THE
FILE ROOM
Estimating breakdowns, carrier policy changes, case files with the real numbers, and where the hail is actually landing. Two a month. No fluff.
You're Doing a Lot of This Work for Free
A fifty two dollar door seal operation cost us five hundred dollars, eight months after we delivered the car. Most of what gets missed on an estimate is exactly that small, and that expensive.
The First Estimate Is a Ticket. On a Drive-In, It's the Only One.
AI wrote the first estimate on the last hail car that came through your door, and it has for years. The part nobody's talking about is what happens when the shop is running the same tool, on the carrier's behalf, on a vehicle that's about to drive away.
The Right to Appraisal Is Guaranteed. Access to It Is Not.
Texas made appraisal mandatory in personal auto policies this year. Illinois signed its own version on August 7. Three hail files under one carrier show why a guaranteed right that costs money up front is not the same thing as access to it.
Total Losses Just Hit a Record 23.1 Percent. On a Hail Car, That Is an Estimating Problem.
Nothing on a hail car is structural. Repair versus total is decided by a sum — which means it is decided by how the estimate was written. What to capture at the vehicle, and why overcast light is not an inspection.
Nothing filed under that category yet. Check back — two a month.