The Carrier's First Number Is a Starting Point, Not the Check

On the list of fires: “fight for the supplement”

Module 6 · The Money System · Play 8 of 22

The problem in one breath

On a storm job, the insurance company sends an estimate and you treat it like the price of the roof. You bid to it, you build to it, and you leave real money — money the policy already owes — sitting on the table because nobody wrote it back to the carrier and asked them to correct it.

Why it happens

The first estimate looks official. Letterhead, line items, a total — when a big company hands you a number it feels final. But that number is written fast, off a quick look, and it almost always misses what a proper roof needs: code items, ice-and-water, drip edge, extra for steep pitch or height, the little pieces that add up. The carrier isn't hiding them to cheat you. They're just not going to add what you don't document. Most owners never learned that the estimate is the opening of a conversation, so they accept it, eat the gap, and wonder why storm work barely pays.

The play

Supplementing is one job: you document what the roof actually requires, line by line, and you send it back so the estimate gets corrected before it's the final word. Documented items get added. How much depends on what the first estimate missed and what you can prove — that's why the proof column on the worksheet matters more than the argument.

Learn the two words on every storm check: ACV and RCV. ACV is the first check — the actual cash value, the depreciated amount the carrier pays up front. RCV is the full replacement cost. The difference is the recoverable depreciation, which typically comes after the work is done and documented — but the exact timing and terms vary (see the note below). Knowing this keeps you from thinking the first check is all there is.
Read the estimate against the real roof, line by line. Walk their line items next to what the job actually takes. What's missing? Code items the town requires, ice-and-water where it belongs, drip edge, starter, a steep or two-story charge, flashing. Every gap is a supplement. And the one most owners never ask about: whether the estimate carries overhead and profit. Whether it applies is between the policy, the carrier and the complexity of the job — but it's a line worth asking about in writing, not one to assume away.
Document each missing item — don't argue it, prove it. Photos, measurements, the code requirement, the manufacturer's spec. A supplement is a paperwork job, not a shouting match. The adjuster can't add what you only claim; they can add what you show.
Send the corrected scope back and ask for the revised estimate. In writing. This is the say-it-straight script for carriers: here's what the roof requires, here's the proof, please update the estimate to match. Firm, plain, documented.
Chase the recoverable depreciation after the work is done. Once the roof is on and you've sent the completion photos and the final invoice, the RCV balance typically gets released. That's the second check. Don't leave it hanging — chase it and collect it.

Every carrier, adjuster, and policy is different, and the timelines and what's owed vary — read the policy and confirm with the carrier before you tell a homeowner what's coming or when.

Do this this week

Pull one open storm job and lay the carrier's estimate next to what the roof actually needs. Line by line, write down every item on the roof that isn't on their estimate. That list of gaps is your first supplement — you'll have it in half an hour.

The tool

Get the sheet

Or fill it in here — no download →

Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice. Grab it on the phone now — it’ll be waiting on the computer at the shop.

the-supplement-worksheet.xlsx — the supplement worksheet. One row per line item the roof needs. For each item you write what the carrier allowed and what the roof actually needs; the sheet works out the gap — the money you're supplementing for. It covers both cases at once: an item their estimate missed entirely, and one they listed but under-priced. Set Submitted? and Carrier answer (pending / approved / denied) as you work each item, and the bottom of the sheet splits the gap into what you've won so far and what's still open to chase. Three rows are filled in as examples. See the sheet notes below.

The sheet does the subtraction and the totals — it prices nothing; the dollars are yours to type. The ACV and RCV checks are job-level and carrier-specific, so keep those in the Notes column, not baked into the math.

If your crew is 1099

Nothing to adjust — this is the owner's and the estimator's billing work with the carrier, not anything to do with directing a crew. W2 or subs, fighting for the full scope on a storm job is the same either way.

One more thing: this play is how we run a shop — it's not legal advice. Rules change by state and by contract, so before you act on the legal-sounding parts, run them past your own attorney or accountant. It's your business, and what you do with any of this is your call and your responsibility.

M6-08 · The Carrier's First Number Is a Starting Point, Not the Check — Roofer MBA, https://roofermba.com/plays/money-system/fight-for-the-supplement

The sheet notes

How the sheet works — the columns and the formulas

The columns, the formulas behind them, and the judgment calls — so you can rebuild it by hand if you ever need to.

What it does

One row per line item the roof actually needs. You walk the carrier's estimate against the real roof and, for each item, write what the carrier allowed (Carrier $) and what the roof truly needs (your $); the sheet works out the Gap $ on its own — the money you're supplementing for. It handles both cases at once: an item the estimate missed entirely (Carrier $ left blank) and an item they listed but under-priced (Carrier $ lower than yours). The TOTAL row sums the carrier's number, your number, and the whole gap. Below that, two boxes split the gap by where it stands: won so far (carrier answered approved) and still open (everything not yet approved — pending or denied). One glance tells you how much you've clawed back and how much you're still fighting for. Rows 5–7 (cream) are filled in as examples; delete them before your first real line item.

