If that is the case (99% of the time, that will be the case), your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor will inspect your property for damage then compare his/her evaluation and pricing to the insurance adjusters estimate which would have been sent to you by the adjuster.

That estimate is called a "loss report" or "scope of loss report."  Remember, since the loss report which forms the basis of your claim is sent to you directly, you are never in the dark regarding what work is proposed and at what price.  Never leave the original with a contractor - make a copy for them.  If your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor finds that your insurance company missed and/or underpriced damage they will tell you and urge you to call for a re-inspection where your contractor and the same or other adjuster (recommended) will meet to conduct a re-inspection. 

If an adjuster has not inspected your property prior to your signing of the contingency agreement you will want to make sure that your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor knows when an adjuster will be doing so.  The when is determined by you when you demand that an adjuster conduct their inspection on a specific date and time chosen by you.  Your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor whose years of construction experience qualifies him or her to know best what is damaged and how much it will cost to repair the damage will meet with the adjuster to point out the damage then audit the loss report you will receive a few days later from the adjuster.  If damaged items are missing and/or the pricing is too low relative to the premiums you paid to your P&C insurance company and the true cost of repairs in your area, your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor will be happy to speak with the adjuster or in house claims representative regarding any discrepancies' in order to make sure your claim is fairly and fully paid. 

About contingency agreements:  Contingency agreements are not blank contracts.  There are legal and binding agreements that either convert into a legal and binding contract if the insurance company agrees to pay for the repair work as listed and priced by your contractor and approved by you or become null and void if the insurance company fully and legitimately denies your claim.  Know that staff and independent P&C insurance adjusters regularly miss, omit and or deny legitimate damage worth many millions of dollars every year.  Everything that gets written into your contingency agreement is taken from the loss reports that are sent directly to you by your P&C insurance company so you will always know what work has been approved and at what price.  The only time the total price of your repair work might be higher than what the insurance company has agreed to pay and you have agreed to accept is when you have asked your contractor for an upgrade from the original materials that were damaged.

The "No Negotiating" Push

Even though contractors have been negotiating with insurance companies on behalf of their customers for many decades, the P&C insurance industry, with the support of P&C industry friendly state legislators - many who are employed in the P&C insurance industry, along with self serving insurance commissioners, industry lobbyists and others, have gotten behind a particular state by state rubber stamp "No Negotiating" bill that, when signed into law by ill-informed state Governor's, prohibits contractors from doing so on behalf of their customers.  A number of state Governor's, including Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, have already signed "No Negotiating" into law.  In the Georgia state legislature, the top five authors/sponsors of Georgia's "No Negotiating" bill were/are all employed by the P&C insurance industry! 

Georgia's Insurance Commissioner, a NAIC favorite and a big supporter of his state's "No Negotiating" legislation when it was being considered has a long record of supporting (and receiving support, i.e., gifts, lunches, dinners, tickets and votes from) P&C and other insurance industry interests. In Colorado, their "No Negotiating" legislation was sponsored by career bureaucrat Colorado House Rep and American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Public Chair Glenn Vaad and supported by Emory Wilkerson, State Farm Associate General Counsel/ALEC Private Chair from Georgia. 

How do these small groups of self serving P&C insurance industry friendly and/or P&C insurance industry employed state legislators get away with passing specious legislation that ultimately negatively affects and takes away the rights of their tax paying, voting and insurance premium paying constituents?  Although the great majority of legislators would never vote for such legislation if they knew how it ultimately does affect their constituents (as well as their own political futures), they repeatedly fall for the ruse that such legislation is consumer protection which it is not.     

Minnesota, whose own "No Negotiating" legislation bill that was Chief authored by Senator and American Family insurance agent Gary Dahms and co-authored by Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee Chair and ALEC member Senator Chris Gerlach from Apple Valley, MN, is the only state in the country (so far) where "No Negotiating" legislation has been defeated - primarily as a result of contractors and other interested party's exposing the real reasons behind the push and exposing the specific individuals doing the pushing who mistakenly thought that no one, particularly the millions of tax paying, voting, property owners (aka constituents) who would be negatively affected by the legislation - if passed, would ever figure out what they were up to - but they did as did House author Joe Hoppe.  I've been told that Representative Hoppe became quite upset after it had been made clear to him the real intent of the bill.  The P&C insurance industries specious argument for supporting such legislation?  Contractor's (and Public Adjusters) charge too much for the repair work which causes premiums to rise. 

