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It isnt that hard. However I think they answered your question wrong. Tell them you need an electronic file. I cant remeber the proper acronym they use I think it is ems file though. Anyways call back them back. What you are looking for is something multiple users can manipulate the estimate if I am correct in what you are looking for.

I am an adjuster and a software developer, and I was a software developer long before I was an adjuster.  I have been adjusting claims since 1995.

From what I read around here, your question has many answers. 

Almost all estimating systems will print to a .pdf file.  If you could retrieve your info from a .pdf, this could be your answer.  So all estimating systems can "Export" to a .pdf.

Most of the larger players have electronic file transfer to send claims info and accept submitted claims.  Each of those systems seems proprietary, and, as you would imagine, every one of those processes, "exports" the claims information.  But I do not think this is what you are looking for either.

Simsol and Powerclaim, I believe, use XML to communicate with a Claims Management system.  This information exchange is centered on the claims background information, I think.  (And I'm sure someone will be along to correct me, if I am wrong).  This is probably similar to what you are looking for, but you also want the estimate data.

As a software developer, I would recommend getting a copy of the client for the database engine that the programs use.  I have yet to find a current program that will not allow access to their data this way.  I also have yet to find a software vendor that will admit this, although I have never asked any of the insurance software guys. (I seem to have to do this for medical practices mostly, because the app crashed or they are switching apps and do not want to have to re-key all their data.)   If you ask them, they mouth dire warnings of data loss cause you are an idiot and will wreck their precious data.  But if you have the passwords, and the user usually has them since they are needed to run the apps. the data can usually be accessed.  If you access the data as read-only, the potential for damage should be small.  And you are only looking to read the data anyway. 

I have never used Exacitmate, Simsol (except at a software show in 1992, bet things have changed since then), MS/B, Intregi-Claim, Powerclaim or any other windows based system, so the information I am relaying to you I have gathered by reading this site.  I could be wrong, I've been wrong before.  Just ask my wife.

The claims software I and my company use are MS Access based and developed in house.  My Access systems export everthing about a claim, to include all the estimates, coverages, photo descriptions, everything.  I am re-developing the system in VB.NET and SQL Server, as time allows and this will be the fifth generation of the software. I originally wrote the CJET Estimating system in DOS based Turbo Pascal back in 1988.  All of my windows based system allow access to the data, either directly in Access for the Access systems, or with the SQL Server tools for the SQL systems.

If you have more questions and think I can help, email me at jgoodman@stormcentral.com.

Jeff Goodman

Good Man Adjusting

Goodman Enterprises

Max your question is a good question. As Jeff stated Simsol (I understand) and we at Hawkins Research, Inc. (PowerClaim) do output in XML and Xactimate actually does as well I understand. Jeff touched on a touchy issue and that is of the XML Open Standard we introduced about 7 years ago when we unlocked our file structure and removed the copyright off of our reports in PowerClaim XML used for estimating.

While a few CMS (claims management systems) have bidirectional data flow with PowerClaim XML neither Xactimate nor Simsol have made their file structure Open for others to see/use as I understand it but things are changing at the carrier level and that fact will change. Before we came on the scene there was a desire by the estimating software vendors to force a company/carrier to only use one ‘brand’ of estimating software and force the users to use the software vendors’ backend CMS system by claiming ownership of the digital claim/estimate files by locking them down.

While PowerClaim Net Services is a web based CMS that works bidirectional with PowerClaim XML through to the XML Standard others can use our estimating software called PowerClaim XML and build their on backend to export to or import from PowerClaim XML. While we offer a company a complete web presents in 24 hours with no upfront money to manage as many adjusters/estimators as they wish we also will provide just the estimating software at a fraction of the price of the other guys and let one handle/manage the backend if that is what is in the best interest of our customer or potential customer. I do not like to be forced to do anything and this is why we moved to the XML Open Standard. Thank you for checking out what we have done and are in the process of doing for the industry to enhance profits.

