Have a customer that had a fire 12/26/09. Seems to have started in the prefab fireplace & shot up the chimney chase rolled into attic & caused alot of structural damage.
Having met w/ the insurance adjuster & his estimator we walked the whole job, came up w/ a scope of work, We both worked up estimates, exchanged them. They are low in a few areas. They have disregared My #’s todate.
They then take their orginal estimate, apply a 10% Depricate to the whole estimate & offer that a a settlement.
*******…?
I haven’t had the pleasure in the past, but is this a typical set up?
If this isn’t enough BS. the customer has been without a house since the loss.
Where you you head now? Lawyer?
Replies
It's up to the customer -- all you can really do is tell him what the job will cost if you do it.
I relize I can only advise them, but was wondering if anyone has had to deal with an adjuster before & is this typical
I've only heard stories, but I gather it's typical for some insurance companies.
(After all, those gekkos eat a lot more than you'd think.)
I would avoid
being the one who negotiates with the adjuster on behalf of the homeowner. The adjuster is probably using a software package that assigns a value to each piece of work, and spits out a total. If they have missed something, or otherwise shorted the scope of work, then that total could be low, but they are generally not used to paying high-end contractors to do insurance repair. Their numbers are generally going to be lower than a guy reading this forum is going to bid.
The depreciation is normal. The fire presumably did not damage a brand-new house.... the owner had use of the house for some period of time and has therefore realized some value from it.... so assuming it's not a replacement-cost policy then a depreciated value with be applied to the repair.
All you can do is itemize every last thing that your work will involve, give it to the owner (and possibly the adjuster), and stick to your guns. The owner may have to pay you more than they get from the insurance company. That's how it would be if you totaled your car, you might very well get less from your insurer than it cost you to get another one.
The owner may want to hire a public adjuster to review the claim. That apparently costs ~10% of the value of the claim, but it might be worthwhile if the insurance offer is seriously low.
Insurance Claims
The adjusters work off a software program that is governed (price) mainly by the zip code. The companies that follow the storms bid the jobs off Scope of Loss, not Scope of Work in other words they really don't bid they claim the check. Depending upon the Ins. Co. and the particular claim if the contractor works three areas - which gives him G.C. status - of the Scope of Loss he may receive O&P at the end of the job. That usually amounts to 20% of the SOL. The companies who work these claims stick strictly to S.O.L and I hear that if you do not you are SOL. As a side note the way I understand it the software was once public domain and the Ins. Co. got together and bought them out. Good luck. I came by this information from a salesman for one of the larger Storm Chasers.
X-actimate is one of the programs, it is rentable, not buyable. About $100 a month according to an adjuster I know.
That is what insurance companies do, they insure against loss.
X-actimate is one of the programs, it is rentable, not buyable. About $100 a month according to an adjuster I know.
That is what insurance companies do, they insure against loss.
X-actimate
Catfish I agree! I did not know you could rent x-actimate, that is good to know.I would appreciate any info anyone has on renting the program. Contractors need to understand that the bidding and or billing process is somewhat different then what they are accustomed to. Scope of work is not always scope of loss.
x-actimate
Thanks catfish! I appreciate the help, got lots of info. A solid way to stay afloat. Give None - Take None