Did the Insurance Industry start the Stormchasing business model?

This thought occured to me recently and I mentioned it in another thread. It has enabled them to control the pricing structure all over the country, instead of being subject to what would probably be higher claims amounts. Not to mention that they can make huge money by actually owning the companies that collect the money. Any thoughts on this?

Natty: 1) As I've stated the obvious many times, the Ins. industry is indeed gov't. subsidized. Chuck likes to think he is above the riff raff that clings to Obama. What a HOOT! He knows Damn good & well that welfare is the biggest industry in America ( I NEVER called you dumb Chuck!)

2) It is too expensive to give a crap about. Cut the check and move on. Next.....

3)I had some "expert" sent from an agent recently who knew as much about shingles as I know about Space Shuttle technology.

Yeah it's a racket

CIAK Said: The reason for mentioning that insurance companys dont like to spend money on claims is to counter the idea that frivolous claims are the norm .If you know of fraud claims it should be reported.

First of all, insurance companies don't care about paying too many claims because the state regulators have guaranteed their profits. They just raise rates.

Second, exactly how does someone report fraudulent claims? If a CONtractor covers someone's deductible, only he and the homeowner know for sure. Large deductibles were suppose to regulate frivolous claims. It has not worked.

And roof storm damage is mostly totally subjective. I have seen too many roofs torn off that had many years of service left. I have actually told clients who had insurance money in hand that it should be a crime to tear their roof off.

What ticks me off the most is these companies claiming to be "insurance claim specialists" and they have "licensed/certified adjusters" on staff. It is nothing but a racket I tell you.

Yes, its a touchy situation.

You've got the homeowners, who don't "trust" any of us. Insurance or contractors. The contractors don't trust the insurance and the insurance don't trust the contractors.

So the foundation is weak to begin with.

There is a lot of negative fear involved as well. Some is real and some is imagined. Either way it is damaging.

I have a good deal of experience with storm work. As an installer and as a contractor. As the contractor I have always taken the laid back approach and just took what share of it came my way. I have never knocked a door to push for a claim in my entire life and although I understand that it can be rewarding in the right situation, I have no intentions of ever doing so. It's just not my cup of tea.

When I was the installer, I traveled to storm damaged areas and worked for local roofing companies sub-contracting. I worked Hurricane Andrew in 92-93 both in Louisiana and Florida. Had a brief stay in Dallas, Texas after a hail storm. Worked in Louisville, Kentucky for 2 years after a large wide spread hail storm in 1995-96. Then came back to my home state of Alabama, started my own business and a couple years later in 2001, when i had all my advertising at its highest point, a 100 mph straight line wind storm hit ALL of my work area. Which is the largest metropolitan area in the state.

I had NO sales or estimating help whatsoever except little ole me and we went from taking about 5 calls a day to FIFTY calls a day. By the end of the first week, I had a little over 200 estimate request left to run. ROFL Yeah Right!

Within a month, I went from having 1 crew working, to EIGHT crews working daily. I would just cherry pick the leads because I knew there was no way in hell that I could run them all. On one particular day I measured 18 roofs and sold 10 of them. This was before Eagleview and the like ever existed.

At the end of that day i thought i was having a heart attack to the point that my wife called the paramedics to our house. They checked me out and said I was simply stressed to the max and better slow down and get some rest. LIKE NOW!

So, now days I don't care to be involved in all that anymore. Maybe I'm being a hypocrite. I don't know. I certainly have made my share of money from insurance work over the years.

Thanks Willie The reason for mentioning that insurance company's don't like to spend money on claims is to counter the idea that frivolous claims are the norm .If you know of fraud claims it should be reported. I sit in discussion groups of staff and independent adjusters.I discuss some of the concerns voiced on this site. It has helped in a few instances I am aware of.

