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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 2:38 am Post subject: Repair works after hail damage |
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Hello! My Minnesota neighborhood was hit about two months ago with a huge hail storm. We met with our insurance adjuster and filed a roof damage insurance claim to have our roof replaced. No work has been done on our home yet, and we're currently looking for a roofing company to do the job.
My issue: We were told by a contractor today that if the total claim amount that we're paid [check from our insurance co] EXCEEDS the amount we pay to repair the damage and we keep the difference, then we're committing insurance fraud.
Is this a correct statement, or is this contractor trying to scare me into giving him the full amount of the claim, regardless of the actual repair costs? Is there harm in having contractors bid the job, work the bids against each other, then put the excess into a different home project? I'd appreciate any comments!
Thanks in advance!
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jazzhands
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:00 am Post subject: Can't get more than the amount of the damage |
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| Hi jazzhands, frankly speaking I see no problem in your post. If you have suffered a damage that is covered under your homeowners policy, your insurance company will compensate you for the loss. They will either send an adjuster or will send a proof of loss to apprehend the extent of your loss. Accordingly they will pay. Therefore, no question of getting more and retaining the extra amount is arising. |
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RupertWBradson
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Is this a correct statement, or is this contractor trying to scare me into giving him the full amount of the claim, regardless of the actual repair costs |
? I think that's likely what he's trying to do or get the entire amount. If the draft is made out to you, (or even if it's not) it's your choice to hire whomever you want to repair your roof. Now if you don't repair it, and another storm comes along, then you won't be paid again (assuming they paid for an entire roof).
You're fine to keep the balance......  |
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Lori
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:12 am Post subject: Hail damage- What would it take to repair? |
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Hi friend, lemme touch upon few points for you.
1)You will only be paid for the ascertained amount of damage. No matter even if you feel that your losses were in terms of degrees were more. If you dispute with the insurance company,then that's altogether a different issue.
2)The insurer will pay for the extra amount after you pay the deductibles. Therefore, it may be the case that they pay a very little amount towards the claim.
3)I bet you will not be left with much as extra after paying for the damages. So, the question of scamming the insurance company may not arise at all.
4)Lastly, as Lori has mentioned, you can retain the extra amount. Once the insurance company pays out for the damages the money becomes all yours. They won't consider it to be a hail damage fraud for that extra amount.
Regards,
Juanita |
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Juanita
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | The insurer will pay for the extra amount after you pay the deductibles. |
Generally Jaunita the draft is issued simply 'minus' the deductible. If one is owed it is paid directly to the provider of the service and in this case, looks likely won't be any out of pocket. |
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Lori
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you all for the information! I feel like the contractor was threatening my husband in order to get our business--it's great to know the facts.
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jazzhands
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks Lori, for identifying and correcting my mistake. |
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Juanita
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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I have no plans to work with this contractor for this damage or anything else that happens in the future! I am concerned, however, that he's telling other people in my neighborhood (or ANYWHERE), the same thing and that they're believing him. As stated in my original post, I honestly felt that the contractor was threatening to turn me in for insurance fraud if I didn't have him do the work for the full dollar amount of the claim. Do his statements warrant a complaint to his office, our state licensing board, etc.?
Any advice?
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jazzhands
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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Jazzhands... actually both are (probably) correct.
If the repairs cost less you _technically_ need to return the difference to the insurance company. But here is the thing... no one has _EVER_ done this, the insurance company would probably have a difficult time accepting this money, and I can almost guarantee you that the adjuster at the insurance company would tell you just to keep it (and probably indicate that it's legal for you to keep it, which is incorrect). Using insurance finds for anything other then the loss is legally committing fraud. Again, and I cannot stress this enough, just keep the money and sleep good at night.
On to the second part... even though the contract was correct, he needs to go stuff himself. I have little doubt that he wanted to be paid as much as possible and more then he probably would normally charge. I'd walk away from that person and pick one of the hundreds of other contracts willing to do some honest work. It's _none_ of his business how you manage your money.[/img] |
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tcope
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| Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Tcope hit it right on the head. I could have said it any better myself! |
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FLAdjuster
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| Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:13 am Post subject: hail damage, insurance fraud |
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my name is john i work for a company that specialices in hail and wind recovery damage.
