USAA manages its property claims on Xactimate, which changes what lands in your inbox. Instead of a narrative estimate, you get a structured scope built with the carrier's profile settings. That is mostly good news, because a structured scope can be compared line by line. It also means the misses contractors report are specific and findable once you know where to look.
The profile behind the scope is the part most contractors never think about. It carries the price list edition, the labor setting, the waste factor, and the standard line roster, and all of them shape the number you receive.
ESXPress is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by USAA or any carrier. Xactimate is a registered trademark of Verisk. This is a workflow guide for the scope in front of you.
How USAA runs a roof claim
Because the claim is managed on Xactimate, the scope is written in the same estimate environment you use. That is a real advantage on a supplement, because the carrier's file and your file speak the same language. The line items carry trade codes and selectors, the prices carry a price list edition, and the totals carry the profile settings that were active when the estimate was written.
Read the summary in order. On a replacement cost policy, the first number is replacement cost value, before depreciation. The second is actual cash value, replacement cost minus the withheld depreciation. Then the deductible. Then the line most people skip, which is what the claim pays once the withheld depreciation is recovered. The scope behind those numbers is the list to audit, because anything it left off was never held back at all.
The profile settings that change your scope
The profile is where a structured scope differs from a generic one. Three settings do most of the work.
- The price list edition. The same code prices differently by region and by month, and the edition stamped on the file is what dates it. The price list entry explains how the edition and the region interact. A scope priced on an older edition can come in under the current cost of the same work.
- The labor efficiency setting. This setting applies across every labor line. When a restoration setting is written against an occupied-home repair, the labor comes in under the real cost even though the quantities look right.
- The waste factor and the line roster. The roster decides which items are on the page at all, and the waste factor decides how much material the quantities carry. A template roster is why the same accessories go missing across a carrier's files.
How to read a USAA scope for gaps
Read the structured scope against the code and your own measurements, not against the carrier's name. The misses recur because they start in the process: a template roster, a profile labor setting, and a measurement that gets rounded on the way in. The items below recur on first-pass roof scopes generally. Code upgrades such as ice and water barrier where the climate triggers it (IRC R905.2.7.1 in the 2018 editions, IRC R905.1.2 in the 2021 editions) and drip edge at the eaves and the rakes (IRC R905.2.8.5). Accessories such as starter course, ridge cap, pipe boots, and step flashing. Detach and reset for gutters and roof-mounted equipment. Waste and disposal at the real layer count. Hidden decking, documented at tear-off. None of these are unusual, and all of them are answerable with documentation. For the carrier-specific picture, the carrier roof scope guide states plainly what we do and do not publish about a named carrier.
Documentation expectations
A structured scope rewards a structured supplement. Put the carrier's lines and your lines on the same structure, same order, same quantities, so the comparison reads in two minutes. Then sort the gap by what backs it. Code items cite a section. Manufacturer items cite the installation instructions. Measurement items cite your numbers. Condition items carry photos, numbered to match the line notes. Submit the whole set in one supplement with a cover note, and keep the trail of dates, reviewers, and outcomes after you send it.
A worked example: converting a USAA PDF to ESX
Even on an Xactimate-managed claim, the version that reaches the contractor is often a PDF or a portal printout, which is easy to read and slow to compare. The move is the same as on any other file: convert the scope PDF into an import-ready Xactimate ESX, open it next to your own estimate, and read the two line by line. On dashboard conversions, the Completeness Advisor checks the converted scope against 93 rules covering construction, code, and supplemental items, and flags likely omissions with a citation for your review. It does not change the estimate on its own, and it does not invent items. The PDF to Xactimate converter is where that starts, the supplement software overview covers the workflow, and the comparison hub lays out the category if you are weighing tools.
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Review required: AI-assisted content requires professional review. Verify every line item, price, and total against your actual scope before submission.