Gale Hawkins, CEO
Hawkins Research Inc.
gale@powerclaim.com 

Rick thank you for the kind words that you were writing while I was writing my reply to Max. I did not expect someone else would be posting on this same thread at this hour. :)

The millions of dollars wasted in this industry each year because of the proprietary data structure which is often also locked is a serious problem but it can only be addressed completely at the carrier level like they have required an Open Standard in auto claim files.

Thanks again and let us know if we can be of specific help.

Max,

Hope all this helps.  Thanks for listening.

Gale,

I learned early on (back in the 60's) that night time programming was more productive than daytime & have always been a night owl.  Just wondering out loud, does anyone think that those lawyers over in LA who have started some sort of an anti trust lawsuit against the "other two" softwares are up to speed on XML Open standards? 

Rick it is hard to know what the lawyers in LA have on their minds. I think Katrina was so huge she swamped the entire system including the legal system. You have people trying to sue the government for building bad levees, lawyers suing lawyers, rumors of bribes, etc going on and the home and business owners are caught it the middle of the noise perhaps.

Trying to look on the positive side of what that is coming out of the Katrina event I do think others like me are learning things we would have never took the effort to learn otherwise. The fact that congress as exempted the insurance industry from all Anti-Trust laws as I understand from some of the press makes it more unclear how to understand the current events in my mind.

When we introduced the property XML Open Standard seven or eight years ago we knew it would be a slow go and it was only last year when some of the claims management software vendors started to embrace developing importing and exporting of claims information using that XML Open Standard that we introduced. The important thing now this can lead to the evolving of the XML Open Standard for property claims. The more players on the standard the better the standard becomes.

It seems to me that ISO http://www.iso.com/  may control or greatly influence ACORD http://www.acord.org/home/home.aspx because it just does not make sense why in 2008 they are leaving developing of a truly open to all property claim Open Standard to companies the size of ours if the industry actually thought a property claim XML Open Standard would be in their financial best interest. Now that ISO owns Xactware http://www.xactware.com/ lock stock and barrel why would they want to move to an XML Open Standard with unlocked claim files so companies could use Xactimate to do estimates without storing their claim files on XactNet if they want to do any data mining on their own http://www.xactware.com/product/xactanalysis/xa.html giving ISO control of the claims data from several nationwide carriers?

When you read Breakthroughs in Analytics Are Transforming the Insurance Business by Frank Coyne the CEO of ISO at http://www.iso.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2365&Itemid=211 in light of the fact that he controls Xactware one can better grasp the financial reason a For Profit company http://www.iso.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1717 like ISO could be financially motivated to lock the carriers from having full and total control of their property claim files. While it is labeled as a White Paper the CEO’s at the carriers could read it as a marketing piece since it clearly states more and more carriers are going to fail to stay in business if they do not gain access to the analytics (like ISO controls) based on the millions of property claims live data they purchased and now control by owning Xactware.

If the CEO of ISO can get the CEO’s of more and more carriers to give up their control of their own property claims files then he financially gains. If his prediction of the carriers that do not move over to the services (like he controls) comes true then when the carriers that do not come and play ball in his court go out of business then the prices of property insurance coverage could rise even faster than today it would seem to me.

Having come from a different background than many others I find it very surprising how regressive the insurance property claims handling industry is today. I am beginning to think after fifteen years that the reason for this regressive nature is to control competition or the smaller players’ more than incompetent IT department managers. However keep in mind I am the CEO of the estimating software vendor that has brought many changes to the claims handling industry that existed in other industries so I do not smile on any road blocks to progress to the industry as a whole.

I do see the points make by the CEO of ISO but when he controls/owns the technology that his sales staff is telling the carriers that is their salvation and refuses to give them full ownership of their claim files after they sign up to gain access to their salvation something is wrong with the picture in my mind. A true Open Standard will help level the playing field of the “haves” and “have-nots” that Frank Coyne talks about in Breakthroughs in Analytics Are Transforming the Insurance Business.

