← CAT Adjuster Fee Schedule Calculator
This calculator vs. judging an offer by its headline per-claim rate
A $550-a-claim offer and a $350-a-claim offer both look like a rate you can rank on their face. Neither number says what the trip actually pays once pace, daily costs, unpaid travel days, and a blended large-loss bonus come out. This free calculator turns any fee schedule into an effective hourly rate so two offers can be ranked on what they actually pay.
What each one tells you
The headline per-claim rate is the number two IA firms lead with, and it is real — but it is one factor in an hourly figure, not the figure itself. It says nothing about how many claims a day that firm's volume and assignment pattern actually support, and nothing about the lodging, per diem, vehicle, software, and unpaid travel-day cost that run every day in the field regardless of which firm sent you.
This calculator takes the same fee schedule — per-claim fee, large-loss share and bonus — along with your assumed pace and daily costs, and produces the number the rate alone can't: profit per hour actually worked, and the break-even claims-per-day pace below which the deployment loses money. The fee-schedule comparison table runs two or three offers side by side on that same basis.
It exists because a fee schedule that never shows a loss on paper can still pay a few dollars an hour once a slower pace and the same daily costs are counted against it. See a worked example where a $350/claim offer beats a $550/claim offer on paper and loses badly once hours are counted.
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| Which of two fee schedules actually pays more per hour? | This calculator's fee-schedule comparison — enter each offer, compare net profit for the same deployment. |
| What claims-per-day pace do I need just to break even? | This calculator's break-even pace figure, from your own daily costs. |
| Does a bigger large-loss bonus mean a better firm? | Only if that firm also assigns enough large-loss claims — enter the bonus and share to see the blended effect. |
| Should I take this firm's reputation or pay-speed on faith? | No — verify those independently. This calculator only prices the fee schedule and pace you enter. |
| Is my fee-schedule data uploaded anywhere? | No. Everything runs in your browser; comparison rows are never saved and clear on refresh by design. |
This calculator is arithmetic on the fee schedule, pace, and costs you supply. It does not evaluate a firm's reputation, timeliness of payment, or claim-volume promises, and it is not licensing, insurance, or business advice.
This tool needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
Common questions
Why isn't the per-claim rate enough to compare two offers?
Because it says nothing about pace, and pace is what turns a rate into income. A $550-a-claim firm assigning 0.8 claims a day and a $350-a-claim firm assigning 1.5 a day can land on either side of each other once claims per day are multiplied out — and neither number alone tells you which. The rate is one factor in an hourly figure, not the figure itself.
What do daily costs and travel days change that the per-claim rate can't show?
They are the same regardless of which firm you deploy for, so they shrink a slower firm's margin more than a faster one's. Lodging, per diem, vehicle cost, and an estimating-software subscription run every day in the field, and the unpaid days spent driving to and from the disaster zone add cost with zero claims closed. A fee schedule that never shows a loss on paper can still pay only a few dollars an hour once those costs are counted against a slower pace.
Does a large-loss bonus change which offer actually pays more?
It can, because a bonus that looks identical on two fee schedules is worth different amounts depending on how many large-loss claims each firm actually assigns. A firm that pays a bigger bonus per large-loss claim but assigns fewer of them can blend lower than a firm with a smaller bonus and more large-loss volume — the headline bonus number alone does not say which.
Does this calculator replace comparing firms on reputation or pay speed?
No. It only turns the numbers you enter — fee schedule, assumed pace, and daily costs — into an effective hourly rate for a deployment. It does not evaluate a firm's reputation, how quickly it actually pays, or its claim-volume promises; verify those independently before accepting a deployment.
Open the CAT Adjuster Fee Schedule Calculator to compare your own offers, or read a full worked example.