I get customers like you all the time, the money that the insurance company gave you is enough to hire a top of the line contractor.
major companies use the same estimating system as the ins cos. so there should not be a big diff in the cost and the check that you got.
but on the other hand it costs about two thirds of what the ins gave you, to actually do your roof. the ins pays for the OVER HEAD and PROFIT, what this means is 10% of the total goes to the contractor. this is used for advertising, office space,insurance, and what ever else it would cost to run a business. what ever is left after the cost of material, labor and Over H. AND P is all PROFit. an average roof of 20 squares leaves a proffit of abot $2k. thanks
any question about ins email me at toptobottom07[at]gmail.com
*e-mail id edited for your security
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top to bottom hail spclst
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:19 pm Post subject: HERE'S THE SCOOP |
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A great majority of homeowners will get their money and shop for the lowest priced unethical company to install their roof and then put the extra money in the bank. Then they complain about contractors and give all the contractors a bad name!! When in actuality, if you shopped for the good, reputable company and paid them the full funds meant for the repairs you would be satisfied with the work. Of course some of you would still feel ripped-off because you couldn't keep the extra cash.
In answer to your question above, if the insurance paid you all of your money up front and held no depreciaion, then you can put that money in the bank, hire a cheap contractor and keep the extra cash if there is any, even though it is unethical.
If your insurance paid you a portion of your money up front, withholding the depreciaion until the work is completed and you billed them for the entire amount in order to pocket the cash you are committing two seperate instances of fraud. 1. forgery and falsification of documentation to a insurance carrier and 2. Theft, knowingly taking money that is not yours. Your insurance company owes you only what is takes to make repairs to your property as it was prior to the loss.
If you had gotten your check and then sent the actual bill from the contractor you chose to your insurance company, they would send you a bill for the amount they overpaid you. If your contractors bill was more than their total estimate and you paid your deductible then the insurance company would pay you more money.
SORRY!! Think about what you are doing before you do it. Do you really think the insurance goes around paying thousands of dollars more than the project will take so that homeowners like yourself can make money?
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ADJCAT
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: |
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You are right ADJCAT…..when the claimant presents inflated or false bills to the insurer to extract more as claim; that's a fraud…..and the insurers have more than one ways to prevent that. But what happened with jazzhands is different. Here the contractor is twisting the truth in order to get the whole amount from the claim, which is also unethical.
The policy holder can choose any contractor to do the fixings. And if she chooses to fix it at a lower price, she is allowed to do that.
| Quote: | | Do you really think the insurance goes around paying thousands of dollars more than the project will take so that homeowners like yourself can make money? |
Certainly not, and the other posters have also agreed upon this. And it is very unlikely that she'll be left with any extra cash because the carrier will not write the check blindly.
Regards,
Juanita |
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Juanita
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lakemen
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| Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject: committing insurance fraud |
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In response to jazzhands question:
In cases of Replacement Cost Insurance (HO-B), You usually get part of your settlement up front and the balance when reciepts for work are submitted.
You have to send in actual receipts. If they don't add up to your adjusters estimate, then the insurance co. will change the amount you will be paid to match your receipts less your deductible.
Many people don't understand that your adjusters estimate will be changed to match your actual expenses minus your deductible.
It is insurance fraud to misrepresent your claim in any way. You have to give the insurance the actual receipts from the company that preforms the work.
Now if it is the case that your first check is for the actual cash value (thats replacement cost minus depretiation) of your loss and you can negoiate to have the work done for less or even save money by doing it your self. That ok because it's like being paid for damage to your car. If you don't mind the way your car looks, you can keep the money and not make the repairs.
Your first check (usually for acv) is for the amount of damage your home sustained minus your deductible. You always have to pay the deductible. You can spend this check any way you want. The consequence is, if you don't repair/replace the covered items your insurability in the future may be at risk.
I would never make a statement like your roofer did, but he's not all wrong.
I think you should always deal with a knowledgeable roofer. One that's experienced with managing insurance claims. You must commit to paying your deductible. You may not have much out of pocket expense because you might not replace all of the items on your claim. Often times customer are paid for things like gutters but elect not to replace them. You may be able to use that money toward your deductible.
I hope this information helps, good luck with your roof. If I can be of any assistance email me.
Tide Roofing Co
tide.roofing[at]gmail.com
system edited-link deactivated
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