So You Think You Know a Concrete Tile Roof?

So, You Think You Know a Concrete Tile Roof? The New Adjuster's Guide to Correctly Assessing What is Not Covered Damage - Kindle Edition 

Fraudulent claims are some of the most expensive and destructive methods used by scammers across the country. This book equips you to not be gullible. 

Nowhere do they play their fake wares more often than in filing damage claims for tile roofs that have little or no storm-related damage. 

In this book, you will read about the top 10 ways people are scammed at their door by crooked roofing salesmen and how to beat them at their game. 

Many of these scammers do not have a license in your area, use fictitious or borrowed names of legitimate companies, and a dozen other dirty tricks to get you to sign a contract. Don’t do it. Your policy states that the insurance company doesn’t have to pay if they aren’t allowed to inspect before the work is done. If you sign a contract and perform repairs before your insurer has a chance to inspect, you will be in breach of your contract and could be on the hook with the contractor. 

Contractors can put a lien on customer’s homes, especially if they have already performed repairs before they were approved by the insurance company. Pre-mature permanent repairs break the contract, and the insurance company can legally deny your claim. Don’t put them in that position.

Ask questions, be nosy, ask for references, go online and investigate the rating of the business at the Better Business Bureau. Call city hall and ask if the contractor is registered with the city. Get multiple quotes, and more, are the bare minimum you should perform prior to signing a contract. Do not think you can get forgiveness after the fact. Your policy is a contract with specific stipulations you must meet to get reimbursed for repairs. Break the contract and you will lose.

Always contact your agent or the hotline for your insurance company to file a claim and schedule an inspection. If a third party is introduced to you by the contractor, do not sign their contract. Be aware that these “middlemen” will run up the cost of repairs by 20%-%50 percent, and if paid, will run up the cost of your insurance for the foreseeable future. 

Beware of the limitations of your policy concerning emergency repairs. Typically, the limit is $3,000.00 only. The mitigation company can ask for more but must submit a request to the insurer, along with an estimate and photos and explanation for why they need more money. 

In so many cases, the roofer, the public adjuster and the mitigation company, are all tied to an attorney. When they are in each other’s pockets in that way, they will work together to get as much money out of your policy as possible, seeking to maximize their own profits. 

When it comes to roof replacement, the majority of insurers will not pay for overhead and profit (an additional fee of 20% above the actual cost of labor and materials). This is because the software they use already includes as much as 33% overhead and profit already built into their estimating software. 

For a public adjuster to get paid, he has two basic methods to get his fee: 1) get the contractor to take a discount of 10%-20%, so he can pocket that figure; 2) Fluff the estimate so that if the insurer pays out his inflated estimate, he can pay the contractor and still make his fee. 

However, it is not unusual to discover they used both tactics to maximize their fees. They even attend seminars that teach them how to exploit the insurance companies to make 40%, 50%, even 100% markup on a claim, doubling your actual repair costs. Those actions are directly correlated with the ever-increasing costs of insurance and once they get their pocket-attorneys involved, can help bankrupt insurance companies. These actions are guaranteed to increase the prices paid by friends, neighbors and family as they are always passed along to the consumer who participates in the corruption and abuse. 

Here is a basic fact: Insurers pay less to keep an existing customer (by paying out claims) versus the cost it takes to advertise and get a new customer. To that, when a catastrophe adjuster comes out to your home, he/she will also get a commission, and depending on how big the estimate is, he can make from 1% to 3%, paid by the insurer, not you.

The catastrophe adjuster who comes to your home, must prove your loss is covered, and must write an estimate supported by photos and other documents. The bigger the estimate the bigger the paycheck. So, why should you have to pay a fee out of your insurance proceeds for a third party to do what your insurer is already doing for no charge to you? 

Those are just a few of the things you need to know, but there is plenty more in the book. 

These tips and cautions are the same ones I have used to train adjusters in multiple states. You deserve to know what they know so you aren’t taken advantage of and can make wise decisions. 

This book will equip you to become a subject matter expert that your family and friends can count on for advice after a storm. Escalate your knowledge base and boost your confidence—get your copy today