The Xactimate Program

1
Exact what?

• Xactimate.  Its 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 dont 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.  
3
If there was ever an industry dominated by
insurance companies, its 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.  Theres 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) 
4
Contractors who are on the various preferred
vendor programs are required to use Xactimate to
generate their estimates.  And since most
adjusters wont deal with an estimate written in
another format, even non-program contractors use
it as well.  Show me a doctor who doesnt use a
coding billing program.
5
For restoration contractors, its 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
thats just the way I see it.  Its easy to
contract out construction.  Its 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.
Andrew McCabe
Visit us www.claimsdelegates.com Or call
888.745.7568