The real reason behind the push?  Experienced contractors who do the same work day in and day out know better than anyone else the real and true repair costs and they charge accordingly - not at the future rates on which your premiums are calculated but at current and reasonable pro contractor RTA market rates.  Therefore, it makes sense that the people who know best should be the one's making sure their customers are fully paid on their claims.  But, if the bureaucrats and others listed above could, on behalf of P&C insurance companies, force contractors out of the process, the P&C insurance companies would save many millions of dollars each year that should have been fairly and properly paid out on claims.  "No Negotiating" legislation, when signed into law by state Governors who should think it through before doing so, helps them to achieve that goal.

The people mentioned above who are behind the "No Negotiating" push knew they would never get away with attempting to pass legislation into law that would directly prohibit you and the other estimated 75,000,000 tax paying, voting and insurance premium paying property owners from freely exercising their right to choose a contractor to advocate for them, represent their interests and negotiate on their behalf.  But, by prohibiting contractors from doing so, the effect is the same - your right to freely choose, your right to appoint your contractor to represent your interests and negotiate on your behalf has been taken away from you by the politicians who have passed such legislation and the Governor's who have signed the bills into law. 

If you live in a state where "No Negotiating" has been signed into law which resulted in your rights to appoint a contractor to represent your interests and negotiate on your behalf being taken away, you are left with two other "less then" options which are either having to hire and pay a Public Adjuster a percentage of your claim to do the same thing that a contractor would do at no additional charge or trust that your P&C insurance company and their adjusters will deal fairly with you.  If you took the time to read through the "The Insurance Hoax" article through the above link, you will have probably concluded that your third option is the least attractive.   

"The contractor is charging too much!"

Often, after an insurance company claim rep has reviewed an insured's repair quote submitted by the insured's chosen contractor, they will call the insured and tell them their contractor is charging too much or "is trying to rip them off" and suggest to or tell the insured to get other estimates.  Another common ruse is to tell insured's they know of other contractors who will do the job for much less.  99% of the time, this is nothing more than a bad faith (the intentional refusal to fulfill a legal or contractual obligation, misleading another) attempt on the part of the insurance company adjuster or in house claim rep to cause the insured to question the integrity of the contractor, cause strife between the contractor and the insured and cause the insured to consider cancelling or breaching (breach, i.e., a failure or violation of a legal obligation) their contract with the contractor.  Besides being bad faith, it is also Tortious Interference (i.e., causing harm by intentionally disrupting a contractual relationship or harming a business relationship or activity, for example, by raising suspicions or telling lies or simply implying that something is true).  Wayward staff and independent insurance adjusters concerned with staying employed commit the above offense on a regular basis. 

The fact that a contractor may be charging more than an insurance company initially offers rarely means the contractor is charging too much.  Usually, it means that the insurance company is offering the insured less than they should be paying relative to the premiums paid by the insured.  The insurance company does not care if the insured gets into legal trouble by breaching their contract based on the errant advice of a wayward insurance adjuster or in house claims rep.  Typically, all they care about is paying out as little as possible on each claim.

Remember - your signed contingency agreement will initially include everything including cancellation clauses (additionally, often separate) that will make up your contract except a description of the damaged items and the pricing.  That description and the pricing will all be shown on the loss report that your insurance company adjuster or in house claims rep sends you.  Once your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor agrees that the final loss report is accurate and includes all damaged items at a fair and proper price, you and your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor will simply transfer that information onto the contingency agreement that has converted into a contract because the insurance company has agreed to fully and fairly pay your claim as a result of your 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor's efforts on your behalf.  At that time, you can then choose the colors, types of materials, etc. you want as well as include any upgrades that you agree to pay extra for. 

Once that has been determined and written into the now contract, you should then discuss financial terms with your contractor.  The best practice is to pay up to a twenty-five percent down payment to the contractor once the first substantial material order has been dropped.  Outside of a one half completion "progress" payment, the final balance should only be paid on satisfactory completion of the work.  Some contractors ask for no down payment while others ask for a percentage of the total as a down payment.  There is no reason to be leery of a contractor who asks for a higher down payment as long as you have checked out their references and are confident they are capable of properly assisting you with your claim and completing the repairs and abiding by your states laws. 

