Estimating, Damage Valuation, and Claim Documentation
Building an estimate that survives scrutiny
Claim value is built line by line: quantity × unit price × a defensible cost basis, priced at the quality level the damaged item actually occupied. Learn the vocabulary - replacement cost value, actual cash value, depreciation, betterment, like kind and quality, overhead and profit, sales tax, code upgrade, salvage value, and general contractor markup. In a total loss, apply the policy's valuation clause rather than a room-by-room repair estimate.
Documentation discipline separates a paid claim from a fight. Photograph before, during, and after mitigation; record moisture readings and daily logs on water losses; write a room-by-room contents inventory with quantity, age, condition, and replacement cost; keep receipts for additional living expenses separated from ordinary household spending; and preserve the proof of loss, all correspondence, and every estimate version.
Recurring traps:
- Applying depreciation to labor or to non-depreciable items.
- Double-counting overhead and profit when a single trade performs the work.
- Forgetting sales tax, permits, or debris removal.
- Measuring damaged rooms without comparing the result to the pre-loss layout.
- Accepting the insurer's scope without a line-by-line comparison.
Worked example. 1,200 SF of drywall at $2.85/SF = $3,420. Add 10% overhead and 10% profit only where multiple trades are involved and the pricing format supports it; show the math in the file so a reviewer can trace each line.
Rule of thumb: document quantity, quality, and cost for every line - an undocumented item gets priced at the cheapest plausible tier, or dropped entirely.