We have had restoration contractors documenting the insured's contents loss for years. In doing the cleanup post loss they simply photo and list prior to disposal. I don't see anything wrong with this as long as pricing determination, depreciation application and replacement costing are not part of the deal and left with the staff or independent adjuster.

Well this will give us all something to think about. The adjuster in cyberspace calls the insured and advises the insured he will "walk them through" the adjustment of their dwelling loss and it will take about 2 hours and set the app;ointment for 48 hours, all this after asking the insured if he has a high speed internet connection in his house. If not he can tell him what to do today and go to a public library a get a computer booted up and call him back when all this done.

The adjuster downloads a version of xmate that is good for 48 hours , connects the two computers and they sketch that dude out, upload all photos, has the insured burn a copy of the complete estimate gets it agree to and ask the insured to return the camera and laser device in the SAAE. The adjuster closes 6 file per shift and then the night shift comes in. If the insured is spooked with getting on the roof the adjuster down loads the satellite of the before and after shots with the measurements. And better still, the before and after is shown to the insured on his computer for straight down hail and this dude can settle about 50 per shift in the day and 50 at night.

Now what is un professional about settling this amount of claim per day with exact prices that a list of contractors a mile long will line up to do without one single supplement or call back.

Oh to make the whole operation more professional, burn a check that can be printed out and this baby is put to bed, don,t worry about the service bill as the IA is working on a day rate and xmate knows how much time he is at his puter from his log in to  log out and the long pause's are measured.

"It is my understanding that Xact prices come from submissions/input/surveys from contractors. However, that does not preclude a carrier from creating a price list with different unit costs. A contractor version of Xact is still available. I do like Xact for large losses but it is overkill for the average claim."

Being an estimator for a large reconstruction general contractor in Northern California Bay area who only does insurance work.... I still do not know where they come up with their pricing... I read all of X's white papers about pricing ..... My feeling is that they ask the new home builders who have 15 homes with the same floor plans for costs and that buy material in bulk for the material costs they list... There are many trades that in our area are not even close to the prices listed.....We have asked who they get the pricing from so I can call that trade to get the work done for my customer with the quality to put my customer back to a pre loss condition   ...They do not say........

That's an interesting perspective Dave. Lot's of people have the opposite opinion, that Xactimate prices are high, and forced upon adjusters by contractors.

I am sort of in the middle - I think it all comes down to an accurate statement of the work being done. Not the price per Sf so much as a focus on all the steps that have to be done to get the repair completed. One guy may write "R&R sheet vinyl". The next guy may realize it will need floor prep after scraped, or that the underlayment (not the subfloor) has to also be replaced, and there is edge metal where joins the carpet, waste based on 6' or 12' roll with pattern match, etc. Yanking the base and hammering it back will need to be painted - and of course that isn't included in the vinyl price but some estimators over look that - as well as the obvious stuff like moving contents and appliances, D/R toilet, etc.

I just read all those white papers too, as I was searching the Xactware site on something else. I have been using that software for 15 years, and think it is like an instrument in the hands of the musician. You can make music with it, or noise.

Contractors in my area could walk into the same small fire, and one using Xactimate may have a 15k sheet and the next guy 24k, its all in the scope and the details. I'm not talking about charging for detaching light switch plates, and removing light fixtures that can be masked. It's knowing what has to be done to fully handle smoke odor trapped in the stud wall and insulation, issues with water damage, etc. Just doing a thorough and accurate scope that doesn't ignore needed repair items.

And sometimes that means adding 4 hours labor for a trade to do something specific, to tie in with existing, if the unit cost for the Sf of repair isn't right. I know in our area I can look at some hammered drywall and know the local contractor isn't getting out of bed for the Sf x unit cost involved in that loss, so I have to make some adjustments and explain why in an estimate note. You can't say the unit cost was too low, because if it was an upstairs pipe that broke and hammered a lot of drywall downstairs it would be fine (especially if you don't ignore the bullnosing which is an added fee, and realize that drywall damaged along a door involves casings etc - you know that but the adjusters you work with may know nothing of how to do these repairs.)

It's just like playing the guitar, it's how you use it. I'm not saying to overpay claims either, and sometimes we have to push costs the other direction when they are padded or over-scoped.

I had a recent opportunity to guage Xactimate pricing for Northern California during the January windstorm in the central area of northern California -- between Fresno and Redding.  I was temping at a commercial desk and received 104 claims in two days to serve as claim examiner and assign them to independents.  The company I was temping for required Xactimate be used by the independents.  My assignment to all the independents was:  Inspect the loss, write your own estimate and get it back to me as soon as possible.  Do not get agreed pri9cing or release a copy of the estimate before I have reviewed it.  Most of the losses were on farm policies.

Of the files where I got an Xactimate estimate and also received an estimate from the insured's contractor (about 35 of the 104), 100% of the Xactimate estimates were higher than the contractor estimates.  Many of the Xactimate estimates were 30% or more higher than the contractor estimates.  Interesting?  You bet.  Localized results and anecdotal evidence?  You will get no argument from me on that point either.

I hear ya - and that's kind of why I disagreed with David on 4-16-08 that Xactimate was too low. If you don't overlook the needed repair steps, don't forget the quarter round when you are doing the floor, etc, there is plenty of food on the table (and maybe some left-overs).

That's an interesting point too. I get a fair amount of Farm policy work, and it is kind of the opposite of the kind of padded "Beverly Hills" type restoration estimate. There are still some "Salt of the Earth" people in California, but maybe you have to go to the rural farms to find them...

This is one that I looked at from that same January, 2008 storm that hit California.

100 year old barn, my 24' ladder was barely tall enough, but I was able to get close-ups showing the damage was new, shiny parts of old nails pulled out with the displaced boards.