Supplements that stick
Send the estimate, the photos, and the denial. You get back a line-item supplement built on S500 methodology and Xactimate pricing logic — not a wish list. Every line has a reason attached.
CLAIMS & BACK-OFFICE SUPPORT FOR HOME SERVICES COMPANIES
You do the hard work
in the field.
We do the hard work
on the file.
Claims support, supplement writing, and full back-office coverage for home services companies — from the file fight to the phones.
- IICRC S500 / S520 methodology
- Xactimate-fluent estimating
- Hundreds of carrier negotiations
- After-hours calls answered live
- Nationwide · 100% remote
// 01 — THE PROBLEM
You don't lose money in the field.
You lose it at the desk.
CUT“The auditor cut my dehu days again.”
STALLED“Every supplement takes three rounds and sixty days.”
SHORT-PAID“I know I'm leaving 15–30% on every claim. I don't have time to fight every one.”
MISSED“I missed three calls yesterday because I was on a job.”
NO WIN“My phone rings at dinner and I can't win either way.”
LOST“The after-hours voicemail box is where jobs go to die.”
None of that is a work-quality problem. The carrier staffs a desk full of reviewers whose job is to shrink your file — and your phone keeps ringing whether or not you're under a house to hear it. The paperwork fight and the phones are both full-time desk jobs. You already have a full-time job.
Hand us the desk.
// 02 — WHAT WE DO
You run the field.
We run everything else.
Two ways we take the desk off your plate — start with either, or both.
PILLAR 1 — FOR RESTORATION, MITIGATION & STORM CONTRACTORS
Claims & File Support
We turn your file into money the carrier can't ignore.
Audit rebuttals with the math attached
Third-party auditor cut the file? We write the technical rebuttal: equipment sizing math, Class and Category justification, drying logs, standard citations. A reviewer can argue with an opinion. Not with the math.
Equipment & scope justification
Air mover and dehumidifier counts calculated per IICRC S500. Drying chamber documentation. Psychrometric backup for every extended drying day. If it ran on the job, we can justify it on the file.
Claims strategy, on retainer
For shops that want the whole pipeline tightened: documentation SOPs your techs will actually follow, estimate review before submission, escalation strategy when a carrier digs in. Fewer fights. Faster money.
PILLAR 2 — FOR EVERY HOME SERVICES TRADE · CARPET · PLUMBING · HVAC · RESTORATION
Office & Call Capture
Your phones answered. Your calendar full. Your evenings back.
After-hours live answering
Live answering after 5pm, on weekends, and on holidays. Emergencies get dispatched immediately; routine calls get booked or queued for callback. Your 9pm water loss becomes your job — not your competitor's.
Dispatch & scheduling
Jobs routed to the right tech, the calendar managed, customers confirmed and reminded. You step into a booked day instead of building one from the driver's seat.
Customer intake
Every new lead qualified, job details captured, estimate scheduled — so the owner steps into a booked appointment with notes, not a cold voicemail from two days ago.
Full office takeover
Ready to hand off the front office entirely? Phones, scheduling, intake, and follow-up run as a monthly service — an office manager's output without the payroll, the desk, or the turnover.
// THE MISSED-CALL MATH
1 missed emergency call a week × $2,500 average ticket = $130,000 a year booked by whoever answered.
Your numbers will differ. That's the point — we'll run them with you, free.
// 03 — WHY “CAT 4”
There is no Cat 4.
That's the point.
In water damage, the categories stop at Cat 3. Cat 4 is what you'd call the loss that's beyond the book — the file where the damage is real, the work was necessary, and the carrier is fighting you on every line anyway.
That's the work we take. When the standards run out of numbers and the adjuster runs out of patience, you call Cat 4.
And if you chase storms — yes, the Category 4 read is intentional.
-
01
Practitioner-built
We've run the trucks, hung the poly, set the chambers, answered the 2am phone, and sat through the carrier calls — as owners of a multi-state water, fire, and mold operation. This is field experience pointed at the desk.
-
02
Standards-first
Every argument cites S500 or S520 — never “in our experience.” The standard is the one thing a desk reviewer can't wave off.
-
03
Days, not weeks
Modern tooling plus a practitioner's eye means your supplement doesn't sit in a queue — and your callers never sit in a voicemail box. Your cash flow is the deadline.
-
04
Aligned with your outcome
Contingency options mean we can get paid when you do. We're not billing hours to lose gracefully.
// 04 — RESULTS
The file speaks. Here's what it says.
Six figures
recovered in supplements & audit reversals
Hundreds
of carrier negotiations, first-hand
S500 / S520
cited on every argument we write
Days
not weeks, to turn a file around
CARRIER EXPERIENCE NATIONWIDE · TRAVELERS · STATE FARM · FARM BUREAU · FARMERS · SHELTER · TPA-MANAGED PROGRAMS
CASE FILE 001
Class 3 water — residential
Two audit rounds. Equipment days restored per S500 chamber calculation and psychrometric log.
