Celebrating Over Five Years of Advocacy Milestones Achieved by the RIA’s Advocacy & Government Affairs (AGA)
Celebrating Over Five Years of Advocacy Milestones Achieved by the RIA’s Advocacy & Government Affairs (AGA)
The Restoration Industry Association (RIA) has consistently served as a cornerstone of support, leadership, and professionalism for the restoration industry. One of the RIA’s most significant initiatives was the establishment of the RIA’s Advocacy and Government Affairs (AGA). The AGA serves as a primary voice and advocate for the restoration industry. It works to protect the interests of the restoration industry by tackling shared challenges and help level the playing field for restorers in the insurance claims ecosystem.
As the RIA celebrates over five years of advocacy through the AGA, we want to look back at some of the significant milestones achieved working to unify the industry and give a voice to restorers.
2019: It All Started with an Article
What started as an article discussing a non-payment issue with an insurance carrier, eventually turned into a thriving advocacy group within the restoration industry.
In a 2018 C&R article, (“Contractors: It’s Time to Take a Stand”), Mark Springer, CR described a situation where an insurance carrier refused payment on a water mitigation claim due to a technicality in document upload. The article posed a grim outlook for the restoration industry, posing the idea that if restoration companies were unwilling to unite and advocate for sustainable claims practices, the restoration industry would cease to exist within a decade.
In his follow-up article ("Our Greatest Need"), Springer highlighted the importance of proactive advocacy for restoration companies and as a result of this call to action the Advocacy and Government Affairs Committee (AGA) was launched and officially introduced at the 2019 RIA Town Hall.
Within the first year of its creation, the AGA released its first-ever position statement to help restorers when confronted with requests from TPAs for changes in scope and/or price. The AGA engaged Ed Cross as the Restoration Advocate and established volunteer subcommittees to develop an ambitious plan for tackling issues.
2020: Resilience Amidst a Pandemic
In spite of an unprecedented pandemic that changed the way we lived and worked, the RIA’s mission to educate, advocate, and elevate the restoration industry never wavered.
Addressing Stagnant Pricing
For years, restorers across the country had been plagued by stagnant pricing in their markets. The AGA hosted a series of industry briefings with the President of Property Estimating Solutions for Verisk at that time, Mike Fulton. The briefings confirmed that Xactimate price lists were intended to be used as a baseline or place to begin creation of an estimate and that users of the Xactware software agree not to prohibit or preclude deviations from the price data.
Advocating for Improvements with Third Party Administrators & Consultants
In 2020, the AGA released the industry’s first-ever TPA Scorecard Report based on a survey that allowed restorers to score TPAs in categories such as fees, guidelines, contractor service, and credentialing. The report was used by RIA’s Restoration Advocate, Ed Cross to engage with TPA leadership and call to attention the issues faced by restorers.
The AGA’s Third Party Consultants (TPC) Task Force released a series of consensus based, peer-reviewed position statements on the top eight issues restorers face when a TPC is involved in a project. The AGA worked with TPC leaders to gain support for some of these positions resulting in improvements in TPC relationships for restorers.
2021: Independent Pricing Advocacy in Action
The next year, the AGA gained further momentum when it released a new position statement: “Deviation from Standardized Price Lists” aimed to help restorers respond to the challenges presented when insurance carriers and their partners attempted to prohibit deviations from standardized price lists.
Shortly after came another independent pricing position statement on “New Construction Price Lists” that addressed the issue of insurance carriers and their partners attempting to apply “new construction” pricing to property damage restoration projects.
The AGA’s Independent Pricing Task Force forged new relationships with leaders from Verisk and CoreLogic, convening regularly to share independent pricing feedback and challenges faced by restorers related to pricing software platforms. The AGA released a series of how-to videos on managing line items within Xactimate and providing pricing feedback to both Verisk and CoreLogic to push for updated line items reflecting current market realities.
That year, the AGA also published the “Assignment of Benefits and Insurance Bad Faith Law – 50-State Guide” designed to help restorers better understand how to navigate assignments of benefits in accordance with state laws and regulations.
2022: Strategic Growth & Expansion
The AGA’s accomplishments in 2022 were significant and marked a period of expansion for RIA’s advocacy work. The “Adjusters Dictating Restoration Charges” position statement was released for use when adjusters instruct contractors to remove items from invoices or change prices for non-program projects; along with the “Denial of Charges for the Cost of Doing Business” position statement for use when insurance carriers refuse to pay restoration charges, they believed to be the “cost of doing business.”
Building More AGA Resources
This year broke ground on the new AGA Academy, a members-only online portal that included a robust offering of educational videos and position statements on Third Party Administrators, Third Party Consultants, independent pricing, estimating, and more. The AGA published a video with Ed Cross on how to utilize the position statements and highlighted stories of RIA members using the position statements successfully. It also released several new educational videos including “Update to Final Cleaning Line Item in Xactimate” and “Tips for Calculating Fuel Costs & Using the Fuel Surcharge Line Item” aimed at helping restorers effectively utilize pricing software.
Growing AGA Networks
The RIA expanded the AGA’s reach through new regional networking events hosted in Louisiana, Illinois, Maryland, and Florida. These regional events encouraged restorers to connect, network, and share their challenges with the AGA.
