Roofing insurance claims are complicated. Between adjuster estimates, hidden damage, documentation requirements, and fluctuating market costs, most contractors quickly realize the original insurance number rarely covers everything it takes to complete a job properly.
Most roofers also realize supplements are part of the work, but far fewer know how to manage supplements efficiently at scale. That’s where roofing supplement specialists come in: they help contractors capture missing funds, organize documentation, navigate adjuster communication, and keep jobs moving without weeks of back-and-forth that tie up cash and crews.
But exactly what services do roofing supplement specialists provide?
This guide breaks down exactly what supplement specialists do, when it makes sense to bring one in, and how to evaluate whether the investment is worth it for your business.
Why Roofing Supplement Specialists Exist
Insurance estimates are designed to put money in the policyholder’s hands. But the way those estimates are scoped (often with general line items and limited field visibility) means they consistently fall short of covering the work required to finish a roof to code and manufacturer standards.
Remko Bloemhard, an independent adjuster by trade who has personally handled over 14,000 claims and built the supplement management platform SuppTrax, confirms this from the carrier side of the table: “A rule of thumb: every estimate written by the insurance company is probably about 20% light. This is coming from me as an independent adjuster. We are human. We’re always going to miss something when we’re on the roof. We also don’t see what’s underneath when you start doing the demo.”
The result is that contractors file supplements to get additional funds for items like decking repair discovered after tear-off, ice and water shield or code-required upgrades, flashing details not included in the initial estimate, and waste allowances for complex roof geometry. Missing these items forces contractors to either absorb costs or go back to the insurance company, which takes time, energy, and documentation. Supplement specialists exist to bridge that gap between the original claim and the real cost of work.
The Core Services Supplement Specialists Provide
Here’s what a supplement specialist actually does on a day-to-day basis, and why each service matters to your bottom line.
1. Reviewing and Auditing Insurance Estimates
The first service a supplement specialist provides is a line-by-line audit of the initial insurance estimate. On paper, insurance estimates look structured. But adjusters don’t always include code requirements like ventilation or ice and water shield, complex roof geometry allowances, adequate waste factors for multi-plane roofs, or hidden issues like decking damage.
Specialists compare the original estimate against standard pricing guides, local building codes, actual material and labor costs, and real roof geometry. If the estimate is missing critical components, a specialist will identify them before you get further into the job. This early review alone can save contractors thousands in unclaimed costs.
2. Organizing and Managing Documentation
Documentation is everything when it comes to supplement approval. Adjusters approve supplements when the evidence is clear, organized, and compelling. Specialists help contractors take and organize high-quality, date-stamped photos, create annotated diagrams showing where issues exist, group evidence in structured folders for submission, and prepare before/after comparisons when tear-off reveals additional damage.
Remko is adamant on why this matters: “If you don’t have a photo of it, you cannot prove that it’s been damaged. If you can’t prove it’s been damaged, you cannot get it written for on a line item through the insurance company. Photos speak volumes. They tell the story.”
Every photo you skip during an inspection is a line item you may not be able to supplement later. Specialists make sure nothing gets missed.
3. Writing and Formatting Supplements for Approval
Once documentation is ready, the supplement has to be written in a way that adjusters can process quickly. That means using industry terminology and Xactimate line item codes that adjusters recognize, formatting line items in carrier-friendly structures, justifying each item with clear evidence, and providing context for damage that wasn’t visible until tear-off.
Carriers often reject supplements simply because they’re poorly formatted or lack justification. Specialists write supplements that tell a clear story backed by data and photos, not just a list of items with dollar amounts.
Contractor Supplement Solutions is one resource that helps contractors understand how supplements should be written, presented, and supported with evidence. Their training and templates are especially useful for roofers who want to improve internal supplement skills alongside specialist support.
4. Submitting and Tracking Supplement Status
Filing a supplement isn’t just hitting “send.” Specialists manage the full submission workflow: submitting through the correct carrier portal, including all documentation in the required format, tracking submission receipts and confirmation numbers, monitoring where the supplement sits in the adjuster’s review queue, and notifying the contractor when approvals, denials, or questions come up.
Instead of digging through inboxes to figure out where a particular supplement landed, you get visibility into status and next steps. That visibility alone speeds up approvals and reduces guesswork.
This is also where supplement management software like SuppTrax becomes critical, especially at volume. SuppTrax is a purpose-built supplement management platform (SMP) that contractors and supplement companies use to track claims, manage follow-ups, filter by desk adjuster, and maintain visibility across every open supplement. It’s not a done-for-you service. It’s the system that makes supplement management scalable, whether you’re handling supplements in-house or working with a specialist.
