An Insurance Claim is Not Like Winning The Lottery

"Overpriced Proposals" according to whom?

Pretty much until the RICO Act is applied to Ins. Cos., I don't expect much to change. Expect pricing, which should continue to drop

While I may have not roofed The Alamo nor was a licensed insurance adjuster when Sam Houston filed the first hail claim in Texas, it didn't take long to realize the problem and the challenge. Again, that was the original point of the article and the opening sentence;

"Contrary to popular belief, property owners are not supposed to make money from a claim. BOTH contractors (the questionable ones) and property owners perpetuate this erroneous position."

Tim is 100% correct; "There are no innocent parties here when we're talking about carriers, insureds, and roofers."

But, whether you have been roofing since the time Sam Houston became president of Texas or just starting when The Houston Rockets won the Championship, established or new and everything in between, if you "eat deductibles" or submit over priced proposals to insurance companies, you are part of the problem.

There it is.

GSD Said: Regardless of all that is being said here, the customer or homeowner DOES feel like they won the lottery with a large insurance claim for their roof. and the finger is pointed in everybody elses direction, roofer, adjuster, insurance company, etc. the homeowner won the lottery.

B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

GSD is right. And that is one of the weaknesses of this discussion - thinking that the problem is not also within your industry. Insurance companies are as much to blame for this, at least, as is the insureds.

There are no innocent parties here when we're talking about carriers, insureds, and roofers.

Nick hasn't been in Texas that long and may not yet grasp just how entrenched insureds are in the hailbelt. They are hailstorm savvy, and they feel that working the system is merely doing to the insurer what the insurer has done to them.

It's not right, it's just the way it is. Thankfully we're established enough that we don't need to play the game.

GSD, I FULLY AGREE, That is the perception! EDUCATING the customer on his or her responsibility according to their policy and the law is key point. But we all know that is easier said than done. What makes it even more challenging is the large number of contractors offering free roofs and implying that a property owner can actually make money or profit from a claim, it perpetuates the perception. It makes it harder for legitimate contractors in the insurance process to take the time to educate their customer while just behind them is a slick roofing sales guy saying, "Mr.& Mrs. Property Owner, "I can get you a virtually FREE ROOF!"

Even look how roofing sales people are recruited, "Give Away FREE Roofs and make $$$!" Below is a page from a book that kind of exposes this sales tactic and breaks the ground for good roofers to educate their clients or prospects. It's a challenge but I think eventually good contractors can help change the perception.

Regardless of all that is being said here, the customer or homeowner DOES feel like they won the lottery with a large insurance claim for their roof. and the finger is pointed in everybody elses direction, roofer, adjuster, insurance company, etc.

the homeowner won the lottery.

Regardless of all that is being said here, the customer or homeowner DOES feel like they won the lottery with a large insurance claim for their roof. and the finger is pointed in everybody elses direction, roofer, adjuster, insurance company, etc.

the homeowner won the lottery.

theroofmedic Said: Tim does have a point when it comes to industry relationships; I have been approached to umpire insurance disputes by roofers who know me, hoping that I would side with them. Again, kinda makes my point about dishonest roofers.

If there are adjusters who make backdoor deals, cover me on this one it is a violation of their ethics code and can jeopardize their license and if found true it will be revoked. An adjuster is required to take ethics/consumer protection CE courses to maintain their license.

Between the insurance industrys reputation, dishonest contractors and property owners expecting huge winnings from insurance claims this definitely creates an environment for conflict and fraud.

It also makes it hard for good honest roofing contractors who play by the rules... :(

I agree with that.

The problem is the amount of money involved attracts dishonest people, and might even tempt the honest ones at times. Lon Smith Roofing, as far as I know, runs an honest company (he is deceased now). His company grossed $140 million after the $1 billion metroplex hailstorm back in the 90's. It is an enormous amount of money being thrown around.

theroofmedic Said: Interesting way of looking at insurance fraud.

I'm happy that you've found religion now that you're an adjuster. :)

I'm not excusing cheating the insurance company. Our philosophy is and always has been to call it like we see it and refuse to back away out of fear of stepping on toes. In fact that forthrightness - as I said before - has probably cost us many millions that we could have made by cuddling up to a bunch of adjusters.

Tim does have a point when it comes to industry relationships; I have been approached to umpire insurance disputes by roofers who know me, hoping that I would side with them. Again, kinda makes my point about dishonest roofers.

If there are adjusters who make backdoor deals, "cover me on this one" it is a violation of their ethics code and can jeopardize their license and if found true it will be revoked. An adjuster is required to take ethics/consumer protection CE courses to maintain their license.

Between the insurance industry's reputation, dishonest contractors and property owners expecting huge winnings from insurance claims this definitely creates an environment for conflict and fraud.

It also makes it hard for good honest roofing contractors who play by the rules... :(

Interesting way of looking at insurance fraud. With that being said, according to TDI Each year, insurance fraud costs consumers an estimated $150 billion, an average of almost $1,000 per family in additional insurance premiums. Even our own Texas insurance commissioner Ms. Kitzman stated, "Texas has one of the highest rates of fraud in the roofing repair industry!" So every time someone "pickpockets" the insurance company it costs all of us. Just something to think about.

The whole premise is scary. It implies that the insurance companies are being cheated by roofers, when the reality is that far more often the insured gets screwed by the insurer.

When a rapists gets pickpocketed at the airport, I don't lose any sleep about it.

When an adjuster with large loss authority shows up to adjust a loss, it is and should be assumed that he/she is qualified to handle the claim, knows how to document/deconstruct hail damage, and will not let a slick roofer take advantage of him. The vast majority of the situations I'm involved in are large loss so I deal with adjusters who've been around the block - and I let the insured know right off the bat "make sure your carrier sends out an adjuster with large loss authority."

Thus, when the adjuster shows up, I'm not worried about him anymore than he's worried about taking advantage of me.

My tactics are most definately NOT money-driven or with a sense of it being the lottery. I could make a lot more money cultivating friendship with adjusters, just as most roofers do. A LOT more money! I have had adjusters tell me "There is a backstory on this insured and we don't want to pay the claim - cover me on this and I'll make it up to you down the road." I know of adjusters getting kickback from roofers because of the huge advantage to the roofer when the adjuster calls him him up and says "Hey, I just paid $750,000 for hail damage on XYZ Shopping Center, maybe you should give them a call."

It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.

I am being more careful these days not to cross the legal threshold of acting as an adjuster, but beyond that the game hasn't changed.

And if the insurance industry was serious about fixing the problem, they would go after the huge storm trooper roofers making $100 million/yr + and find out which adjusters they're sending to Vegas twice a year.