Fast Payment

[Al]

One of the issues with WDR is getting paid in resonable amount of time, it's part of the learning curve, I'm lucky to have a business mentor to guide me through these steps.

I want mention what just happened on a small WD job on friday.

Water heater leaked over night and soaked 80 sf of carpet and pad, 8 linear feet of wall was wet at bottom only less than 2'' high and the back of wall was open for inspection.

So it was an easy job. I spoke to the adjuster on the phone and gave him the scoop, I was going to use the E-Tes and told him, he said "whats that an air scrubber" I told him more and he said if I scratch the "E thing" I could add an extra fan and dehu no problem. ( I set up a meeting with him to go over the Tess system next week)

The E-tes may have been over kill anyway so I agreed and the adjuster said he would be coming right out to the job site.
So he gets to the job site while we are still present and likes the job and say's "write up the invoice and I'll cut a check"?

This is day 1 and only an hour into the job. So I write an invoice and hand it to him and he heads out in his car for 30 minutes then comes in and hands the home owner a check and the homeowner writes us a check.

The job should be dry today and we re-install and clean the carpet monday. The insurance co. was the Travelers

That's kind of fast payment aint it? Ever have this happen?

AL

 

[Larry B]

There has been alot changing in the way some insurance companies pay. We do alot of building work for one company and they gave us a VISA card now when we do work I fax the invoice and that same day payment is on this visa they gave me.

We done the int of 3 cars for progressive insurnce last year and the guy came out with a laptop and printer and printed a check on the spot.

 

[Desk Jockey]

That's awesome!

The insurance companies figured out a while back, the sooner they close the file the less it costs them.

If the insured runs into her friends an neighbors, and tells them of the loss, before you know it they want what ever the neighbor or friend got on their loss.

On your part as long as you have all your bases covered you're good.

Trying to go back and get more for some unforeseen reason, would be difficult if not impossible.

 

[LeeCory]

Because of what I've read about insurance companies and adjusters I was very concerned about what I would find when dealing with them. So far things are going very well with no issues and payments have arrived very quickly. I have taken the advice of those on the boards that said you should document your job and actions in great detail.

Pictures, video, moisture mapping, drying plan, daily moisture content readings, daily 5 point humidity readings and communication so far have worked.

I am sure I will run into a problem soon enough...

Al, I am on a job almost identical to the one you described... Do you mind me asking what your adjuster wrote the check for?

 

[Al]

it was 1465.

 

[LeeCory]

Thank you Al...

I am on the way to remove my equipment from my job assuming the last pocket of moisture is done. I initially thought it would be dry in 2 days but it has taken 3. It is in a finished basement and they found the problem quickly. Due to the area not being very large I dried it in place. BEST 7.5 is putting mine in the range of 1000.

 

[Jack May]

I had a small water loss about a month ago. Came in at 5pm Sunday night. Leaking coofee machine that was plumbed into the mains water service.

Approx 500-600' affected. Cheap olefin carpet, direct glue down onto a concrete slab that was sealed and concrete block walls, also sealed (I don't know what the building was used for previously)

I got there and there was a big bun fight between the landlord, the tenant, which was a cafe that was wanting to open for business at 5.30am the next morning and then the coffee machine rep.

The landlord was saying he shouldn't have to pay.

The tenant was saying he shouldn't have to pay.

The rep was saying his machine couldn't leak that much in such a short period of time (overnight and max of 12 hours) and he didn't have the authority to commit to any remedial work.

I went straight to the Cafe owner and said to him, "I can have you open and operating tomorrow morning by 7am IF you agree to this quote and MY plan and costs AND I get paid in full by him first thing when I remove the equipment and sign off."

I told him he didn't have to use us, he could get anyone he wanted, and most liekyl would get it cheaper, but highly unlikely he would open at all tomorrow.

He reluctantly signed my work order (a rarity for me) and I got to work. 1x LRG2000, 2x 1200's, 4x ace fans and another 4x air mover from memory. Spent a bit longer than usual extracting and then gave it a good thorough cleanign and rinsed with a fine fabric rinse agent and deodoriser.

Came in at 5.40 the next morning and all surfaces were below 20% and there was no marking on the carpet.

The cafe owner was beaming from ear to ear as I told him the good news that he was clear to work for the day and handed him my invoice in return for his check. Tickle under $1000.

Cashed the check the next day no worries.

Now he has the problem of getting reimbursed from the coofee vendor guy.

If I get in these situations, always go for the jugular... the party that has the most to loose by NOT taking action straight away. Put your conditions on the work order and only do the job if they agree. On larger jobs, I'll even ask for a deposit of 1/4-1/2 depending on my 'gut feeling' about the job/client.

If there's one thing I've learnt in this business, don't be afraid to walk and don't be afraid to state your conditions first. I don't usually have to state my terms on most jobs, and most are through insurance anyway and so they will be paid over the next 1-3 weeks, but in cases like above, I'll alter my terms to cover my gut feeling.

John

 

[Ed]

Part of it is the cost efficiency of closing a claim quickly and the other side of that is that many times the homeowner will see the size of the check being offered and snag it. Then, they find out a fews days after Mr. adjuster has left that they don't have enough money to cover the damage at fair market cost. It may seem attractive to the homeowner to get a check so quickly, but we've been involved in more than a few situations like this where we have a hard time getting paid due to the homeowner running out of money because they gave it all to the plumbers, roofers, drywallers, etc because these contractors won't start without getting money up front. I'd much rather bill the ins. co for what I do and let the homeowner and adjuster deal with the rest of the claim, because when this happens it put you in a "bad guy" situation. If its a simple one like Al explained where no reconstruction is required, no problem.