Considerations to make before making a first offer:

If you know your Xactimate estimate is justifiable and can serve as a strong anchor, your estimate will pull the negotiation in your favor, and will help you achieve more desirable outcomes.

What do we mean by a “strong anchor?” In terms of a Xactimate estimate, every line item should be warranted and easily defendable if questions arise.

In some cases, there are questions around a loss regarding the extent of hidden damage, etc. For that reason, it may be difficult to justify items related to that hidden damage since those line items can be easily rebutted. Adjusters love to say, “We only pay for what we can see.”

In this scenario, get authority from the adjuster to dig deeper to find the total extent of the damage.

This will (1) get you in good favor with the adjuster and (2) make your eventual anchor more powerful since the adjuster has co-signed on your activity.

An enormously critical component of making a first offer is having a skilled Xactimate estimator who can scope a loss thoroughly for Xactimate.  If the job is not scoped thoroughly, you will certainly miss costly line items.

If you do not have a skilled Xactimate estimator, we can provide you with these services.