5. Following Up Consistently With Adjusters
Supplements often sit in an adjuster’s queue for days or weeks if no one follows up. Specialists know this and act accordingly: they schedule reminders to reconnect, provide clarifications when adjusters ask for more info, escalate when necessary, and craft follow-up messages that keep approvals moving.
But there’s a human element to follow-up that most contractors miss. Adjusters are people managing overwhelming workloads, and how you treat them affects how quickly your supplements move. SuppTrax tracks personal details alongside claim details.
This is strategic communication. Specialists understand how adjusters think and how to keep a supplement from going cold. When roofers try to multitask this alongside estimates, crew management, and procurement, follow-ups slip and supplements languish.
6. Training Your Team to Get Better Over Time
Beyond handling individual supplements, good specialists help build systems so your own team improves. That includes training crews on what photos and notes to capture, teaching office staff how to organize documentation, building internal checklists for inspections and supplements, and aligning supplement workflows with your CRM or job management system.
This kind of training turns supplement handling from a reactive chore into a repeatable part of your process, just like estimating or scheduling. When internal teams are well-trained, your entire company starts capturing money that was once lost.
7. Absorbing Volume When Your Pipeline Fills Up
As your roofing business scales, supplement volume grows with it, especially in storm markets. At some point, supplement management becomes a dedicated job function rather than something your estimator or project manager fits in between other tasks.
That’s when specialists pull real weight: they handle the backlog, keep current supplements moving, prevent chaos when your pipeline fills up, and reduce stress for your internal team.’re also offering secondary roofing services, you have to find funding sources elsewhere!
When Do You Actually Need a Supplement Specialist?
Not every contractor needs outside help with supplements. Here’s how to know when you’ve hit the threshold.
Handle It In-House When:
- You’re running fewer than 10-15 insurance jobs per month
- You have a team member with Xactimate proficiency and adjuster communication skills
- Your supplement approval rate is above 70% and your days-to-close are under 30
- Follow-ups are happening on a consistent cadence without things slipping
Bring In a Specialist When:
- Supplement volume is outpacing your team’s capacity and follow-ups are slipping
- Your approval rate is dropping or days-to-close are stretching
- You’re assigning supplement work to someone who doesn’t have the skills for it
- Your internal team is burning time on hold instead of selling jobs or managing production
That last point is more common than most contractors realize. Remko describes the trap: “They’ve given these claims to somebody who used to be their office manager the day before. ‘Here, help us get them through the insurance company and get them supplemented.’ The poor office manager doesn’t know the terminology. They don’t know anything about supplementing. They don’t know materials. They don’t know the process. Expect them to try to argue with the desk adjuster of why it should be supplemented or paid for. These poor people have no clue, so they can’t explain it properly.”
Supplements are a specialized skill. If the person managing them can’t speak the adjuster’s language (Xactimate codes, material specifications, code requirements), submissions stall, denials increase, and money stays on the table.
The Volume Reality
Remko lived this transition himself. When his supplement company was small, spreadsheets worked: “When we first started, we were doing maybe 50, 60 supplements a month and we could get through with Excel spreadsheets. Once we started doing 100, 200 supplements a month, that’s when they started falling through the cracks.”
It was those cracks that cost him a major client: “We actually got fired by one of our large contractors because we let claims fall through the cracks. We were using the status quo, which was just Excel spreadsheets. We like to call every 48 hours. We actually had a contractor reach out, a good friend of mine, and he’s like, ‘I gotta get rid of you because it’s been 21 days since you followed up on these claims.’ That was the catalyst for building SuppTrax.”
That honesty about his own failure is what makes the lesson credible. Whether you’re managing supplements in-house or through a specialist, the volume threshold where spreadsheets and memory stop working is real, and it’s lower than most contractors think.
The Measurable Impact of Getting Supplements Right
This isn’t abstract. When Remko’s team moved from spreadsheets to a structured supplement workflow built on SuppTrax, the results were concrete: “We actually knocked off 19 days off our days to close. We cut out 95% of the incoming phone calls, the interruptions. Those enabled us to cut 19 days off.”
And the financial impact was even more significant: “We actually saw about a 32% increase in average on the supplement. Why? Because we’re a little bit more on point when we talk to that desk adjuster and we’re not brain dead.”
Nineteen fewer days to close and 32% higher recovery. That’s not a marginal improvement. That’s a fundamentally different business outcome, driven entirely by moving from chaos to system.
