I know this series of questions belongs in the tavern, but I thought it would fit here too.
I had a customer cal me today to replace an exterior door and some carpet. I told her I dont do carpet and she said thats okay she just wants an estimate. Hmmm.
Long story short, the lady tells me her house was broken into and insurance is covering the repairs. Heres where it gets good. She wants extremely high estimates in hopes of getting a large check from the insurance co so she can get her kitchen done.
She already had one contractor give her an estimate for $2000 to replace a hundred dollar entry door. I looked at the job, its no big deal. She said the insurance company SIGNED OFF ON IT!
I couldnt believe what this lady was asking me to do. She kept saying “I dont think you understand what i’m trying to do here.” (I understood fine) “It will be fine, you’ll make some money, and i’ll get a new kitchen”. The kitchen was not damaged in the break in and i’m doubting the carpet was either.
Really no question here, I was just a little bummed I wasted an hour and a half going to look at the job.
Replies
I charge $175.00 to do an itemized insurance estimate.
I don't inflate the price or scam insurance companies for anyone but me and I don't tell anyone even that...oops.
Mark, it's not really fraud. The lady wanted a high estimate and was telling you that she was going to take the money and hire the cheapest deal that they could find and it wasnt going to be you. There's nothing fraudulent about writing high estimates.
But, it's better to not waste time driving to do an estimate like that. Live and learn, been there done that. This is the major reason that most contractors hate insurance calls. I loved them when there was nothing happening. I still see them as a nice money maker for a one man show, but the guys got to have professional paper skills to make the jobs pay enough...which they will.
I think your amazement at the insurance company signing off is the real reason I wanted to respond to your post though. First you have to understand that the lady has a valid claim and that claim will be paid by the insurance company....that's their obligation. The lady is trying to get as much as possible by showing three estimates. The three estimate rule is forced upon them by the insurance companies... they created the rule and the benefit greatly because most people settle for far less than they would if they properly went after what if fairly due them.
I wouldn't worry too deeply for the insurance company...they already know what their limits are before that lady made her first call. They signed off on an amount that was fair to them. They wouldn't care if that lady got estimates for 250,000 instead of 2500....they are going to pay only so much.
blue
"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
Gotta go with the masses here Blue, I cannot justify myself writing an $8000 estimate for two rooms of carpet and one entry door.
8k for two rooms of carpet and a door is entirely possible. It all depends upon the carpet and the door and many other factors. I could begin to list all the variables, but it might take a long time. Suffice to say that most regular remodeling contractors miss a lot of expenses that insurance contractors routinely charge for. I myself got very creative in paying myself for legitimate expenses when I did insurance work. Many of these "creative" expenses weren't really creative...they were real but I couldn't charge for them when I did "regular" remodeling work because "regular" customers wouldn't pay for them, but instead I ate them. I was stupid then and didn't know that if I sold the job right....I could get payed for them. Sometimes, insurance jobs were the only time I could price a job right.
I think most contractors routinely underbid themselves and quite often in a very substantial manner. Perhaps this job is only worth a couple of grand to you..because you work alone, but a big firm might look at it from a much different perspective. They are including all the "bennies" that most small contractors omit. They actually intend to make a "profit"....not just meet expenses.
One thing you should note: I probably wouldn't write the offer because I wouldn't think I was getting the job, based on her approach. I don't mind that she was trying to figure a way to get a substantial claim for her troubles...but I wouldn't want to write a proposal if I didn't already have a solid reason to believe that I was going to do some work for her. Basically, when I sold insurance jobs, I was the guy that was going to do the work first, then I fought like heck to get the most I could for "my client". The insurance company had their lawyers, adjusters and fine print and my client had me. I did the best that I could under the circumstances.
Incidently, I always got paid what the estimates were. If the estimate was 8k, the checks were written to both the claimant and my company. We didn't pay kickbacks. That would be fraudulent. But I'll never agree that I was committing fraud for finally getting my chance to operate profitably!
blue"...if you just do what you think isest testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
Blue,
I don't need to defend my ethics here.
After thinking about it, I cant disagree that carpet prices can get way up there. The last time I talked to her though, the story changed a little. Instead of a new kitchen, she said her mortgage person told her to forget the kitchen and pay up her mortgage.