The RIA launched the Advocacy & Government Affairs (AGA) Canada Committee. This new committee supported the RIA’s mission and strategic vision of unity by advocating for the best interests of restorers across Canada.
Broadening Advocacy Work in Legislation
The RIA’s AGA Legislative Task Force was created to proactively monitor important legislative and regulatory issues that may impact restorers. The task force monitors bills across all fifty states with a focus on key topics including:
- Contractor laws & regulations;
- Mold and other licensing requirements;
- Laws pertaining to contractual arrangements between restorers and their customers;
- Changes in state insurance laws or regulations; and more.
2023: Achieving Results
The AGA’s Independent Pricing Task Force organized several meetings with leadership from both Verisk and CoreLogic to address concerns related to their pricing software platforms. These meetings resulted in both platforms taking immediate and important action. CoreLogic conducted a series of contractor focus groups to get input on the Claims Connect platform, which resulted in product enhancements along with reviewing rental equipment prices compared to current market rates. Verisk held a series of Xactimate Certified Pricing Specialist Courses for restoration contractors to become certified to be able to provide more direct and impactful pricing feedback based on costs in their markets.
The Task Force also developed a cost accounting infographic and Margin & Markup Calculator tool to explain the difference between margin and markup and the reasons why understanding that difference is important.
RIA’s Restoration Advocate, Ed Cross, hosted a TPA panel at the 2023 RIA convention to address issues raised by restorers in the second RIA TPA Scorecard including challenges with communications, program guidelines, fees charged for work not received through TPAs and more. The session discussion gave an important voice to restorers on these issues with TPA leadership.
Amicus Brief Filing to Protect Restorers
The RIA achieved a significant advocacy victory for the restoration industry by filing an amicus brief in a Florida court case that had critical implications for contractors. The case involved a restoration contractor who was denied payment for mitigation services performed on properties damaged by Hurricane Irma because the trial court ruled that a general contractor's license was required for the work, deeming it an "improvement" to the property, according to the Florida statute.
The RIA challenged the court’s overly broad interpretation of the term "improvements," arguing that essential restoration services like water extraction and dehumidification should not require a building contractor’s license. In the amicus brief, the RIA highlighted how such a ruling would create unnecessary barriers to entry for restoration professionals, as these services are fundamentally different from construction work. The Third District Court of Appeal subsequently recognized and agreed with the RIA's arguments, ruling that basic cleaning services, water extraction, and mitigation activities do not require a general contractor’s license according to the statute language.
2024: Milestones & Wins Set the Stage for Next Level Advocacy
Entering its fifth year of existence, the AGA made no plans to slow down, achieving major milestones for the restoration industry.
Xactware User License Agreement Language Restored
In April 2024, Verisk updated its End User License Agreement (EULA) intending to unify all Xactware products under a single EULA. However, in a late round of revisions, important language stating that users agree not to preclude deviation from standardized pricing was omitted.
This change was quickly detected by the AGA, and Ed Cross along with RIA leadership immediately reached out to Verisk to discuss the modified language. Working together, Verisk agreed to reintroduce prior language to its Xactimate EULA. Leadership from Verisk attended the 2024 RIA convention to emphasize their understanding of RIA members' needs and reaffirmed the company's commitment to ensuring that Xactware tools deliver on restorers' operational needs and adhere to industry standard pricing research and publication methodology. This was a major victory and an example of why the AGA is so important to the restoration industry.
Surveying the Industry
To hear from voices across the industry, the RIA conducted two AGA issue surveys – one for the United States and the other for Canada. The surveys gathered feedback from restorers on the biggest issues impacting their businesses to inform the AGA’s strategy moving forward which includes the establishment of a new Carrier Relations Task Force and continued efforts to improve contractor relations with Third Party Administrators and Third Party Consultants.
Cost Doing Business Report
In 2024, the RIA partnered with knowhow to release the groundbreaking, comprehensive “Cost of Doing Business Report”. This inaugural report provided much-needed financial benchmarks and insights for the restoration industry.
The report helps restorers assess their company's financial standing compared to others in the restoration industry and provides insights on shared questions such as “Is TPA work as profitable as non-TPA work?” and “How does the use of independently created price lists impact profitability based on company size?”
2025: Advocating on Carrier Relations
2025 is a truly full circle year for the AGA, as the RIA announces the addition of Mark Springer, CR to its advocacy team, where he will serve as the RIA’s Carrier Relations Advocate. In this role, Springer will focus on working with RIA’s Carrier Relations Task Force to develop consensus-based positions used to foster dialogue between restorers and insurance carriers. The goal is to position restorers to have a voice with carriers to work productively together to address and overcome challenges encountered by restorers within the insurance claims ecosystem.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mark to our advocacy team. We’ve been working to expand our advocacy resources and adding Mark to the team, alongside fellow advocate Ed Cross and our AGA committee volunteers is going to make a tremendous impact.” said Ben Looper, RIA President.
As the restoration industry continues to grow and evolve, the RIA’s AGA will remain a steadfast advocate, protecting the interests of the industry by tackling shared challenges and providing access to resources and opportunities to help restorers elevate their business.
To learn more and become a part of the leading international network of restoration professionals visit restorationindustry.org.