Few things play as big of a role in your restoration business’s finances as your pricing. Today, the restoration collections experts at OCS are examining two of the most popular pricing approaches in the restoration industry–custom price lists and Xactimate pricing–so that you have the information you need to make the right financial decisions for your restoration business.
Independently created custom price lists are lists created by a restoration company without collaborating with another restoration company or relying on a third-party price list. Comprehensive price lists should include every line item your business charges homeowners for during a restoration project. It can include anything from what you charge per hour of labor, to the cost of dehumidifier equipment rental.
While local market rates can play a role in setting your prices, you should primarily determine prices based on your business’s actual cost of services, operating expenses, and healthy profit margins.
The Restoration Industry Association & KnowHow’s Cost of Doing Business Report 2024 found that just under half of survey respondents report using independently created price lists in their restoration business.
Xactimate is a popular estimating software tool used by restoration contractors and claims adjusters. One of Xactimate’s selling points is that it has a “current and local pricing database” that contractors can use to understand the market value of the services they are estimating. Many contractors rely on Xactimate pricing suggestions to set their own prices.
Xactimate’s history provides more further insight into their tool and the company behind it. In 2006, Insurance Services Office bought Xactimate. Verisk was created two years later to be a parent company for Insurance Services Office and Xactimate.
Where does the pricing data in Xactimate’s database come from? According to Verisk, they “analyze an array of market price points from numerous third-party sources, including thousands of daily in-field estimates submitted through Verisk.” Who is submitting estimates through Verisk? Xactware’s 2016 Property Report shared that 89% of the parties uploading estimates through Xactimate were staff adjusters or independent adjusters.
Claims adjusters create estimates in response to claims submitted by contractors. By nature of working in the insurance industry, adjusters’ estimates include suggested prices that are lower than those of the restoration contractors actually performing the work. Because adjusters are disproportionately represented in the estimates submitted through Verisk, it suggests that the data points that are a part of their “current and local pricing database” are likely biased toward the lower pricing included in estimates created by adjusters.
Restoration pricing isn’t one-size-fits-all. Unlike pricing from Xactimate or other third parties, a personal price list is a pricing framework that’s personalized to your business, your local market, and your customer base. Creating a price list also gives you the opportunity to dive into your business finances in detail, understanding what works and what doesn’t work. With this deeper understanding, you can move forward making better-informed business decisions.
At One Claim Solution, we encourage every restoration contractor to create their own price list. If you opt to use Xactimate in conjunction with your personal price list, approach their suggested Xactimate pricing with caution, understanding that it is likely lower than the true going rate for restoration services in your area. When you’re creating estimates in Xactimate, opt to fill in your own customized pricing rather than relying on the suggested Xactimate pricing.
Relying on your own price list is only one piece of optimizing and streamlining your restoration business’s finances. Another piece is successful claims negotiation with adjusters. At One Claim Solutions, we provide restoration claims billing services for restoration contractors nationwide. We manage our clients’ claim billing, negotiating on their behalf to get them higher insurance payouts. Reach out today to see how OCS can increase your business’s collections.