Seems that the new story is "just buried my brother last week, and the husband is in jail". Then she came flat out and told me, "just give me the high estimate and i'll give you $500 for your troubles. I just want to pay my mortgage."
If she would have told me she needed done what I was estimating and bid high cause its an insurance job, different story.
However this lady came to me looking for a bid on things she told me she did not intend to have done.
Makes me wonder if she didn't break her own door down.
Mark, she sounds like a motivated seller. Did you make an offer? It might be possible to pick up (assume it) that mortgage of hers. What city is she in? Hows the neighborhood?
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
I have no interest in her property. Its in Redford. I wasnt too crazy about the neighborhood.
"<em>just give me the high estimate and i'll give you $500 for your troubles. I just want to pay my mortgage."If she would have told me she needed done what I was estimating and bid high cause its an insurance job, different story.However this lady came to me looking for a bid on things she told me she did not intend to have done."</em>Getting paid for your time to put in an estimate isn't fraud, as long as your time involved is billed at fair market value. What she intends to do with the money rewarded her, based on your bid is nothing within your control and in my mind, in that sense, you are not an accessory to fraud.If though, you conspired with her to invent or inflate an insurable loss with the direct intention of recovering funds from the monies rewarded her that exceed the scope of any work or time you've invested, then you could be implicated in being directly involved in conspiring to commit fraud.The women is probably a little loose in the head, especially considering you say she changed her story the second time you talked to her. That would concern me along with the original intent to defraud that she shared with you. She is hoping to get a co-conspirator as most people like that like to have someone to share in the crime and thus allow her the opportunity to deflect responsibility if she's caught. The best bet is to stay away from people like that.I just recently had a remodel job where the customer wanted me to put together a phoney change order in order to get an increase in monies from her funder for the project. Her request didn't make much sense to me accept that it involved undertaking an act of fraud; she tried to entice me by offering half of the proceeds of cash she hoped to acquire. I ignored her request and she eventually dropped the issue.Needless to say, the woman's willingness to invent scenarios to further her greed didn't stop there and we finally decided to quit the contract lest we end up with nothing at the end. I intend to take her to small claims court for the remainder that she owes us and I don't look forward to it, believe me.My point; if someone has no problem with dishonesty in order to exact a little personal gain, keep in mind that to them, everyone is a potential target of their games -- even you.I'd avoid someone like that like the plague. I also hate to say this, but women in our society who may be a little left or right of normal tend to exhibit their dysfunction through lying and other passive aggressive behaviors. I'd deal with a screaming aggressive man anyday before a whining, borderline disorder woman.
I did leave one part out of the story. The reason she needed a contractor bid was because ther ins co wouldnt simply write her a check. The check would have to be made out to the contractor doing the repairs.
Call it anything you want. It was just not something I wanted a part of.
Actually that's the way most insurance claims I've ever done work, they want the homeowner to get a variety of bids and they already pretty much have decided what they are going to pay based on their own analysis per Reed's cost books or others.That spin you put on it makes it clearly appear that you would have been an accessory to fraud, if indeed you didn't do the work or gave her a kickback on the payout.
I still see them as a nice money maker for a one man show, but the guys got to have professional paper skills to make the jobs pay enough...which they will.
It was probably 12 or so years ago. I got a call to look at an insurance job. Tree fell on a deck. Whole deck needed to be pulled off and rebuilt. Supply material, Labor and removal of old deck and debris.
I was way too busy so I bid WAY high. Turned out I was low bidder. Made an average weeks worth of gross reciepts in 14 hours.
Been promising my son a new dirtbike so I went and picked it up. Put it on my card figuring "Hell, I've got a big check coming that I didn't plan on I'll use that to pay it off".
paid 8 months worth of interest on that bike.
All my insurance experiences have been similar.
Professional paperwork skills AND enough cash to wait for the check.
Typically we charge around $150 for either an insurance requested estimate whether it is requested by the customer or the company.
If an insurance company is not using an adjustor or assesor to confirm the claim then a fraudulent claqim is a risk they have factored in. ( I have just come in from 2 such claims, total $ would have been around $45K, both fraudulent and both will get refused, in addition I will recommend client gets referred to the underwriting dept due to poor property condition)
The incidence of fraudulent claims seems to be on the rise.
<<The incidence of fraudulent claims seems to be on the rise.>>
Probably in direct relation to the BS the insurance companies subject their customers to.
