Top Reasons You're Receiving Pushback on Your Invoice

Top Reasons You’re Receiving Pushback on Your Invoice

Stacks of documentation to support an insurance claim for restoration work

Many restoration contractors will tell you that the most challenging part of their job is negotiating with insurance carriers. Adjustors often push back on invoices in an attempt to pay contractors less. Here are some of the top reasons that One Claim Solution sees restoration contractors get pushback on their invoices, along with advice from our Director of Claims, Chelly Poldoian, on how you can use documentation to arm you against pushback.

You Approach Your Invoices as an Afterthought

Lots of restoration contractors view restoring properties and preparing invoices as two separate parts of their job that happen at different times. This kind of approach can result in the contractor being underprepared when it comes time to make the invoice. When invoices are an afterthought, they are often poorer quality and easier for insurance carriers to push back against.

Instead, approach preparing an invoice as something that begins at the same time as your restoration work. While you are restoring a property, take photos and make notes about the damage and what you are doing to address it. If you start to organize this information while you’re still working on the job, you have more opportunities to collect information that will be useful when you’re finishing the invoice.

You Aren’t Proactive About Documentation

When it comes to avoiding invoice pushback, “documentation is definitely key,” Chelly says. Having thorough documentation to support your invoices puts you in a stronger negotiating position with carriers. Often, adjusters are assigned after the fact and don’t know the details of what happened on the job. Providing details and documentation is the best way to justify your charges and avoid pushback. Documentation can look like:

Photos
Notes
Time logs
Videos
Reasoning for your approach

While you’re working the job, be proactive and collect as much information and documentation as possible. Later, when you are putting together your invoice, you can pick and choose what to use to support your charges. It’s always better to err on the side of having too much documentation rather than too little documentation.

How Previous Pushback from Insurers Can Guide Your Documentation

If you find yourself unsure what to document, consider what areas you often get pushback from adjusters and use that to guide your documentation. For example, if you often have adjusters argue that you did more work than was necessary, use your documentation to prove them wrong. This might look like taking pictures of initial moisture meter readings in all of the areas where you perform work. When you proactively anticipate and prepare for pushback, you have a better chance of succeeding during negotiations.

Your Technicians Need More Training

The people who work for you are always one of your biggest assets, including when it comes to documentation and preventing pushback. Many restoration businesses remember to train their technicians in technical restoration skills but forget to train them in more abstract skills like properly documenting their work. Then their technicians’ documentation is weak and results in problems during negotiations. “If [your documentation is] missing one little thing, even if it’s not required, it raises red flags, for sure,” Chelly said. Training your team in preparing good notes and documentation is crucial to your success in preventing pushback on your invoices.

Want More Invoice & Documentation Help?

At One Claim Solution, all our contractors have to do is send us their invoice and claim documentation, and then we organize and submit a claim packet to the insurer for them. We also negotiate with carriers on behalf of our contractors and respond to any pushback. If you’re interested in getting more help with these processes, request a consultation with us today.