Insurance, claims and donations
Why is claim work billed hourly?
In short: Because the size of a claim cannot be known in advance: how much evidence survives, how many cards are involved and how many questions the adjuster raises all vary. Donation appraisals are different and are a flat fee per report.
A flat fee would have to guess the work, and a wrong guess lands on one of us. Hourly billing with a stated minimum per claim, quoted in writing, keeps it fair.
The rate is never tied to the value I reach or to what the claim pays out. Expert witness and litigation support are hourly for the same reason.