But, fraud is fraud. No matter who attempts to commit it. Don't be a part of it....The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
I don't know what a typical experience is for a claim where you are, but I can say having completed in excess of $2mil of insurance work in the last 9 months I am gobsmacked at the extreme generosity of the Insurance companies. I would have to say that probably 80% of claims I have dealt with were either fraudulent or outside the policys parameters but were paid anyway.http://www.quittintime.com
I would have told her that I don't make myself an accessory to a crime for any amount of money.
Please don't call me again.
I would have told her that I don't make myself an accessory to a crime for any amount of money.
Would you please explain where the crime is? I just don't see one here.
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
Attempting insurance fraud.
Unless I cannot read , what was stated was that the bidder was asked to inflate the bid on repair work (Lying) so that the owner could put extra money into her pocket(stealing) to then spend on an unrelated to the breakin kitchen remodel as well as pay the bidder an inflated price for his work (bribery and collusion in an criminal act).
To me that adds up to: fraud, lying, stealing and bribery .
I pay enough for insurance without encouraging others to add to the costs of insurance by promoting theft from the insurance companies.
I personally actually probably would have gone further and asked for her agents phone # , stood right in front of her called her agent and related word for word what she had told me.
Yes the insurance company is going to pay what it is going to pay, based on a certain percentage of cases being fraudulent, cost of doing business and their profit. If I, you and everybody else help cut down on the fraud the insurance company's costs go down and we all save on insurance costs.
I don't agree Dovetail.
The facts are: there is an insurable act. The insurance company should send out a claims adjuster and write up a check. They should not be bothering the lady to do their job. To me, it's fraud on their part that they would force their customers to do their legwork.
When an event occurs, the insurance company's job is to write a check that puts the house back in it's original condition. It doesn't matter if the lady has estimates for ten times the amount of the actual damage...the insurance company only has a duty to settle the claim. They have created this three estimate idea because they know they will end up getting the best of their customers becuase there are so many clueless contractors out there, they are almost assurred at routinly settlling claims for 50 cents on the dollar or less. Their claims adjusters are trained to screw their clients every chance they get. The entire process turns into a game of chess.....the clients submit the highest estimates that they can muster and the insurance companys seek out any avenue to pay nothing.
The opening gambit is high estimates....which are actually meaningless in the whole scheme of things....if the estimates are low enough...the adjuster pays the less of the three!!!! Does that make sense to you? Would you use the lowest bidder that you could find to work on your house?
I'm not going to defend this lady as being the smartest cookie in the jar, but I don't find here requests illegal. Maybe some legal beagles can weigh in on this. There is damage, so therefore theres a claim. She wants high estimates and intends to take the cash, instead of hiring the contractor....so far..nothing illegal. Did she ask the contractor to include some money for something that was not damaged? I didn't see anything like that in the original post.
The facts are that a claimant can take the money and not use it to repair the damage. The thing that I find abhorrent is that the insurance company discounts the claim if the claimant takes the money instead of hiring the work out. I find that to be highway robbery and wonder how/why any state would legislate that. Of course, it's easy to understand when you think about how powerful the insurance lobby is, especially since they are all about lawyers and lawyers are the ones writing laws....
I don't see anything in here that is fraud. I might not understand what fraud is...I"m a carpenter...not a lawyer. There are a lot of things that lawyers tell me that don't make sense though...
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
A simple definition of fraud is when a person INTENDS to gain something to which they are not entitled, and does so through deception.You make excellent points about the way claims are handled by the ins cos.But this *lady* is entitled top be made whole with regards to her damages, noit to be improved and gain extra in her kitchen. The INTENT is clear, as is her attempt to enlist contractors in concurrent deception.That makes any contractor who knowingly enters into this deal with her a co-conspirator in crime. There are ways a settlement check ccan be managed to spread the money further legally, but her own statements make this a criminal act, intent and all.
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A simple definition of fraud is when a person INTENDS to gain something to which they are not entitled, and does so through deception.
You make excellent points about the way claims are handled by the ins cos.
But this *lady* is entitled top be made whole with regards to her damages, noit to be improved and gain extra in her kitchen. The INTENT is clear, as is her attempt to enlist contractors in concurrent deception.
