Licensed State and Hailstorm : Illionois

With the invasion about to begin, we pretty much know that greed and stupid will trump licensing. And safety. And profit. And good wages. (pick a number. any number. Jose' will pay the freight......)

How will this affect pricing? Does the Ins. Industry still low ball legal Contractors in a licensed state? Does Ins. Work remain some kind of Prey on the ignorant? (Actually flat out lie) Make up prices and become supplement ....whatever?

Or is Insurance pricing suddenly above board and Exactimate pricing reflect the true legal costs of being in business in a licensed state?

( Do licensed plumbers do insurance work for a 25-40% discount too? I know this winter when lots of pipes froze, I did not see any plumbers advertising FREE PLUMBING.)

Just curious

Interstate, BlueSky, they're all out here.....Creeping into the non-ins. work as well..... :(

Warren Buffet says that when in doubt, do nothing

I started a reply to that but erased it all. I don't need them, they don't need me. No problem.

If you take the time to study xactamate learn it well. The program will make a nice profit for you or your company. The contractors that study the program and work it correctly know this answer. B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

Yeah Chuck. Now they send a kid, or some inexperienced adult out with an Exactimate spreadsheet and an EagleView. There's your expert on pricing B)

Hey Gerry I'm sure you've seen Belfor Restoration advertising lately on Chicago TV.

Check out their online reviews. Try rip off report.

We had a big wind storm here in 2001. 100 mph in places. With the shoddy work around here, there was a LOT of roof damage. The homeowners were told by their insurance companies to call 3 roofing contractors for estimates. Almost nobody was knocking doors. I was getting 50 calls a day and had no time for it. Then the adjuster would come out (sometimes), do his own evaluation and look over the 3 estimates. If the roof was approved for replacement, the homeowner was allowed to choose the company to do the work and it didn't have to be the lowest bid. The pricing came from the contractors, not the insurance companies. Most of the deductibles were $500.

A short 6 years later, we had scattered hail damage in 2007 and 2008. The insurance companies didn't care about getting 3 estimates. By this time they have the almighty Xactimate with pricing based on area of the country. ( They came in paying $50 sq. less than we were charging at the time, it later went up to $25 sq. less ) Evidently, there were no other storms around at the time because every storm chaser in the country came here with teams of door knockers. Almost no one was calling for an estimate. You had to knock doors or be left out. Now, you had to meet the adjuster on the site to argue the damage. Nearly all the deductibles were now doubled to $1,000 dollars.

Tom, Just like anywhere else. The storm chasers come in and play the game. Going door to door to work up a frenzy about roof damage and how they'll get the HO a free roof. They make a killing, do crap work, pay Jose cash and disappear. On to the next storm, don't look back.

Was reading reviews on Yelp for one of the companies that was all over my town a few years back. Probably pretty typical of what goes on.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/american-dream-home-improvement-inc-downers-grove

At least the test has got a LOT harder over the past few years. Until about 2008, it was open book. When my Dad got it on '87, you just applied.

Now the test is fairly difficult. No step for a stepper, but knocks down a lot of approved competition. While I was in line to take the test most of the whispers were "I heard third time's a charm"

What a mess!

TomB Said: So, is there some kind of IL state law that requires contractors to work within insurance companies pricing/allowances? Thats absurd, if so.

True, but many homeowners don't like to have to come up with extra dough. Nor should they have to...okay I can't even say that with a straight face. SO many of them get lucky for getting a "free roof"

Tom: My reply was "I guess you don't remember when the next town over arrested seven guys for this"

Out of city limits is still the wild west. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to pay that huge insurance bill.

clover83 Said:

When I informed them of that, I was greeted with What are we supposed to do about it

Its not my job right???

That's about all to be expected.....That is Why I cannot get behind licensing.

Oh, absolutely natty! Price has nothing what-so-ever to do with quality. Colorado is testament to that. The overall quality of work is crappolla compared to Calif.

The wage thing is bizarre; Co.'s private & residential sector enjoys higher wages than Ca., while the prevailing rates are far below Ca.'s.....go figure(?)

Also, Co. lacks talent, as compared to Ca. My guys in Ca. run circles around our roofers in Co.

As for housing price comparisons, it has to do with real estate values primarily.....of course the wages in Texas are probably considerably less than Ca., as well.....They also play the sub-game, so labor burdens are next to nothing in Texas.

I can say that in Calif. (a license state), the sub-game does not occur, as say in Colo., (a non-license state), where its rampant and generally, in Calif., the contractor dictates the pricing not the insurance company.

I used to say that you generally get what you pay for but never again. You can pay top dollar and still end up with crap.

I wonder if the states that have all of this regulation end up any better than the others. I do hear that comparable housing units in Calif. cost about 3 times more than in Tx.

So, is there some kind of IL state law that requires contractors to work within insurance companies pricing/allowances? That's absurd, if so.