Back to your question I do not expect any real change to come out of any court cases of Katrina. Richard Scruggs if found guilt of bribing the judge even though it is not related in a direct sense I expect the smoke will block the way forward to any progress in the world of insurance. If found guilt he will have removed the last 50 years of progress by the legal profession to paint themselves as being legit.

However I am still see hope for the needed reforms in the industry but I am starting to think it will come from some force other than the court room or Washington DC. As strange as it may sound it may come from within the industry itself but I have no idea who in the industry would decide the high road is better then the low road. Maybe the reason I see that as a possibility is due to not seeing any force outside of the industry with the power to bring about any needed changes. True and lasting change always starts with a decision on the inside to change. Frank Coyne who I see as the most powerful man in the industry today as CEO of ISO could step up to the plate and level the playing field vs. trying to control it. He will need to see that by bringing the needed changes can bring him great profits by meeting great needs vs. going the control route and somehow set in motion actions that could totally destroy ISO in the long run. Any negative force will at some point will meet yet a stronger force. Maybe Frank Coyne can find the high road that will be best for their family of companies and the industry as a whole in the long run.

Rick I agree late night can be a good time to think when things are quite but thinking on the question you asked can give one a headache.

I thought I would re-activate this thread, having not been on this forum since around last Jan.  I fortunately started getting quite busy doing both adjusting and general contracting (doing insuance rebuilds) and have not had time.  However, when I landed a burn out to restore in Oklahoma, I purchased a year's license for Powerclaim because of the very good support there and the ability to do exactly what was asked about in this thread, exporting the file.  I am probably driving the Powerclaim support people nuts with my many emails, questions, and suggestions for feature additions.

When I wrote the fire claim up, a $76,000 job, I had to have a way to reorganize the items by trade, and again by material to purchase to create a list for the lumber company and a budget, and sort again in the exact sequence of events to print out task lists for the workers and subs. In 30 years of being a general contractor, I always had to build spreatsheets to do this (once pc's were invented). 

This time, the power claim support crew did a sample export to Xcel for me and I was on my way.  Unfortunately, it requres a version later than Xcel 2000 that I have, and I have not been able to find any version other than 2008 for Vista, but I need an earlier one for XP.  So, I email my files to my son for now who has Excel 2003 or 2006 I think it is, he converts the exported Powerclaim on his Excel then emails me back the converted files and they work with XCEL 2000.

It is a little cumbersome, but I think now that I have a pattern worked out for how I want to track the tasks and costs, and created reports, the next job will go much faster.  I actually talked to their support last week to see if I could use Crystal Reports to do the reports and they said they would look into it. The problem is, to do so, Powerclaim would have to divulge the file and record definintions which probably would create a security risk as it relates to their proprietary copyrighted software.  Some companies in the point of sale accounting software business do give out enough info to use Crystal Reports, but having never used it myself, I am not sure what would be involved and what all development platforms CR is compatible with.

The one shortcoming in Powerclaim, and is even worse in Integraclaim that I used in 2007, is the lack of the needed entries in the pricing database that is produced by another vendor.  Doing fire jobs, and even some tornado claims last month,  I had to create a lot of new entrires for items that I always considered to be common items in renovation and new constructio, I would estimate that of all of the items I used, I probably had to add or modify 20 to 25% the first time the item was used. The huge advantage is that I could add or modify the items very easily, unlike the multi steps it takes in Integraclaim (if you can even figure out how to add an item),  and Xactimate that I understand does not allow you to add or change items and keep them in the database permanently.  I was told that Xact wipes out all changes when the prices are updated, and some of the carriers systems prohibit the changing of prices.

To sum it up, for your construction business I recommend Powerclaim and Xcel to do your reports.  I also would like to get some kind of data exchange going with other Powerclaim users so we can swap items and prices we have added to the databse. This can be done, although I was told this week I may have to wait a short while due to a bug in the routine that merges the overlay (file that keeps the changes).  If anyone has an interest in such an exchange, please email me through this web site or through Claimsmentor.com.