That makes any contractor who knowingly enters into this deal with her a co-conspirator in crime. There are ways a settlement check ccan be managed to spread the money further legally, but her own statements make this a criminal act, intent and all.
If the lady said to Mark "I've heard horror stories about the big insurance companies paying substantially less than they would be legally obilgated to, and I'd like to make sure that I get my fair share....would you please write your estimate for as high as you possible? I'm not sure how this insurance system works but I'd like my opening gambit to put me in a starting position that gives me a fair shake at getting what's due me." Furthermore, after I get my "fair share" including a sum of money for my inconvenience, time spent gathering estimates, emotional distress for having to deal with contractors, the emotional distress of trying to figure out what's fair, what materials are adequate, what contractors are responsible for, how their warranties affect me and my future, my time spent investigating their backgrounds, my time spent researching local and state contractor law, blah, blah....I intend to take the money and try to spend it in a way that gets my carpet and door replaced at a price that is lower than your estimate is likely to be. I'll accomplish that by using my Uncle Henry, a retired automaker who loves remodeling. He's going to supply all the labor free and will work on my house without all the trappings and costs of a general contractor. The massive money saved will allow me to do some things in my kitchen because my Uncle Henry will build the cabinets free too. He's just a bored individual and loves me dearly and wants to help out"
My point is that all requests for high estimates aren't fraud. The op's opening statement did not prove fraud. I've recently had contractors pouring all over the school project and in every instance, I've instructed them to give me a budget number that will be as high as they possibly might think the job will go. I don't want to get started on the project, have a budget, then find out that the contractors will be whining about not getting enough.
There are many legitimate reasons why someone would request a high estimate. That in itself is not fraud.
Personally, I would suggest every homeowner use an attorney to fight for and obtain their proper insurance settlement. I believe the attorney's fees would be part of the insurance claim. It is a well known fact that the vast majority of homeowners get the screws put to them by the insurance companies. The homeowners just don't know it, but the more informed and educated people that deal with insurers on a regular basis know the deal. If I was standing in that lady's kitchen, I'd educate her about the legal ways that she could get as much as she could and also the legal ways in which she could apply her settlement in different areas of the house, without committing fraud. I've had that conversation many times with homeowners and won the jobs in most cases.
The thing that I find criminal about these insurance deals is the fact that the insurance companies force the damaged clients to seek out the lowest price, then pay the claim based on that. They'll recommend the types of sleazy contractors that you and I wouldn't dream of using, yet the naive homeowners call these guys thinking that they are getting someone that will be looking out for their best interests. Instead, the contractors are simply doing the bidding of the claims adjuster....keeping their prices at some lowball book price and then do the work scamming and skimming at every chance they can, just so they can make gas money.
I always like to think about the business of insurance repairs from the perspective that someone wealthy like Bill Gates. How would he deal with an insurance issue if he was making a claim? Would he call the adjuster and let three lowball bidders into his mansion? I doubt it..and I'm sure he would get every penny due him because he'd have his army of people on his side getting him his fair share. In my mind, when I take a call from someone that has a claim, I'm their only hope for them to get their fair share and I've always looked at this as an opportunity to educate them in the art of getting their legal fair share. They might start out thinking of shady ideas but when I'm done, they start thinking along the lines of ethical, hard nosed negotiating with a formidable opponent. They need me more than I need them. Even if I don't get the job, I have a job....to help them get their fair share.
