It doesn’t take long hanging out around insurance adjusters to hear about something called Xactimate.  If you are a new adjuster, you’ll hear many adjusters tell you it’s essential to get trained and become proficient in Xactimate before you will find work.

So that leads to the question:  “What IS Xactimate?”

It’s a subscription based software program created by the company Xactware It estimates insurance claims and documents the cost of replacement or repair of items related to construction. Currently, it only runs on a Windows platform. You can use it on an Apple Mac computer if you use a product such as Parallels to run Windows applications. You have to download it onto your computer.

So if you have a tree fall on a house, it would assist you in pricing out the cost of repair when settling an insurance claim.  The software has built in price lists that it updates on a monthly basis which is where the real value of the software is. When you enter information to replace a wall of a given dimension, it will help you price all the pieces involved in that replacement.  A full 30 day demo version is available from the company website.

You get price breaks on your subscription if you go with longer term payments such as a year versus a month.  Once you have your subscription set up, you’re assigned an adjuster ID for your account. This allows insurance companies to send you claims digitally.  There are several training options for learning how to use it.

Xactimate Online Training

If you want to be a CAT adjuster to work storms of any size, then I’d recommend a training course with that in mind.  2021Training has a great online class that gives a lot of helpful information pertinent to an independent adjuster who works storms. The company Xactware also provides some training, but many adjusters have found it less “user friendly” as compared to other courses such as 2021 Training.

Xactimate is an incredible tool and a MUST if you want to be a part of the insurance adjuster community.  There are a couple of other estimating software programs, but the vast majority of insurance companies use Xactimate, and they’re the ones who dictate what software you use to adjust the claim.  It is not the choice of the adjuster.

Bob Kramer has been an adjuster for several years, and shares from real property adjusting field experience.  He writes for active and aspiring claims adjusters, sharing How-To information and stories from the field.  His goal is to help adjusters become effective and profitable.