Since experienced contractors typically know better than insurance adjusters and public adjusters what needs to be repaired and what it should really cost, insurance companies, as illustrated previously, don't want them involved.  If your insurance company attempts to pay you $20,000 on a claim that a professional, fully insured contractor would legitimately charge $25,000 for, that "costs" the insurance company money, at least in their eyes.  The job of the 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor (or PA) is to make sure the insurance company pays you fully and fairly on your claim.  In the above example - $25,000.  That "extra" $5,000 in the example above belongs to you, not the insurance company.

WARNING:  Previously, I warned you about accepting "free" estimates for insurance covered damage.  Additional reasons for not doing so are as follows:  Using the above example, if your legitimate claim is $25,000, P&C insurance companies hope you will follow conventional wisdom (applies to retail work but not insurance covered damage) and seek out those "free" estimates in the hope that those estimates will come in even below the typically underpriced estimates (loss reports) written by insurance adjusters.  If an insured property owner signs a contract with one of the contractors offering to do the work for less then even the $20,000 under priced insurance adjuster estimate, the insurance company will be fine with that and they'll keep even more of the money legitimately owed to the insured/you.

One of the worst, most troublesome and most costly mistakes some insured's make is, after following their insurance company's advice and/or conventional "wisdom" of getting "free" estimates - prior to even having their property inspected by an insurance adjuster, they agree to contract with a particular contractor who says that all of the damage the contractor calls damage is "guaranteed" to be paid for by the insurance company.  The insured then signs the direct contract (not a contingency contract) with that expectation but later finds out that the damage is a lot less than the dishonest and unqualified contractor stated.  If your right to cancel (you should always be provided with a statement describing those rights) expires, you may be obligated to complete the contract.  Don't fall for this scam - never give any money to any contractor until you have gone over the final loss report with the contractor and are in agreement with the pricing and the items covered. 

With a contingency agreement, even after your right to cancel has expired you are still under no obligation to the contingency contractor if the insurance company legitimately denies your claim - legitimately being the key word.  That should be clearly spelled out for you in "plain English" on the front of the contingency agreement.  If it is not, ask the contractor to confirm in writing that they will abide by those terms or don't do business with them.

Additional advice and warnings

Never accept a claim settlement offer from any insurance adjuster before you have had an experienced contractor (or PA), preferably a 3RSystems, LLC certified contractor or PA, inspect your property for damage.  A very small minority of property owners with damage mistakenly believe that they can, after the contractor has done all the work in making sure that all damaged items are accounted for and properly paid for - in other words, fulfilled their obligation, cancel the contingency agreement turned contract then hire a less experienced contractor to do the repair work for less money while pocketing some of the insurance proceeds for their own personal use.  This could be construed by the insurance company and others as insurance fraud.  Many adjusters who know the insurance company's they represent want to keep payouts low will often attempt to cause the insured property owner to cancel/breach their contingency contracts and choose a less experienced contractor who will do the job for less.  Doing so would likely be an enforceable illegal breach of contract.  If any attorney advises you that doing so is acceptable, you probably need to find a different attorney who is more interested in protecting your interests than in getting paid a small fee.   

Keep in mind that even though many of the contractors and contractor sales representatives across the country that offer to work with property owners with insurance covered damage claim to be "Insurance Claims Specialists", unless they can prove 3RSystems, LLC certification, they don't necessarily possess the comprehensive experience, knowledge and training that their "Insurance Claims Specialist" title implies.  Often, the people making such claims are nothing more than average contractors or contractor sales reps that may have years of retail contracting experience but little to no verifiable insurance industry experience or claims training by someone who has that experience.  Want to be sure you are dealing with a professional who can properly assist you with your insurance claim from start to finish?  Ask them to show you their 3RSystems, LLC proof of certification.  You can also confirm the certification of anyone claiming to be 3RSystems, LLC certified through the "confirm certification" link below.