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
Temptation, as I said before, usually comes wrapped in seductive logic and persuasive reasoning. Is our business contracting? Or is it hating? I hear a lot of hatred in some posts here ... hatred of "the insurance company." A number assert that the insurance company is "of course" going to act in a dishonorable manner. Suspicion abounds. It is no more correct to paint all insurance companies with this broad brush, than it is to assert that 'all contractors are crooks.' A review of sundry court cases - it's rather easy to search Appellate and Supreme Court cases on the internet - will show that, yes, there have been specific companies with shady practices. The Courts have lost no time in hammering them. Other Companies appear in those same Courts with legitimate issues. Some of these issues are even (gasp) the result of the customer trying to scam the insurance company! For the sake of argument, let's assume that all insurance companies are a bunch of crooks. What does that have to do with YOU? Does that make it OK for YOU to also become a crook? Let me tell how I would quote an insurance job: I would first base my quote on the work required. I would then take into account other indirect, but related, factors. Things like the clean-up required before work can start, whether the place is occupied, scheduling, and - important point here - the possibility of a long wait for payment, and the difficulty of later adjusting the price for unexpected complications. Those last two factors are "padding" to cover me should things go wrong. Those are in the estimate; there is no requirement that I bill for that amount. I can always submit a lower bill! Indeed, it has been my experience that a bill that is a bit lower than the quote does much to encourage prompt payment - with everyone happy at the end. This is not to be confused with "bargaining." If my price is $10, it's $10. No, I won't lower it. If I re-consider it, it will be higher. I'm not playing games. I'm there to do something. But, if the job goes well, I have some lucky breaks, and the customer is there, at the finish, with checkbook in hand ... I just might tell him that $9 is enough! On the other hand, if I have a customer known for fussing over details, poor scheduling, not having things like a toilet or trash can on the site, and a reluctance to pay on time, without an argument ... you can be sure I'll quote a much higher price. It is simply amazing how much aggravation an extra $20 can cover!
""In my mind, when I take a call from someone that has a claim, I'm their only hope for them to get their fair share and I've always looked at this as an opportunity to educate them in the art of getting their legal fair share. They might start out thinking of shady ideas but when I'm done, they start thinking along the lines of ethical, hard nosed negotiating with a formidable opponent. They need me more than I need them. Even if I don't get the job, I have a job....to help them get their fair share."" Several comments... what an ego.
great rationals
the woman was proposing fraud
the woman was proposing fraud
She might have or maybe not. The facts as presented so far don't prove that. I'm no lawyer but I think more information is needed for me to accept your opinion as fact.
If I'm on the jury, I'd be a holdout. I'd have to holdout because not enough information is available to convict.
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
agree with much of that which is why I stated that there are legal ways....But that is NOT what this lady said. She clearly stated an intent to defraud, which is what makes it different.I think you understand this, sionce earlier, you said you were not going to defend HER and that you didn't think she was the brightest bulb in the house....I also agree that some ins cos are sleazy in the way they deal with their customers.
I used to do ins work out west. There were some companies that treated them and myself fairly and others that only looked as far as the bottom line and how much they could shave off. It takes a very firm hand to negotiate with them, and a willingness to hire a mouthpiece - but none of that makes any good arguement for defrauding any company in the way we deal with them. Your arguement almost seems to imply that - "Since some insurance companies defraud many of their customers, it is OK to defraud all insurance companies in return"I don't think you mean to say that outright, but the thinking is dangerously close to crossing that ethical line.Each one of us has to know where to draw that line and when we will not step over it.
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I think you understand this, sionce earlier, you said you were not going to defend HER and that you didn't think she was the brightest bulb in the house....
I do understand the situation...and instead of simply dismissing her, I'd educate her.
blue"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
I had a leak that messed up some flooring pretty bad. A guy who's worked on the house said he'd get his flooring guy to give an estimate, and that the estimate would be high enough that he could complete additional work under its cover. I ended up doing the fix myself in less than a day--he'd guess it would be a $5000 repair from this other guy--with no insurance claim.
There are apparently a bunch of people who think the way your customer and my ex-contractor do.
When evil presents itself, it is not often as a fire and brimstone demon, waving a pitchfork! Most often, temptation comes clothed in the soft voice of innocence and reason.
This woman is dishonest. She will cheat you as easily as she cheats the insurance company. Your best approach is to simply say |Thanks, Ma'am, I'm not interested," and leave.
The Military academies have honor codes that say "I will not lie, cheat, steal, OR tolerate those who do." What she suggests is not cute, understandable, or clever; it's dishonest.
Sure, we can all "reason" about the insurance company, etc.... but that is not relevant. Even if the insurance company is a bunch of crooks, I fail to see how the situation is improved by your becoming a crook.
I'd fire this customer.
I'd do more than fire her.
I'd bury her.
By calling the ins co about it.
After that - it's their todo
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I seriously thought about it. Part of the reason I hate insurance so much is that its so expensive. Part of the reason its so expensive, of course, is insurance fraud.
