship or a carriage of cargo by ship.