What are roofing supplements?
Roofing supplements are additional insurance claims filed when a roofing contractor requests trades, labor, or materials that were not a part of the original roofing claim.
For example, an insurance adjuster may not have accounted for the correct number of roofing materials (shingles, flashing, drip edge, etc.) needed to repair the damage. Sometimes, the materials still needed are necessary for compliance with local building codes. In these cases, a contractor must complete an additional Xactimate estimate including the needed materials. This estimate must be reviewed and approved by the insurance company to move forward.
Included with the estimate should be documentation and thorough explanations of the needed additional materials—such as photos of the damage, additional measurements, and supporting invoices.
Will the insurance company get upset if I submit a roofing supplement?
As with any business, it is beneficial to be both honest and courteous to the professionals you work with. If you submit a thorough, transparent, and well-documented roofing supplement, you will actually be helping and supporting the insurance company in the process of your customer’s roof repair.
Frustration occurs when a submitted roofing supplement is poorly crafted, or the information presented is unprofessional or dishonest. If you’ve submitted a clumsy, incomplete roofing supplement and are also pushing back on the insurance adjuster’s findings or challenging their authority, the adjuster may become frustrated.
However, if your supplement is a quality document, and if you stick to the honest facts, remain calm and professional, and present findings clearly, you will most likely have a successful experience and the insurance company will not be upset.
How many jobs should I supplement?
Consistently evaluate every roofing job to identify those that would benefit from submitting a roofing supplement. If you have an established inspection process, it will be much easier to determine whether or not an insurance job needs a supplement. Through that process, filing the supplement will be much more effective.
Essential to establishing a standardized process is giving your sales staff step-by-step instructions for performing roof inspections. Checklists are very helpful in this area (the most successful contractors use checklists for all major processes and inspections).
Systematizing the process could initially add time and tasks to your sales staff’s workload but will ultimately leverage your roofing business. For example: with the process itself becoming more efficient, contractors will be paid faster. Operationally, a more efficient process will result in more accurate accounting of needed materials, so supply orders will also be more accurate.
Is it necessary to hire a roofing supplement company?
Hiring a third party to supplement your roofing jobs may make more sense for your business in the long run. Some contractors are not good at writing supplements, or do not have the time to write them for all the jobs they take on. After a major storm hits an area, even roofing businesses that have internal staff to write supplements may need additional help from a third party supplement-writing service to cover all the jobs.
At American Roof Supplements, our experienced teams are Xactimate software experts with many years of experience in the industry. Call us about our roofing supplement writing services. We deliver them in 72 business hours or they’re free.
