In this article:
- What is a scope of work?
- Understanding the scope components
As a property owner, it's important to have a proper understanding of what to expect when filing an insurance claim. When a claim is submitted for damaged property, your insurance carrier will likely schedule a time for someone to come inspect your property. This person is typically referred to as an insurance adjuster (see: What Is An Insurance Adjuster?). Once the adjuster has inspected the damaged property, if it is determined that repairs are needed, the adjuster will provide the property owner with a "scope of damages", also referred to as a scope of work.
What Is an insurance Scope of Work?
The scope of work is essentially the insurance carrier's estimate for the cost to repair the damaged property and restore it to its pre-storm condition. This means that they are providing their evaluation of what it will take to make your damaged property look and function as it did before it was damaged. The scope of work includes an itemized list of items required to complete the repairs, and includes pricing for each of these items. This damage report is most often written using a software called Xactimate, or something similar. Xactimate determines the average cost of repairs for your geographical location, taking into consideration labor rates, permitting fees, labor minimums, etc. This helps the carrier determine the total cost to appropriately settle the claim.
This document is one of your greatest advantages as a homeowner to ensure that all of your damaged property is properly addressed. If an item has been approved for repair, manipulation, or to be fully replaced, it should be listed on the scope of work. Additionally, reviewing your scope will help you be certain that when you choose a contractor you are not being over-charging for their services. Many contractors will provide an estimate for repairs that is over-inflated, or that includes costs and fees for items that are not necessary for the completion of your claim. At 3:16 Roofing & Construction, we choose to work according to the insurance carrier's scope of work. Since they have already provided documentation showing what they are paying for, we can typically do those repairs for the approved amounts. This means there are never any hidden fees, and the homeowner doesn't have to incur any additional expenses.
What If the Scope of Work Isn't Accurate?
While your insurance adjuster may do their best to evaluate the damaged property and provide an estimated cost of repair, they are not perfect. The adjuster is an expert in insurance, but we are the general contracting experts, and oftentimes there are items that an adjuster will miss, or simply not know needs to be included, on the scope of work. 3:16 Roofing & Construction uses the carrier's scope to determine what items have been approved for repair and what items have not. If an item is not listed on the scope, it typically means that the insurance carrier does not agree that it is in need of repair, and therefore is not providing payment for that item. In this case, we are usually unable to do the repairs to those specific items unless the homeowner chooses to cover the additional costs.
If a homeowner determines that their insurance carrier's scope of work is not comprehensive, there are several things that can be done to remedy the problem. As a general contractor, when a homeowner chooses 3:16 Roofing & Construction as their trusted roofing contractor, we will inspect the entire property to help determine what was damaged. If we find that there were items not included in the carrier's scope that are necessary for the complete repairs to the property, we can provide the homeowner with any necessary documentation explaining why we believe the items should be covered in the claim.