economy taking toll on water damage biz indirectly

steve g

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herriman, UT
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steve garrett
insurance companies are getting down right nasty about paying for the little things on my estimates these days. I am getting pretty mad. yesterday met with a farmers adjuster it was in an old home, so as you can imagine this complicates the repairs greatly. anyways farmers has decided they don't pay for any masking, no masking of light fixtures, no detach and reset of items like smoke detectors, light fixtures, towel bars etc, toilet paper dispensers etc. no covering of contents with a plastic. my argument is when you pull up xactimate and view the line item, it breaks out and pays a small amount for each line item, for instance if you install carpet, you get so much per foot for seam tape, tack strip, nails etc, however if you look at the paint line item. there is no amount for tape or masking paper. they claim this is in the prep. the excuse is always we have contractors tell us all the time they will do it without those items in it. this job got so bad, I just said f it call someone else. I love it how these broke dick companies offer to do it like this with the understanding more work is headed their way and I am expected to charge the same.
 

Desk Jockey

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Sorry to hear that Steve, all you can do is keep fighting.

It's amazing how the game always works out in their favor, and when it doesn't, they just change the rules of the game to make sure it does. :wink:
 

Farenheit251

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Anyone hear about a major franchise discounting equip rental by 40% to get more State Farm work.Pretty sure other insurers will want the same. Pay 10% off the top to work at a discount? Everyone should make it up on volume.LOL :roll: :roll:
 

The Great Oz

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bryan
Lots of broke contractors have decided they can do restoration work. No education means they can work cheap because they don't know any better.

Too bad the homeowner doesn't know the agent is trying to cheat them?! :wink:
 

Ed

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Amsterdam, NY
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Ed Prevost
We have a few of those companies around here. The economy has nothing to do with it. Some people just operate from of position of desperation. .

Farmers is a tough company to work for if you are on their vendor program, but it's the adjuster and not Farmers. While they are tough to work for, they never deny legitimate charges. They watch equipment usage closely. If you aren't on the Farmers program, simply smile and tell the adjuster that he can pay whatever he feels he needs to, you will bill the homeowner for the remainder.
 

rwcarpet

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Dec 6, 2009
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Youngstown, Ohio
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Robert Hodge
The WD contractor I work with is pretty tight with pricing. I charge him $XX for cleaning and water extraction, but allow him some room for markup for his company. But I am available for him all the time. I know he needs exact SF for pricing.

We just took over a job that was being attempted by a new comer to the WD business. The custy threw him off the job. It's a tough, tight business, but can be profitable when everything goes right.
 

steve g

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rctpks said:
Sorry to hear that Steve, all you can do is keep fighting.

It's amazing how the game always works out in their favor, and when it doesn't, they just change the rules of the game to make sure it does. :wink:

yeah the funny thing is they never look and say oh you guys haven't been charging this and should be, lets add that in.

richard I do keep fighting and every time I do, here is how it ends, I tell them I will just bill the customer, they say go ahead, so I do, they still will not pay, depending on the $$$$ amount and how pissed off I am, I either say screw it or lein the house and file a small claims suit, merely doing this usually gets me paid, however everyone is major pissed off, and the adjuster is looking to black ball me any way they can. and it seems like in the next few months I always seem to draw that same adjuster again on another loss, a couple weeks ago such a thing happened, only in this situation this adjuster was so bull headed on the last loss, he still would not pay so the insurance company hired an attorney and I argued the case against an attorney and I still won, anyways fast forward nearly a year, I get this dooshbag again on a loss 2 weeks ago, he gets the mitigation bill and says uhhhh ohhhh ummm I can't pay for the dri-force rental on the wood floor, you didn't really need it, :evil: :evil: :evil: I was like WTF, didn't need it, I guess it would have been cheaper to replace the entire floor uhhhh?? keep in mind nothing needed to be done to the floor after we were done, and it was in a room of like 600+ sq ft. then he says ummm I can't pay for your monitoring hours and checking the job either. all told that is nearly $1200 he is trying to screw me on. I still haven't decided what I am going to do on that one yet, but its looking like a replay of the last loss.

however the one lesson I did learn if I draw this guy again, I am not even talking to him, I am just straight billing the insured and he gets to tell them why he is not paying. that is what I should have done in the first place.
 

Bjorn

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Oct 7, 2006
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could it be that the insurance companies are tired of paying out for over priced work that any cleaner that can swing a wand or carry an air mover has a blank check on every water damage with out any questions being asked?

THE NERVE!
 

Desk Jockey

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That guy is bad news! Fortunately they are not all that way.

I don't know, once you're already through with the job they hold the best cards. Make sure you explain yourself to the insured, even if the are not willing to fight for you, at least they know what the fight is about.

I think I'd draft him a letter defending the charges and stating you want to do eveything you can to give him the information needed to resolve the situation but they are valid charges.

Also remind him of the last run in and thet you really don't want it to go that far again, but that you did win last time and this case would be just as solid. See if he bends any, you have to decide if you can live with a reduced amount or do you want to go back to court.
 

ronbeatty

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Nov 16, 2006
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Altoona,PA
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Ron Beatty
Steve, I have the customer sign a work authorization before I do anything. It states in bold print that they are responsible for timely payment of our invoice irregardless of any insurance. I only respond to adjusters questions via email. I did not do the work for the insurance company, but they are responsible to put the home back in original condition.
 
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