How to use it

Pull one open storm job. Put the carrier's estimate next to what the roof actually takes, and name it in the THIS JOB box top-right — Job / homeowner and Claim # — so the saved copy still tells you whose roof it is three months from now.
Add a row for every line item the roof needs — starting with the ones the estimate is missing (ice-and-water, drip edge, starter, steep or two-story charge, flashing, code items).
Fill the plain cells: Line item, On carrier's estimate? (Yes/No dropdown), Carrier $ (leave blank if they didn't include it), What the roof needs (your $), Proof you'll show (photo, measurement, code requirement, manufacturer spec), and Notes.
The sheet fills Gap $ for you.
When you send the corrected scope back, set Submitted? to Yes. As the adjuster responds, set Carrier answer (pending / approved / denied dropdown).
Read the two boxes at the bottom: Gap won so far is money corrected onto the estimate; Gap still open is what's left to chase. Work the denied and pending rows — resend the denied ones with more proof.

Columns

Column	What it is
A Line item	What the roof needs — one item per row (e.g. ice-and-water, drip edge, steep charge).
B On carrier's estimate?	Yes / No (dropdown). No = they missed it entirely; Yes = it's there but may be under-priced.
C Carrier $	What the carrier allowed for this item. You type it — blank if the item isn't on their estimate.
D What the roof needs (your $)	What the item really costs / is worth. You type it — the sheet never prices anything.
E Gap $	Auto: your $ minus carrier $ (a blank Carrier $ counts as 0). Blank until you enter your $.
F Proof you'll show	The document that proves it: photo, measurement, code requirement, manufacturer spec.
G Submitted?	Yes / No (dropdown) — have you sent this item back to the carrier yet.
H Carrier answer	pending / approved / denied (dropdown) — where this item stands.
I Notes	Anything else — dates, adjuster name, what you're resending.

TOTAL row: sums Carrier $, your $, and Gap $ across all rows. Boxes below: Gap won so far (approved) and Gap still open (not yet approved). Box top-right — THIS JOB: Job / homeowner and Claim #. Nothing computes off them; they exist so one sheet per job stays identifiable. Keep the job's ACV and RCV figures in the Notes column.

Formulas (so you can rebuild it by hand)

Gap $ (E5, fill down): =IF($D5="","",$D5-IF($C5="",0,$C5))
TOTAL (C15 / D15 / E15): =SUM($C5:$C14), =SUM($D5:$D14), =SUM($E5:$E14)
Gap won so far (C17): =SUMIF($H5:$H14,"approved",$E5:$E14)
Gap still open (C18): =SUMIF($H5:$H14,"<>approved",$E5:$E14)

Only IF, SUM, and SUMIF are used — no new-Excel-only functions — so it opens and computes in old Excel, Numbers, and LibreOffice. Dropdowns are plain data-validation lists (Yes,No and pending,approved,denied), set to reject anything else and to show the allowed words as you click in. To rebuild from scratch: header row 4 (teal fill, white bold), data rows 5–14, TOTAL row 15, the two summary boxes at 17–18, the THIS JOB box at K2–L4, gridlines off, freeze at A5.

Notes / judgment calls

The sheet tracks the gap; it prices nothing. Carrier $ and your $ are both numbers you type. What a line item is worth is your call and your local pricing — the sheet only does the subtraction and the totals.
Missing vs. under-priced are the same math. A missing item (Carrier $ blank) shows its full value as the gap; an under-priced item (Carrier $ filled but low) shows the difference. Both land in the same Gap $ column and the same total.
Approved turns money into "won"; everything else stays "open." Only rows marked approved drop out of the still-open box. Pending and denied both stay in it, because both are still money you can chase — a denied item often gets approved on a second, better-documented try.
Proof is the whole game. The adjuster can add what you show, not what you claim. If the Proof you'll show cell is empty, the item isn't ready to submit yet.
This sheet is the line-item supplement — the ACV/RCV split lives in the play. The first check (ACV) and the recoverable depreciation released after the work is done (RCV) are job-level checks, and their timing is carrier- and policy-specific — we don't state it here as a fact. Track it in the Notes column per job; see the play for what ACV and RCV mean.
Count from the range. Line items live in rows 5 through 14, with the TOTAL on row 15. To add items, insert rows INSIDE that block, above the TOTAL row, so the totals and the two summary boxes stretch with them, then drag the Gap $ formula onto the new row. A line typed below the TOTAL row shows up in none of it. If you do go past row 14, widen the $5:$14 ranges in the TOTAL row and the boxes to match.
The sheet ships with the numbers already saved in it, so a phone preview shows real figures; they recalculate as soon as you type in it.

The one thing

Do this this week

Take it with you

Get the sheet

One email unlocks this and every other sheet and card on the site. The plays stay free.

Same fire

The adjuster's number came in way under the job

M6-08fight for the supplement — you’re here
M10-05read the carrier's estimate

All the fires →

Fixed this?

Win the supplement and the next fight is usually getting the carrier to actually cut the checks.

The fire right behind it is usually Insurance money stuck — the carrier, the mortgage company, the second check.