An expert report with 42 line items is re-entered in full for the comparison.
The expert report arrives as a scan from the assessor; the insurer's settlement letter is a PDF in the inbox. Each lists its line items in its own order and under its own labels. Anyone who wants to set them side by side first builds a spreadsheet and enters every amount by hand, once when the file is opened and a second time when the assessment is due.
42report line itemsThe assessor lists spare parts, labour units and paintwork individually.
31settled linesThe settlement letter has fewer lines and labels them differently.
73amounts typed by handFor the comparison, every amount from both documents is typed into a spreadsheet.
11lines without a matchEleven report items do not appear in the settlement at all and have to be hunted down one by one for the comparison.
The 73 manual entries disappear and the eleven unmatched lines are already flagged in the line item comparison, which cuts data entry by 60% before the case handler looks at the first difference.
The 60% reduction in data entry is this agent's headline figure. The line item counts and manual entries describe a typical property damage case at a law firm; none of it was measured.