Quoting Insurance Work: The Complete Guide

Insurance work is steady money if you can navigate the paperwork. Here is how to quote it properly so you get paid in full and on time.

Insurance work can be brilliant or brutal. The work is steady, the customers do not haggle, and the volume is reliable. The flip side is the paperwork, the slow approvals, and the assessors who knock back items because the wording was not quite right.

If you want insurance work to be a profitable part of your business, you need to quote it differently to private work. This guide walks through how.

How insurance quoting actually works

When a customer makes a claim, the insurer sends an assessor. The assessor either writes their own scope of works or asks a tradesperson to provide one. Your quote then either gets approved, partially approved, or sent back for revision.

You are not really quoting the customer. You are quoting the insurer. That changes everything about how the document needs to read.

Make safe versus full repair

Most insurance jobs split into two phases. Make safe is the urgent work to stop further damage: tarp the roof, isolate the power, board up the window. Full repair is the proper fix done after the claim is approved.

Builders handling quotes and invoices for builders on insurance work need to quote each phase separately. Make safe gets paid quickly, often within seven days. Full repair waits for assessor sign off, which can take three to six weeks.

Make safe pricing

Make safe is usually charged on a time and materials basis with a call out. Insurers expect to see hours, hourly rate, materials list, and a brief description of what was done.

Full repair pricing

Full repair must be a fixed quote against a written scope. Hourly rates spook insurers. Lump sums against itemised scope items get approved.

Writing a scope insurers approve

An assessor approving 30 quotes a day will not read your war and peace introduction. They will scan for items, units, and prices. Your scope needs to look like theirs.

• One line per item of work
• Quantity and unit (square metres, linear metres, each)
• Unit rate and total per item
• Reference photos numbered and attached
• Trade and materials specs (for example, F17 plywood, R3.5 batts)
• Compliance notes where relevant (electrical certs, plumbing compliance)

Plumbers on burst pipe claims should list each fixture, each pipe section, each compliance plate, and each access point separately. Lumping it as "replumb laundry" gets queried every time. A set of free quote templates keeps that itemised structure consistent across every claim.

Common items insurers knock back

Some items get queried on almost every quote. Pre empt them and your approval times drop in half.

• Travel time (load it into your hourly rate, do not list it separately)
• Skip bins (always itemise with the supplier name)
• Site protection (floor coverings, dust barriers, list as a line item)
• Asbestos testing or removal (separate quote, attach the lab result)
• Scaffold (separate line, supplier quote attached)
• Project management or supervision (insurers hate this one, build it into other rates)

Glass and weatherproofing claims

Glaziers handle a huge volume of insurance work, mostly storm damage and break ins. The pattern is consistent: make safe to board up, then a fixed quote for replacement glass with the exact spec (Grade A safety, low E coating, frame type, dimensions). Always include the AS 1288 compliance reference. Assessors look for it.

Payment terms and timing

Insurance work pays slower than private work. Plan for it.

• Make safe: invoiced on completion, paid 7 to 14 days
• Full repair: progress claims by milestone, final payment on sign off
• Excess: collected from the customer, never the insurer
• Variations: must be pre approved in writing before you do the work

Never start a variation on the strength of a verbal go ahead from the customer. The insurer will refuse to pay and you will be chasing the customer for the difference. Get it in writing from the assessor.

A worked example

Storm damage, single storey home, partial roof loss, water damage to two bedrooms.

• Make safe: tarp 40 sqm of roof, isolate damaged circuit, $ 1,850
• Roof: replace 40 sqm Colorbond sheeting and battens, $ 8,400
• Ceilings: replace 28 sqm 13mm plasterboard, set, paint, $ 4,200
• Insulation: replace 28 sqm R3.5 ceiling batts, $ 980
• Carpet: replace 32 sqm in two bedrooms, supply and install, $ 3,840
• Skip bin and site protection: $ 720
• Total: $ 19,990

Each line has a quantity, a unit rate, and a clear description. The assessor approves it in one pass instead of asking three rounds of questions.

Building insurance work into your business

Insurance work is usually around 30 percent of the average tradesperson's revenue once they get the systems right. The right tool handles itemised scopes, photo attachments, and progress claims without the spreadsheet pain. Test your line item rates in a free quote calculator before you submit the scope.

The bottom line

Insurance work pays well if you treat the assessor as your real customer. Itemise everything, match their format, separate make safe from full repair, and get every variation approved in writing. Do that and you will have a steady flow of work that pays in full.