Xactimate

Xactimate, Verisk's estimating platform, is a piece of software, not a company or an insurance policy, built specifically to price out repair and replacement work using standardized cost data organized by region.

Insurance adjusters use it to generate the line-item estimate that becomes the basis for what a claim pays. Rather than a single lump-sum number, an Xactimate estimate breaks the job down into individual line items, such as a specific quantity of shingles, underlayment, flashing, and labor hours, each priced from the software's regional cost database.

Many roofing contractors also use Xactimate, or a comparable estimating tool, so their own estimate can be compared line by line against the adjuster's version rather than as two unrelated total numbers.

That line-item structure is useful to a homeowner mainly because it makes a claim estimate legible. Instead of a single opaque dollar figure, an Xactimate report shows what was priced, at what quantity, and at what rate, which makes it possible to spot something missing.

What the software does not do matters just as much. Xactimate produces a price estimate based on the scope entered into it; it does not decide whether damage is covered, and the accuracy of the estimate still depends entirely on the accuracy of the measurements and scope fed into it.

For a homeowner, requesting a copy of the Xactimate estimate behind a claim, whether from the adjuster or a contractor, turns a single number into a document.

Reading it line by line and discussing it with either party beats accepting or disputing a single number on faith alone.