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

Twill has it right in many occasions contractors were called on to give estimates when the insurer did not have any adjusters available, The problem that I found in all my years of storm chasing was adjusters that did not understand the contracting business thus giving some whack out estimates, little things that they forgot was all of the detailed items that go into a job before it is started, like running to the supply house to pick up something that was overlooked on the estimate, wood is a good example waiting in line for a building permit, job set up and tear down they seem to think all you have to do is just throw the roofing on the deck and all of the little things will work themselves out, well they usually do at the expense of the homeowner. Ciak pointed out that the Insurers do not like to spend money, but they sure like collecting it lol They forget that they are in the insurance business and it’s a risky business when the weather is bad the profits that the insurers make go down, it seems that they do not want to part with their earned capital Boo Hoo sorry guys thats the way it is. They don't care if the contractor takes a big hit, only their bottom line counts if you’re going to contract with these CAT storms then be prepared otherwise move on down the road

CIAK, I don't have anything against you personally at all. In fact, I think it's great that you participate here and share your vast knowledge of the insurance business. It's just that as a lifelong local roofing contractor who intends on remaining such until death, and after my work area being totally swamped by unneeded and unwanted storm chasers for the last several years. The storms we had here were very minor and scattered yet the stormers are knocking every single door for 100 miles around and getting false claims paid left and right. Roofs HAVE to get replaced and WILL get replaced whether or not insurance pays a cent. It would only be spread out instead of all at once. The stormers will leave whenever insurance finally quits paying their bogus claims and they will leave their warranty issues behind for our local homeowners ( aka my friends and neighbors ) to pay out of pocket to repair and a dried up market as well. Us locals are left to tough it out for the next several years while they are living it up at the next fresh storm!

:) :) Nice . My favorite beverage in the am Home Roasted" Ciak Roast" a healthy pour of fresh unpasturized cream for pets only. B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

TomB, definately not a trick question. Big business and big government seem to work well together. Like Twil says, this is a real boon for those who were rock bottom pricing which is a large percentage of roofing companies. The more I think about the close relationship between the 2 parties the more I can see a very profitable set up for those in the insurance industry to also be in the stormchasing industry. Maybe not as company owners themselves but it sure would be easy to set up other entities that profit very well by using the prevailing business model of of cheap uninsured illegal labor. Because that is the only way to profit at the prices they will work for. Not to sound cynical or paranoid that there is a conspiracy or anything. I'm probably overeacting, surely the parties I am talking about would not want to do anything that would tarnish the good name of the roofing industry. Seems pretty possible to me.

Then there are the unions keeping me from buying whole fresh unpasturized milk products at the grocery store.

"I sure do look good in my cheerleading outfit. Quick, somebody get me some more of that rose-colored KoolAid! :woohoo:

No doubt Willie....giving FREE Estimates on a roof that might not even be getting done.

Naw, we are interrupting the Ins. Co. / client relationship.

CAN YOU TELL I DON'T LIKE INSURANCE WORK YET?

Thanks Mike! :) Twill, when a customer calls in from around here to report a possible claim, the first thing the insurance company tells them is to get 3 estimates from roofing contractors and see what they say. To me, this is using the fact that roofers give free estimates to basically have us working for them for free. Doing what they should be doing themselves. Sending out an adjuster. Why the hell do 3 roofers have to waste their time if a claim is not even going to get paid to begin with and no roofer is going to be hired for anything. Yes, I know and understand that if you will just do it, then you will receive some of the work but its still a huge pain in the azz. There is NO binding contract between the roofer and insurance. We are not their customer and they are not ours. The homeowner is the legal customer for both of us. Why can't they just send out an adjuster FIRST and if their is any roofing work needed, then call some roofers? I think I know the answer to that and it's because by sending out the roofers first they can eliminate or reduce some of the claims without ever having to send an adjuster out. Thereby saving themselves money and time but wasting both for us!

Back in the day before times were like they are today. I like Willie would look forward to the hard rains and pray the severe weather would by pass. When the occasional storm would blow through the work load became too much for the locals to handle on a timely fashion. As the Economics of the state and nation began making a turn for the worst , lots of blue tarp roofs today in many parts of the country months and months later. Today the insurance company's hold the key with claims pay out for the policy holders and the roofing industry in general. That being said I can't buy whole fresh unpasturised.milk products at the grocery store. The times they are a changing. B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

Nice post, Willie.

CIAK, wake up. The agents here are sending contractors out instead of adjusters. Seen it twice this month already

Thank you spudder for an intelligent voice. I don't work claims. That being said there are quality company's that do. Your business model didn't hold up to Texas. I'm inside deep in the belly of the beast surrounded by staff adjusters and independents.Technically an independent myself. There was a time when things were not as organized. MSB for Allstate xactamate State Farm and others. It became chaos. The largest event I remember was Andrew. That created the Florida Model codes. Contractors if allowed go to the extreme the other direction. Gouging etc. I have seen it from both sides. B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day