Field notes from 20,000+ estimates
Operational practice, Florida law, code citations, and the line items that make or break a claim. Written by the team that defends them.
The factor-fee argument: how carriers reduce funded contractor invoices (and what your portfolio can do about it)
Carrier defense attorneys use factor fees as leverage to reduce funded contractor invoices — either as inflation evidence or as credibility evidence. The two playbooks, why your portfolio sees the argument and unfunded contractors don't, and how the technical fix lives upstream of the dispute.
FBC §R702.4: why your bathroom tile backer matters in a water claim — and the carrier replacement that gets challenged
When a Florida water claim affects a tub or shower wall assembly, the carrier often pays to replace standard drywall behind the tile. The Florida Building Code requires something different. Here's the section, the argument, and how to document it.
Post-SB-2A economics: how to vet an estimating expert before your contingency pays for them
Florida SB-2A eliminated one-way attorney fees in property insurance disputes. Expert costs now come out of contingency. Twelve questions to vet an estimating expert before they touch your file — and the red flags that show up on cross-examination.
DRY TEX, TEX-, TEX+, TEX++, TEXMK: choosing the right Xactimate texture line for the wall you actually have
Five Xactimate texture line items for drywall — TEX, TEX-, TEX+, TEX++, TEXMK — plus an add-on. Each one matches a different finish. A field reference from the WCE estimating team on which one to use and why selection matters on carrier review.
Why Florida carriers reduce 60% of payouts — and what the strongest PA estimates do differently
Most Florida insurance payouts get reduced not because of damage, but because of how the estimate is written. The five categories of writing that survive carrier review — and the ones that quietly cost public adjusters their fees.
Why your dry-out invoice keeps coming back cut: a desk adjuster's review, line by line
Restoration dry-out invoices come back cut not because the work was wrong — because of how it's documented. The four line items the desk adjuster cuts first, why each one gets cut, and what to change in your documentation to stop it.