The productivity drain of the old way is brutal. Remko describes what supplement management looks like without structure: “Too often when they reach out to that desk adjuster at the insurance company, they’re on hold for 37 minutes. When we’re on hold for 37 minutes five times a day with the same desk adjuster, our brain goes to mush.” And then the interruptions compound it: “Even worse is they would have to answer a phone call from the salesperson, sales manager, or the contractor calling in asking the status of that supplement. They would have to get themselves off of hold, answer the phone, look at their Excel spreadsheet, try to find the claim, answer that question, hang up, then have to go back to where they were, try to remember where they were, have to go back on hold with the insurance carrier and start that process all over again.”
That cycle doesn’t just slow down one supplement. It degrades your team’s effectiveness across every claim they’re managing.
How to Evaluate a Supplement Specialist
If you’ve decided outside help makes sense, here’s what to look for and what to watch out for.
Questions to Ask
- What’s your average days-to-close? If they can’t answer this, they’re not tracking their own performance. Walk away.
- What’s your approval rate? Look for 70%+ on well-documented submissions.
- How do you handle follow-ups? You want a defined cadence (every 48 hours is the standard), not “we check in when we can.”
- What documentation do you require from my team? Good specialists will tell you exactly what photos and notes they need. Great ones will train your crews on how to capture them.
- What system do you use to track claims? If the answer is “Excel” or “email,” that tells you everything about their capacity to scale.
- Can I see supplement status in real time? You should have visibility into where every claim stands without making a phone call to ask.
Red Flags
- They can’t tell you their average supplement amount or days-to-close
- No structured follow-up cadence. They just “stay on top of it.”
- They require you to do most of the documentation work but charge full-service rates
- No tracking system or portal where you can check status
- They guarantee specific dollar amounts before reviewing your claims
Green Flags
- They track KPIs at the per-employee level (average supplement amount, days-to-close, approval rate)
- They have a defined follow-up cadence and log every adjuster interaction
- They use purpose-built supplement management software like SuppTrax rather than spreadsheets
- They train your team on documentation standards, not just take work off your plate
- They can show you measurable results from existing clients
The Bigger Picture: What Services Do Roofing Supplement Specialists Provide?
With economic confidence among roofing contractors declining according to recent industry polling, protecting every dollar of revenue on every job matters more than ever. Supplements aren’t a side task. They’re a core revenue function for any contractor doing insurance work.
Whether you handle supplements in-house with the right training and tools, bring in a specialist to manage the workflow, or use a combination of both, the goal is the same: turn supplement management into a predictable, measurable business process instead of a reactive scramble.
When you pair systematic supplement workflows with tools like ProLine’s communication-first CRM, where job documentation, adjuster communication, and follow-up tracking live in one system, you don’t just capture more money. You free up your team to sell more jobs, keep crews productive, and stay organized under pressure instead of chasing adjusters after hours.
Supplement specialists don’t replace your role. They amplify it by giving you the structure and support to scale your business without sacrificing margins or sanity.
FAQs
What exactly does a roofing supplement specialist do? They review initial insurance estimates for missing items, organize documentation and photos, write and format supplements for submission, manage the submission process, follow up with adjusters on a consistent cadence, and track every claim to approval. Some also train your internal team on documentation and supplement best practices.
What’s the difference between a supplement specialist and supplement management software? A supplement specialist is a person or team that handles supplement work for you: reviewing estimates, writing supplements, communicating with adjusters. Supplement management software like SuppTrax is the platform used to track claims, manage follow-ups, and maintain visibility across all open supplements. Many specialists use SuppTrax as their operating system, and contractors can also use it directly to manage supplements in-house.
How do I know if I need a specialist or can handle supplements in-house? If you’re running fewer than 10-15 insurance jobs per month and have someone with Xactimate skills and adjuster communication experience, you can likely handle it internally. Once volume exceeds your team’s capacity, follow-ups start slipping, or you’re assigning supplement work to staff without supplement experience, it’s time to bring in outside help.
Do supplement specialists work remotely? Yes. Most supplement specialists and services operate remotely, managing documentation, submission, and adjuster communication without needing to be on-site. Your field teams capture photos and notes; the specialist handles everything from there.
How much does supplement specialist support cost? Costs vary based on volume and service level. Many contractors find that specialists pay for themselves quickly. The additional approved funds typically exceed the service cost, especially when the alternative is leaving money on the table or assigning the work to someone unqualified.
What metrics should I track to evaluate my supplement process? The key metrics are average supplement amount per claim, days-to-close, approval rate, and follow-up consistency. If you can’t answer those questions about your current process, that’s a sign your system needs structure, whether through a specialist, software, or both.