Many states have passed laws that, unlike "No Negotiating" laws, really do protect consumers.  One of those laws which is really just common sense prohibits contractors from accepting any money from any customers unless and until materials have been dropped at the customer's/insured's property.  Another law properly prohibits contractors from rebating customers insurance deductibles which is also known as buying down or "burying" the deductible.  Several ways some attempt to skirt the law is by offering "sign discounts" or promising insured's a "free" roof  - meaning, after the insurance company pays everything less the insured's deductible, when the contractor pays/discounts/rebates the deductible, the job is "free".  Disallowing this practice is good for everyone in that it levels the playing field for all contractors and removes the temptation of some insured's to agree to a practice that could also get them in legal trouble.

Do you need to hire a Public Adjuster or attorney to help you with your claim? 

No, maybe, yes?  In states where those P&C industry friendly state legislators, self serving insurance commissioners, industry lobbyists and others have succeeded in getting "No-Negotiating" bills signed into law, until those laws are repealed, contractors may be penalized, in some cases severely, if they are found to be, in doing what they have always done for property owners with insurance covered damage, "negotiating on behalf of insured's", which, to those bureaucrats and politicians as well as politicized Department of Labor and Industry heads and insurance/commerce commissioners, constitutes "acting as or representing themselves as" a Public Adjuster.  The first goal of P&C insurance and their political allies was/is to take from all insured's - including you, the right to appoint their chosen contractor to negotiate their insurance repair claim on their behalf.  All the P&C insurance companies then have to contend with are the limited number of licensed public adjusters who are permitted to negotiate with P&C insurance companies on behalf of insured's - for a percentage fee of their claim. But, here's some more reality...

Most public adjusters would rather work on claims worth much more than the typical less severe wind and hail damage claims that most exterior contractors work on which ultimately means that many of the PA's licensed to work on those claims won't.  Suppose a wind and hail storm comes through your town causing wind and hail damage to 5,000 properties - including yours.  P&C insurance does know that a few of the property owners with damage who actually know what PA's are and what they do (most don't) will, even if reluctantly, be willing to pay a PA to help them get their claim fully paid, if they can find one willing to work their claim.  Most will however, at least in states where the politicians have taken away their/your right to appoint their contractor to negotiate on their behalf, simply decide to forgo the PA fee's and, instead, deal directly with their insurance company adjusters and in house claim reps then hope and pray that their P&C insurance company will do the right thing and fully and fairly pay their claims.  See how sneaky that is...and that's just the way P&C insurance likes it! 

PA lobbyist's are also in favor of preventing contractors from negotiating on behalf of their customers with insurance covered damage - for obvious reasons, mostly financial.  If contractors are allowed to continue to do what they have been properly doing more of and better than anyone else for decades - negotiate on behalf of their customers, there would be less need for public adjusters (and less need for insured's with damage to have to pay their fee's).  The P&C insurance industry friendly politicians behind the "No Negotiating" push framed their quite specious argument for the "PA's only" legislation by implying that contractors should be prohibited from negotiating on behalf of their customer's because; 1. they put their financial interests ahead of their customers - which makes absolutely no sense, and 2., they have not been trained in policy language as PA's are required to be.  That kind of razzle-dazzle would make even Billy Flynn from the play/movie "Chicago" blush. 

When you took out your P&C insurance policy, you were given a physical written policy that outlines and specifies the terms that are meant to be readable and understandable to, not a lawyer, but rather a person of average intelligence, experience and education.  In other word's, written in such a manner so as not to cause you to have to pay to consult with an attorney (or a PA) in order to understand what is and what is not covered and in which the insurer bears the burden if there is any ambiguity in any terms of the contract.  Consider the fact that most contractors who do insurance repair work on a regular basis are also property owners who pay insurance premiums and likely understand their policies, how they work, and what they cover, as well as anyone.  So, in their great wisdom, those folks behind the push for "No Negotiation" and "PA's only" legislation believe it's fine for P&C insurance companies, in exchange for billions of insured's premium dollars every year, to issue policies that are readable and understandable by a person of average intelligence, experience and education - presumably those same insured's.  But, when it comes time to pay those insured's on their claims, neither they nor their contractors possess sufficient intelligence, experience and education necessary to allow them to understand what their policy covers?    

