Experience Files

When an adjuster or claims reviewer asks me to "Please put the equipment rental line items in the rooms where it was placed," my response is usually, "Yeah, I'm not going to do that." Here's why. Frankly, it's a waste of time and counter productive.

Think about it: How often do you place drying equipment in a room and leave it there for the entire duration of a project? If you're like most restorers, you're moving equipment around the project daily, strategically repositioning it to maximize drying efforts.

For example:

• Day 1: 3 fans in the bedroom, 2 in the bedroom closet, 1 in the hallway.

• Day 2: I might move 1 fan from the bedroom into the hallway if its initial spot is already dry.

• Day 3: With the closet now dry, I'll move a fan back to the bedroom and another into the hallway to boost airflow over remaining wet materials.

• Day 4: Everything's dry, and I'm loading up.

The insurance carriers, in my experience, are often counting on us to incorrectly calculate the unit of measure (UOM) for each room, ultimately benefiting them. Regardless of where they're moved, you're still using 6 fans for 4 days.

You're likely not tracking your equipment by room on a daily basis anyway. Your standard equipment tracking form probably asks for:

• Client's Name and Address

• Number of Fans and Dehumidifiers

• Their ID numbers

• Date and Time of Drop-off and Pick-up

• Perhaps Dehumidifier Hour Meter readings

Breaking down equipment by daily charges also creates unnecessary complexity and "sticker shock" for reviewers. It's simpler to show 10 dehumidifiers (e.g., 2 units for 4 days, 1 unit for 2 days) rather than daily counts per room. Similarly, instead of trying to explain 6 hours of monitoring with a note like "(1.5 hours x 4 days)," just put the total daily count.

A high percentage of file reviewers simply aren't equipped to understand the nuances of drying. They won't grasp that "3 dehumidifiers in a bedroom" on a line item doesn't mean three units were in that bedroom for the entire project, but rather a total of 1 unit used for 3 days, or some other combination across the space. They certainly won't understand the complex rubric we use for strategic equipment calculation & placement.

If they truly want to see equipment placement, offer to send them a sketch clearly depicting:

• A moisture migration line

• Triangles for fans

• Squares for dehumidifiers (with their descriptions inside)

• Circles for AFDs (Air Filtration Devices)

This provides the visual information they need without forcing you into an inefficient and inaccurate billing practice.