RECOVERED $██,███
CASE FILE 002
TPA program file — mitigation
Line-item denials rebutted point-by-point with standard citations; overhead & profit restored.
RECOVERED $██,███
CASE FILE 003
Storm / roof — supplement
Scope gaps and code-required items documented, supplemented, and paid.
RECOVERED $██,███
Full case studies — with the unredacted numbers — are being finalized. Ask us and we'll walk you through a file.
// 05 — HOW IT WORKS
Three steps. You never leave the truck.
-
1
Send the file
Estimate (PDF or ESX), photos, drying logs, and whatever the carrier sent back. Ten minutes of gathering, tops.
-
2
We build the case
Supplement or rebuttal, line by line, with the standard citations and the math attached. You review it before anything moves.
-
3
You submit. We back you up.
It goes out under your letterhead. If the carrier pushes back, we write the next round — and we stay on it until it's paid.
That's the claims lane. Office & call capture starts even faster: one setup call to build your call playbook — services, service area, pricing rules, on-call rotation — and your phones are covered from that week on.
// 06 — THE FOUNDER
Built by a practitioner, not a desk consultant.
Cat 4 was founded by a restoration operator who built and ran a multi-state water, fire, and mold company — and spent years on both ends of the carrier call. Hundreds of negotiations with Nationwide, Travelers, State Farm, Farm Bureau, Farmers, Shelter, and TPA-managed programs. Six figures personally recovered in supplements and audit reversals.
And behind those trucks was an office he ran too — the phones, the scheduling, the intake, the follow-up. In a small shop, the owner is the office. We know exactly what it costs to be both, because we paid it.
Based in Middle Tennessee. Working with companies nationwide — everything is remote, file-based, and phone-based.
// 07 — FAQ
Straight answers.
CLAIMS & FILES
What does a supplement cost?
Per-file work is priced as a flat fee or a percentage of the recovered increase — your choice at engagement. Monthly retainers are available for shops with steady volume. Your first file review is free, and if we don't see recoverable money on it, we'll tell you that too.
How fast is turnaround?
Days, not weeks. A straightforward supplement moves fastest; a multi-round audit rebuttal takes longer. Either way you get a timeline before we start, and you'll never wonder where your file is.
Do you work outside Tennessee?
Yes. Cat 4 is based in Middle Tennessee and works nationwide. Claims work is file-based and call capture is phone-based — nothing about it requires us to be in your zip code.
What do you need from me?
The estimate (PDF or ESX), photos, drying logs or moisture maps if you have them, and every piece of carrier correspondence — especially the denial letter or audit report. Imperfect documentation isn't a dealbreaker; it's most files. We work with what you have.
Do you talk to the adjuster directly?
Your call. Most contractors submit under their own letterhead with us behind the scenes — it keeps your carrier relationships yours. When a file needs a technical voice on the call, we can be there.
I'm a roofer, not a mitigation company. Can you help?
Yes. Storm and roofing supplements, O&P arguments, and scope fights follow the same playbook: documentation, standards, math. If it's an insurance file, we can work it.
OFFICE & CALLS
Is after-hours answering a call center, or someone who knows my business?
Someone working from your playbook. Before we take a single call, we build your intake script with you: your services, your service area, your pricing rules, your on-call rotation. Callers hear your company name — not a switchboard reading a generic script.
What happens when an emergency call comes in at night?
We answer live, qualify the loss — what's wet, for how long, is the water shut off — capture the address and callback number, and dispatch per your rules, straight to your on-call tech with everything they need. You get a booked emergency job with notes, not a 6am voicemail from a customer who already called someone else.
Can you integrate with my scheduling software?
In most cases, yes. If you run ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, or even a shared calendar, we book directly into it. If your system is a whiteboard and a group text, that works too — jobs get delivered however you actually run your day.
What does call coverage cost?
A monthly subscription sized by call volume and hours of coverage, so a two-truck carpet shop isn't priced like a ten-crew restoration company. Tell us your trade and call pattern and we'll quote it straight — after we run the missed-call math with you, free, so you know what not answering already costs.
GET STARTED — BOTH ARE FREE
Find out what you're leaving
on the table.
Two ways in, no retainer, no commitment. If there's nothing there, we'll say that too.
CLAIMS — FREE FILE REVIEW
Pick the claim that got shorted the worst. We'll tell you what's recoverable, what we'd argue, and what it would cost.
- Estimate — PDF or ESX
- Photos of the loss & equipment
- Drying logs / moisture maps, if you have them
- The denial, audit report, or carrier correspondence
OFFICE — MISSED-CALL REVENUE ESTIMATE
Tell us your trade, your hours, and what a typical job is worth. We'll run the math on what after-hours calls are worth in your business — before you pay us anything.
Prefer email? Send everything to intake@cat4consulting.com