1. [ “Exact what?” ] [Xactimate. It’s the estimating program used by 90% of the insurance repair industry to quantify property damage and claim settlements. ]

2. We call them “carriers” to be more precise, but you probably don’t care about that. What is important to note is that the carriers have put into place myriad layers of control systems for the sole purpose of… wait for it… saving money. One of these controls is the standardized, and tacitly mandatory, use of the Xactimate estimating platform. While contractors are not required to use the program, those that want to get paid DO. One great analogy is the health care industry. Xactimate estimating platform

3. If there was ever an industry dominated by insurance companies, it’s health care. In order to get paid by your HMO, PPO or whatever, your doctor has to first put everything he does “for you” into a matrix of “codes”. There’s an entire field of study called Medical Coding, and entire industries specialized in delivering “coding” services. Every pill and procedure your doctor prescribes has a corresponding CODE in the insurance company database, and a corresponding price. Without coders, or software that codes, doctors would not get paid by insurance companies. The same is true of restoration contractors. Xactimate is essentially a construction coding piece of software. It gives carriers and their adjusters the ability to quickly create damage estimates which are uniform in pricing and format across the nation. Half-inch drywall (DRY1/2) and two coats of paint (PNTP2) is the same in New York as it is in L.A.. The pricing database contains thousands of items from paving stones to grain silos. (yes, really) Medical Codingconstruction coding

4. Contractors who are on the various “preferred vendor” programs are required to use Xactimate to generate their estimates. And since most adjusters won’t deal with an estimate written in another format, even non-program contractors use it as well. Show me a doctor who doesn’t use a coding & billing program.

5. For restoration contractors, it’s more important to know how to write a detailed (complete) Xactimate estimate than it is to know how to build a house. I know, someone out there is yelling at their computer screen right now, but that’s just the way I see it. It’s easy to contract out construction. It’s harder to get paid enough, or on time.

6. Xactimate and Insurance Claim Expert I help homeowners and contractors navigate insurance claims. I specialize in writing repair estimates in the Xactimate software program. Water damage, mold, smoke odor, fire damage.... I've seen it all. I have experience running multi-million dollar restoration companies and writing multi-million dollar estimates. I enjoy the small ones though. Visit us: www.claimsdelegates.com Or call: 888.745.7568 Andrew McCabe