Key Takeaways
Your adjuster's Xactimate scope of loss lists every line item and price behind your roof settlement. Here is how to actually read it before you sign.
A "scope of loss" is the itemized estimate your insurance adjuster generates after inspecting your storm-damaged roof — it lists every repair or replacement line item, the quantity involved, and the unit price the insurer is using to calculate your settlement. Most Illinois carriers and contractors, including ours, generate this document using Xactimate, the estimating software that's become the industry standard for property insurance claims. Understanding how to read it is the difference between accepting a settlement blind and knowing whether it actually covers the real cost of your roof.
What Is Xactimate, Exactly?
Xactimate is estimating software used by the vast majority of property insurance adjusters and restoration contractors nationwide to price repair and replacement work using standardized line-item codes and regional labor/material pricing. Because both your adjuster and your contractor are typically pricing off the same underlying system, a scope of loss should, in theory, be an apples-to-apples comparison — but only if every line item that belongs on the roof is actually included.
What a Line Item Actually Tells You
Each row in the scope of loss typically includes a short code description (e.g., "Remove & replace ridge cap — composition shingles"), a quantity (in squares or linear feet), and a unit price. Multiplied together and summed, these line items build the total the insurer is offering. Common categories to check for on a full roof replacement:
- Tear-off and disposal of existing shingles
- Underlayment and ice-and-water shield
- Drip edge, starter shingles, and ridge cap
- Flashing (chimney, sidewall, valley) and pipe boots
- Ventilation components (ridge vent, roof vents)
- Overhead and profit (O&P) — often owed on complex claims involving multiple trades
Why You Should Compare It Against Your Own Contractor's Assessment
A scope of loss reflects what the adjuster saw and priced during their inspection — it isn't automatically complete. A missing line item (a skipped section of flashing, an underpriced ventilation upgrade, or ice-and-water shield priced for less coverage than code requires) means your settlement is short before work even starts. This is exactly why we walk every DuPage and Will County customer's Xactimate scope against our own physical inspection before accepting a number — our insurance claim assistance process exists specifically to catch these gaps and request a supplement when the numbers don't match reality. If you're also trying to understand how depreciation affects your payout, see our guide to ACV vs. RCV roof insurance settlements, which walks through a real worked example.
If the Scope Looks Wrong
Request the adjuster's full itemized Xactimate report in writing (not just the summary total), have your contractor mark up any missing or underpriced items, and submit that comparison back to the carrier as a supplement request. For more on what happens when a carrier disagrees entirely, see our companion post on what to do after a roof claim denial. Browse the rest of our Storm Damage & Insurance library for more on the claims process.