A customer contacted me recently about replacing siding and roofing due to hail damage. The insurance company says they will pay for a new roof (3 tab, 25 yr) and siding on two sides of the house, which is double 4″ aluminum. The insurance company will replace all of the siding if a match cannot be found for the existing.
I have not bid on an insurance job before and would like some advice regarding what my role should be in negotiating the price and scope of work. Also, is there a standardized estimate/bid form I should use when dealing with insurance claims, or will my lump-sum estimate suffice? Of course, the homeowner would like to see all of the siding replaced and, if possible, get away from aluminum in favor of fiber-cement. They would also like to replace windows and add insulation, as long as the siding is coming off, out of pocket.
Advice appreciated.
Replies
nothing special just treat it like normal . they may have an adjuster come out and price for them and thats all they will get. usually they prorate everything based on how long it's been in use so they most likly won't collect the dollar amount to cover the new work and will be responsilbe for paying the rest out of there pocket plus the deductible. normally if the house is paid for the homeowner gets the check and can do whatever they choose with the money. but if they owe the check will come to you and them both have to sign it. keeps people honest and the bank happy.and gives you leverage to get paid.people seem to think they should get the work done and still get the insurance money don't know why but that seems to be the norm.
people seem to think they should get the work done and still get the insurance money don't know why but that seems to be the norm.
I get a lot of requests for written bids for insurance work. Ins. co. wants a written bid from a licensed contractor, but they issue the check to homeowner, who always finds something else to do with the money, or someone unlicensed to do the work cheaper. So now I charge for insurance work bids, refundable if they hire me. Only one person took me up on it, and they didn't hire me."...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
good idea! I think we should charge for all bids! :)
In all the ins jobs I have done, I've never seen a two-party check.
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did a roof job for a ins co last fall
payout was a 2 party check
good thing i put in the bid it did not include repairs to the substructure if required
half roof needed to be replaced including rafters
origional bid $4300 finish price $11,600
took 5 months to get paid for the extras , lifes a bitch it seems
like others have said customers expect the repairs will be better than the house ever was in the first place & the deductable will be included in the price natch
The above job also had 2 other phases $ 80,000 for repairs due to a fire & $16,000 for replacing windows and a bath
i took a walk on the last 2 phases when i dident get my extras on the first phase paid promptally ( clients called me everything but a white man ) where i come from there is no need to dig your own grave deeper than you need just so you can get another buck !
"like others have said customers expect the repairs will be better than the house ever was in the first place & the deductable will be included in the price natch"A lot of times it is just about managing customer expectations.But I know what you mean.Last thansgiving a storm laid three trees onto a customer's house here. They had built a back set of ssteps themselves that was wobbly junk - something I could have thrown together in fifteen minutes - three steps down with no rail. That got destroyed too by tree debris, so I included in the estimate for "replace same' ( but told him it would be safer and better looking). I just finished the roof portion and got paid for that, still waiting for mud and snow to clear to get to the steps. But now he wants a full terrace across the whole back of the house. I nodded my head a lot and said hmm few times while he described it until I got paid for the roof, then I explained that would cost a lot more and why- and that I would need to go work up an estimate on it to present him with first. He seemed to understand, but we'll have to wait and see when he has numbers in front of him.
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I remember one time a client swore a bedroom outlet worked fine until we did our repair work on their kitchen. I tried tracing the problem and couldn't find it. Finally opened the wall, you could see where someone had snipped the romex when adding a door. Client said "I could have sworn it was working fine before...I guess I must be mistaken". Uh, yeah.
I could tell lots more - did insurance work exclusively for a few years."...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Yeah - I think that some folks have a "Screw the evil ins corporation" mentality which they then transfer to the contractor. That is more likely when you position yourself in between or if the ins co is the one that brings you on board. I position myself as working for the HO and make it clear that I expect my money from them regardless of what they get from the ins. I have represented the HO in dealing with cheapo adjustors trying to screw their clients - and win most of them.
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most the time I won't do insurance work anymore for that reason. don't know why it's that way but it is.
>>"In all the ins jobs I have done, I've never seen a two-party check."This aspect must be one that is different from state to state -- or maybe from bank to bank -- or maybe insurance company to insurance company.......I've recently done a few "insurance" jobs, and I've seen two-party checks twice in the last few months. The insurance company made the check out to both the homeowner and the contractor.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
I will add my 2 cents. I have also seen two party checks for insurance work. Unfortunatly it was made out to mortgage co. and hownowner.
It took some time on one job to collect the final payment as the dishonest hownowner spent the money instead of paying me. I had to go to the mortgage co and get them to prod the hownowner as they didn't really want a lien on the property.
This was back in the early 90's so things may have changed.
"back in the early 90's so things may have changed."LOL, give it another six months and the fed govt will be named on the check also
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That may be true!
probably regional differences or could also be some time frame differences. For instance, The ins work I did in FL and TX was over thirty years ago, and CO over twenty years ago. They may have changed by now. But the ins jobs I have done here in Maine ( ave about once a year) I get paid direct by owner without ever seeing a two party check.
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the check is not two party it is just written in two different peoples names. the bank will do the same thing alot of times when the homeowner gets a loan. I prefer it that way cause it gives you more leverage to get paid and you can request it be in both names if you are submitting the bid straight to the insurance company. I have two really good friends in the insurance biz.
Your job is to work for the customer. His is to make the claim with the ins company.
The minor glitch comes in where the customer wants to change some things and upgrade. The ins co has no obligation to pay for that, but needs a bona fide price for making him whole - that is - to bring things back to where it was before the storm.
so you have to make an honest effort to fairly price the siding work estimate with the same material. Then you can bill separately for the upgrade that you actually do.
It would be worth your time to run the advanced search function here to see other past threads dealing with insurance claims and insurance work to see how some of them do things. There are some varying policies and procedures in different companies and different states. Contractors that specialize in ins work will do the HO the service of negotiating with the ins carrier, but that is beyond your experience.
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Thanks for the advice. I'm basically writing two estimates, one for the insurance claim, and one for what the homeowner actually wants. The HO knows they could hire someone that will negotiate with the insurance company, and I don't want them to feel like they'll get less money with me. Any advice for helping the homeowner get as much as possible, within ethical boundaries, of coarse. For instance, the ins co will replace all of the siding if a match cannot be found for the existing. My supplier does not carry a match, but another company might. I don't know. But how do I help the HO convince the ins that a match could not be found, and that full replacement is necessary.
On the siding thing - use your best fair effort - a few phone calls to suppliers in the area. Sometimes a history of who built the house can help - but no reason to spend days trying to track it down. Ask ins co how much estimating time they are wiling to pay for tracing the stuff. There is the hitch for both of you.
Remember you are charging the HO for the estimate at a fair value.I wouldn't spend more than two hours trying to find the match mate. Then write a statement that after making an attempt to locate it locally you find it impossible and here is the price for the whole thing.
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I have an interesting story on 2 party insurance checks. Buddy lent his name and license to nephew who did his own insurance repairs to save some money. My buddy was being sought for months by PNC bank for a large overdraft and guess where his nephew banked. Nephew had to open an account at another bank to complete the transaction. More then alittle embarassing.