Why reviewing repair quotes before work begins matters

Managing repair costs has always been one of the biggest challenges for insurers, particularly when claims are managed under a delegated builder authority.

How do you ensure repair costs are fair before the money is spent?

Traditionally, insurers rely on comparing average claim costs across builders. While this can highlight trends, there is at least a six-month lag – by the time the data is available, the claims have already been paid and can’t be adjusted.

Builders can often defend their position based on location, peril type and property quality resulting in higher costs. If everyone is performing at a similar level, benchmarking alone offers little opportunity for improvement.

Other approaches also have their limitations.

You may opt for contracted hourly rates, even contracted meterage rates – but what’s a fair rate? And what do you do in times of surge or over supply of trades? During periods of high demand or trade shortages, pricing fluctuates, while in quieter markets repair scopes can expand to offset lower rates.

You could use industry pricing guides, but these require significant time, technical expertise and manual data entry to produce accurate estimates. And experienced estimators are increasingly difficult and expensive to recruit.

Loss adjusters play a vital role in the claims process but asking skilled policy professionals to spend hours reviewing repair pricing is not always the most efficient use of their expertise. And in our experience, the old “two quote model” doesn’t always result in a fair cost.

Similarly, obtaining multiple builder quotes doesn't necessarily guarantee a fair market price – it simply identifies the lowest quote submitted. Then there’s the option of using building consultants, but you’re looking at paying $180 to $250 per hour. Ouch!

So, what’s the alternative?

QuoteCheck takes a different approach.

Rather than replacing your existing claims systems or processes, QuoteCheck complements them by electronically reviewing builder quotes before repair work begins allowing you to adjust costs before money is spent.

The AI platform requires no complex IT integration – it’s ready to go and analyses every line item in a builder’s quote against a live, regionally based database of market pricing. This is what drives real competition as costs can ebb and flow with supply and demand – exactly how a market should operate.

No detailed knowledge is required – simply upload the builders quote and within minutes an exact replica of the quote is returned to you marked up showing each line compared to the live rates in that same region. No technical building knowledge required, no data entry. Simple.

This means you can now check every quote before work commences, adjusting costs before they are incurred, with builders measured against their peers.

Adding value where it matters

QuoteCheck doesn't replace loss adjusters, building consultants or claims teams – it allows them to focus on the areas where their expertise delivers the greatest value.

QuoteCheck is independent, so there is no association with specific builders – just accurate data that allows fair and transparent repair costs and helps to reduce overall claims costs. And with five years’ local operation with known brands, it’s already delivered proven cost reductions with no impact to the claims lifecycle.

Best of all, it’s not expensive. We let AI do the work meaning every quote from $1,000 to $1,000,000 can be checked for a low cost that generates a return on our fees of more than $8 per dollar spent – that’s 8 to 1 return – an affordable addition to existing claims management processes.

If you're looking for a smarter way to control repair costs, improve pricing transparency and reduce claims leakage before costs are incurred, let us show you the QuoteCheck difference.