How Much Is My Insurance Claim Actually Worth?

The adjuster's number and your claim's real value are often two very different figures. Knowing what you're actually owed — before you accept anything — is the single most valuable thing you can do. Here's how claim value is built.

Get your estimated gap in 90 seconds — Shielded compares the adjuster's offer to what your policy owes.

Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash Value (the biggest lever)

• Actual Cash Value (ACV): replacement cost minus depreciation. A lower number.
• Replacement Cost Value (RCV): what it costs to replace today, no depreciation deducted.

If your policy is RCV, insurers often pay ACV first and hold back recoverable depreciation — money you get once repairs are done. Many claimants never claim it back. Know which coverage you have; it can change your payout by thousands.

The line items adjusters commonly leave out

• Code upgrades — building-code requirements your policy may cover (ordinance or law coverage).
• Matching — replacing only damaged sections leaves mismatched siding/roofing; many states require reasonable matching.
• Overhead and profit (O&P) — on multi-trade jobs, contractors charge ~10% + 10%; this belongs in many estimates.
• Hidden/secondary damage — water behind walls, subfloor, mold remediation.
• Additional Living Expenses (ALE) — temporary housing/food if your home is uninhabitable.
• Contents — personal property, ideally at replacement cost.

How to build your own number

1. Start with your policy limits and coverage type (ACV vs RCV, sub-limits, deductibles).
2. Get an independent contractor estimate for the full scope.
3. Add the missing categories above where they apply.
4. Subtract your deductible to get the net expected payment.
5. Compare to the adjuster's offer. The gap is your negotiation target.

A worked example

A roof claim: adjuster offers $7,500 (spot repair, ACV, no O&P, no code upgrades). The real scope — full replacement, matching, underlayment, code-required ice barrier, O&P, recoverable depreciation — comes to $21,300 RCV. Net of a $1,000 deductible, the claim is worth ~$20,300, not $7,500. That $12,800 gap is exactly what a documented dispute targets.

Why people leave money on the table

It's not laziness — it's that valuing a claim correctly requires reading the policy, knowing what categories apply, and pricing the full scope. Miss one category and you under-ask. That's the work Shielded automates.

Let AI estimate your gap

Upload your policy and the adjuster's estimate. Shielded identifies your coverage type, flags the missing line items, benchmarks against comparable settlements, and shows your estimated gap — in about 90 seconds, free.

See what my claim is worth →

General information, not legal advice or a guarantee of recovery. Shielded is a self-help analysis tool, not a law firm or licensed public adjuster.