I agree Reno..... I wouldn't go so far as to say that playing along is "criminal"..... but at the end of the day we reap what we sow and we sleep in the bed we make. And for what?!?! A couple hundred bucks? I wouldn't argue with the lady, I wouldn't try to 'report' her, and I wouldn't try to explain to her the error of her ways. I'd either decline to bid or just give a fair and honest estimate. View Image
insurance is a fraud in itself, no scheme needed
insurance is a fraud in itself, no scheme needed
Can the man get an AMEN?!!!!
ok so you write an high esitmate, while the same company is on the coast dening hurricane damage because they cant prove what hit first the wind or the water, while others miles away that had no damage get a 4000% increase in rate..
dening hurricane damage because they cant prove what hit first the wind or the water,
No joke. I helped rebuild some houses down in Pascagoula Miss. (if that isnt the coolest name for a town I dont know what is.) last Feb-March. One of the homeowners was still fighting his Ins. Co. about why they covered his drywall damage but not his floor covering damage. I talked to him two months ago and they still were jerking him around over it. Totally nuts. A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specializtion is for insects. - robert heinlen
2 1/2 years later the wind water thing still going on in Pensacola. My ins. doubled in '04 just before Ivan. My old company dropped me because I live to close to the water. Had to get a map to determine where it was. Prices here have doubled and tripled since '04.
brownie,
Thats because all the stock holders, mutual fund holders and investors insist on profit, profit , profit.
When people wake up and realise they are paying for their returns on investments in terms of their own lives it hurts.
I have a friend who was for several years an adjuster for a major insurance company. He had a company van with a camera, computer, printer, fax and phone.
All estimates and verification of estimates was done using a Means type book that was insurance work specific and the local total labor rate ( Pay, Benefits, Overhead, Profit, Etc, Etc......).
For example a job of replacing a door might include: Removing the door, Cleaning and preping the opening, Installing the new door (to include trim and paint and lockset), Cleaning up and disposing of the debris.
In Northern New Jersey a job like that could be expected to be worth between 16 and 24 man hours at I think $65 per hour back then. Or, between $1040 and $1560.
Add to that material and disposal costs and his $2K for a front door doesn't look so bad. AT least not to the appraiser.
Here's a secret. Lots of people in other businesses think anyone in the trades is a moron who gives away their labor in exchange for a bad back and a pi$$ poor retirement.
I was very surprised when she told me the ins co signed off on a $1600 door install. The one person I sub to does exclusively ins work and he has to adhere to a program called exactimate. Its what the ins co bases their numbers on.
Around here a $1500 front door install wouldn't even get a second look from an adjuster.
The few insurance jobs I've ever done were always profitable. I just always had to wait for money.
Robert, thats $1500 for a $120 door.
Yes, $1500 for a $120 door.
The $1600 may have been under some number the ins company calls "little claims". When someone fell asleep at the wheel and crashed through my pasture fence, his ins company told us if the amount was less than $1000 to just have it fixed and they would reimburse us. It was two posts and about 8 - 16' rough cut 1" x 6"s, two guys spent half a day getting it done. The fence company's bill was $965 (big surprise after we told him how he would get paid) and we had a check in a little over a week.Steve.
Had a big hail storm come through last march or so. I had a little roofing damage, some dented siding, gutters, and window screens. I figured $200 dollars in materials and if I bid the job high I would bid around $1000 for all repairs. My insurance agent (State Farm) called the next week wanting to know if I had any damage. I replied yes but it was minor and I'll repair it myself. He tells me to not touch a thing and sent an adjuster out the next week, the adjuster looks around at the damage, takes some pictures and measurements then leaves. Two weeks later I receive a check for $2000 less my $500 deductible. I did the work myself and replaced 1/2 square of shingles, 4 pieces of siding, 2 downspouts, 10 ft of gutter and 2 screens and spent 6 hours doing it. The adjuster's writeup called for 2 square of new roofing, new siding on the whole elevation where the damage was and all new gutters on the backside of the place.
I find it strange that while these companies quickly deny or stall big claims like a tornado destroying a house they so readily pay double or triple on small claims.
I haven't read any of the replies yet , but this fully belongs here instead of the tavern
>>> I wasted an hour and a half going to look at the job.
It seems when you called she gave you a big indication that something is wrong (asking for estimate on something you didn't do). When are you gonna start listening to the little voice ;->)
Edited 1/25/2007 7:35 pm ET by sharpblade
What can I say, its a little slow up here (in Michigan) and she also spoke of a kitchen job.