Common missing line items
Demolition and haul-away
Removing damaged materials (drywall, flooring, cabinets, insulation) takes labor. Disposal costs money. Carriers sometimes omit these entirely.
Drying equipment hours
Industrial dehumidifiers and air movers rent by the day. Typical water losses require 3-5 days of drying. Carrier estimates often specify fewer days or no drying equipment at all.
Protection and containment
Plastic sheeting, floor protection, dust control: standard on restoration jobs, often omitted from carrier estimates.
Matching
Per Fla. Stat. 626.9744, when damaged items can't be matched, the continuous area must be replaced. Carriers often pay for partial replacement only.
Code upgrades
Post-SB 2A Florida building code has significant impact on costs. If your policy has law and ordinance coverage, the carrier should include code-upgrade line items. Often they don't.
Overhead & profit (O&P)
For complex multi-trade jobs (typically when 3+ trades are involved), Florida law and industry practice support adding 10% overhead + 10% profit to the subtotals. Carriers sometimes omit O&P.
Contents
Personal property claims often get limited scheduling by the carrier: under-valued, depreciated aggressively.
How to counter
- Get the carrier's full Xactimate estimate (not just the settlement letter)
- Compare line-by-line against a full re-estimate
- Identify missing line items
- Document support for each missing item (damage photos, contractor invoices, matching unavailability)
- Submit a supplemental claim with the difference itemized