Every property claim settlement is built on a price list, and that list just moved. Verisk’s October 2026 price lists are live for more than 460 regions in the US and Canada, and billable labor — the largest component in most repair estimates — rose 4.51% in the US since October 2025. Canada rose 5.37%.
If you are a policyholder reviewing a settlement, an adjuster writing a scope, or a contractor supplementing one, this is the file your numbers come from. Here is what changed, what it does to a claim, and what to check before you accept anyone’s arithmetic — including the carrier’s.
What changed in the October 2026 lists
All figures are from Verisk’s October 2026 pricing-trends bulletin (October 1, 2026). Verisk’s percentages are national averages from its pricing research and completed-estimate transactions; each of the 460-plus regional lists carries its own numbers.
| Component | Change | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Billable labor — US | +4.51% | since Oct 2025 |
| Billable labor — Canada | +5.37% | since Oct 2025 |
| Top 200 items by spend — US | +2.07% | since Oct 2025 |
| Top 200 items by usage — US | +2.59% | since Oct 2025 |
| Lumber prices — US | +1.54% | since Oct 2025 |
| Lumber prices — Canada | −6.54% | since Oct 2025 |
| Siding materials — US | −2.11% | since Oct 2025 |
| Gasoline — US | +43.20% | year over year |
What a 4.51% labor increase does to a settlement
Repair estimates are labor-built. A water-damage repair scope is mostly people — demolition, drying supervision, carpentry, paint — with materials riding along. When the labor component of the price list rises 4.51% in a year, a repair that priced at $20,000 last fall prices near $20,900 today on labor drift alone, before any change in scope.
That drift cuts two ways. A settlement written on an older price list understates the cost of the same repair — the gap lands on the policyholder or becomes a supplement fight. A settlement written on the October list reflects what the work actually costs this quarter. The version of the price list attached to an estimate is not a clerical detail; it is a four-and-a-half-point swing in what a claim pays.
The fuel number nobody puts in the letter
US gasoline rose 43.20% year over year, to a $4.465 national average on September 28, 2026. Fuel does not appear as a settlement line anyone negotiates, but it is priced into trip charges, equipment delivery, and debris removal across every claim in the file. Expect those ancillary lines to keep firming through Q4 — and expect “the estimate is the estimate” conversations to get harder when the inputs underneath the estimate moved this much.
A gray area is about to get a line item
Verisk’s bulletin also lists what is coming in next month’s release, and one item matters for claims documentation: a dedicated line item for material handling. Moving contents so work can proceed, staging and carrying materials, handling debris — today that work is argued about, because it hides inside other items. A named line item turns an argument into a lookup, for adjusters and contractors alike.
The same list adds items for textured drywall removal, hardwood floor registers, and door jambs and strikes, and follows August’s additions of ozone and hydroxyl treatment items for trauma and crime-scene work. The direction of the file is consistent: fewer gray areas, more named work.
What to check on your claim
If you are reviewing a settlement now, ask which price-list month the estimate uses. An estimate priced on a pre-October list for work being done in Q4 is priced in last year’s labor market. That is a legitimate, documentable basis for a supplement — not an opinion about the adjuster, just the arithmetic of the file both sides are supposed to be using.
And if your repair is scheduled but not yet scoped, know that the October lists are the current ones in Xactimate and XactRemodel. The settlement conversation starts from the price file. This month, the file says the work costs more than it did — mostly because the people doing it do.
Source: Verisk, “Tendances des listes de prix: octobre 2026” (Pricing Trends: October 2026), published October 1, 2026, Lehi, Utah. Verisk notes that reported changes are national averages and that actual changes vary by pricing market. Restoration Intel has the operator-side read of the same bulletin.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Verisk price list and why does it decide my settlement? Verisk publishes regional price lists — labor and material unit prices — that estimating platforms like Xactimate use to build repair estimates. Most property claim settlements start as an estimate priced on the list for the claim’s region and month, so a change in the list changes what the same repair pays.
How much did prices rise in the October 2026 update? Billable labor rose 4.51% in the US since October 2025 — the largest increase among major components. The top 200 items by spend rose 2.07% over the same period. Figures are national averages; regional lists vary.
Can an old price list be the basis for a supplement? Yes, in substance: if an estimate for current work was priced on an outdated list, repricing the same scope on the current list is a documented, mechanical correction — the kind of supplement both sides can verify against the published file.
What is the material-handling line item? A new Verisk line item, announced for next month’s release, covering the handling of contents and materials during a repair — work that previously had no dedicated item and was frequently disputed or absorbed.