Top 5 Insurance Claim Estimating Mistakes

As a professional involved in estimating insurance losses, you understand the importance of accuracy. However, as a human being, you also realize that mistakes can and do happen despite your best intentions. Are you making any of these insurance claim estimating mistakes? They're more common than you may realize. Below are the top five mistakes that iScope® insurance claim estimating software can help you avoid:

1. Making Math Mistakes – It's easy for math mistakes to happen, especially if you are pressed for time. By using insurance claim estimating software, not only can you let the software perform the mathematical calculations, you can work faster. As a result, you'll be less pressed for time and better able to verify that all of the figures entered into the software are accurate to begin with.
2. Using Outdated or Incorrect Prices – Using outdated prices or rebuilding costs for a different market could result in an inaccurate estimate. Your estimate could be over or under by significant amounts. By using insurance claim estimating software along with a current construction pricing database such as the Company®, you can avoid this potentially costly mistake.
3. Using the Wrong Labor Rates – Just as material costs can vary, so can labor rates. Depending on where the loss took place, the prevailing labor rates could be dramatically different than those of other communities.
4. Selecting the Wrong Unit of Measurement – Did you enter a square foot when you really meant to enter a square foot? Whether you're in a hurry, distracted, or confused, it's easy to make this type of mistake. While software can help with calculations, it can't read your mind, so plan on double-checking your entries. If a result seems wildly out of proportion, there's a good chance that the wrong unit of measurement was used.
5. Failing to Document Everything – While a nick in the paint or a single warped floorboard may seem minor in comparison to more significant structural damage, many estimators focus on the major damage and fail to include minor repairs. Unfortunately, these repairs can quickly become costly and if they're not included in the estimates, the estimates will be less accurate than they should have been. By using insurance claim estimating software, you'll be able to work more efficiently and should have more time to focus on finding all of the losses associated with the claim.

iScope® insurance claim estimating software can help you avoid many common mistakes. Download a free copy of iScope® today.