Over a number of decades of doing insurance repair work as a contractor myself, policy language was never an issue.  If a contractor, a PA, an attorney, a Judge or anyone else for that matter misinterpreted policy language and demanded an insurance company pay what is truly not owed, the payment would never be made.  With that said, if you have not done so, take the time to do a thorough reading of your homeowner's insurance policy and if there is anything you do not understand, call your agent and make sure that everything is explained to you.  Also keep in mind that while it may not be clear to you from the reading of your policy, your policy cannot be cancelled and your rates cannot be increased individually because of "Acts of God" or "Acts of Nature" claims that you have no control over.  Insurance companies generally can however, increase the rates of members of a class such as those insured's with in a particular area that is more prone to damage than others.

In rare cases, insured's may be forced into the position of having to hire an attorney to assist them in settling their claims.  If you find yourself in that situation, make sure that you work with an attorney who can show you they are well versed in construction and insurance law.  Contractor's, PA's and attorney's across the country are slowly but surely forming alliances that will provide insured's a track to follow in the event their claim becomes stalled, underpaid or unfairly denied.  This will eventually allow the contractor whose customer is experiencing claim settlement problems to immediately refer each case to a qualified PA or attorney who will have agreed to a discounted fee in exchange for the referral. 

More PA lobbyist self interest and protection than consumer interest and protection...

The PA lobbyists' have also been successful in their efforts at self preservation by pushing for and getting legislation passed that prohibits contractors and PA's from having any financial or business relationships between them.  All that does is further force consumers into having to either pay a PA their fee or trust their P&C insurance company to deal fairly with them.  That's not consumer interest or protection, that's PA lobbyist self interest and protection.  If the PA lobby was interested in consumer interest and protection, they would have pushed for legislation that provided free market consumer interest and protection solutions that would allow PA's and contractors to work hand in hand - without the specious sleight of hand "protections" that only serve the PA industry.  This is where the P&C insurance interests (and the PA lobby) have effectively "pulled the wool" over the eyes of the PA industry.  Were PA's and contractors allowed to have working and financial interests in each other, PA's would find much more work and the combined efforts of both would be a positive force in making sure that P&C insurance does what it is supposed to do - fully and fairly pay their claims. 

Although licensed, many PA's have more book knowledge than construction and insurance industry/claims process experience which is why, along with training contractors how to process property & casualty insurance claims the right way for their customers, I've recently started offering my 3RS insurance claims training and certification program to Public Adjusters as well. 

In regards to contracting for storm damage repairs, doing the actual repair work is only 25% of the job - the easy part.  Dealing with and going up against multi-billion dollar P&C insurance companies, their claims reps and their lawyers who are regularly reluctant to fully pay their insured's claims is 75% of the job - the hard part.  Unless the contractor or contractor sales rep claiming to be an "insurance claim specialist" can prove insurance industry experience or provide actual and verifiable proof of training and certification by someone with vast experience in both construction and insurance, the "insurance claim specialist" title is a misnomer.  The same idea applies to licensed PA's.  My goal is to make sure that both are properly trained so they can both be effective in defeating the attempts by P&C insurance to "deny, delay and defend". 

Trust, but verify!  Ask to see their "Certified by 3RSystems, LLC Insurance Claims Consultant" certificate

Trusting without verifying that a contractor, contractor sales rep, or PA who claims to be an insurance claims specialist or expert really is one can be very expensive, time consuming and heart wrenching, among other things.  Rather than take the chance that any of the above who simply claim to be an insurance claims specialist or expert is, or is not, you'll be much better off trusting a 3RSystems, LLC™ trained and certified contractor, contractor sales rep and PA who will make every effort to make sure that you are paid full 100% RTA on your claim and make sure that your property is restored to the same or better condition than it was in prior to the storm.  

After over four decades of business experience which includes forty years of construction industry experience plus twenty years of verifiable insurance and investment industry experience, I put together the 3RSystems, LLC insurance claims training and certification program in order to teach contractors, contractor sales reps and PA's how to process storm damage claims for full RTA value thereby benefiting insured's rather than P&C insurance companies.  3RSystems, LLC™ trained and certified contractors, contractor sales reps and PA's are put on a level playing field with the multi-billion dollar P&C insurance companies and their teams of lawyers that all too often have the advantage over their "customers".  This means that you, as the premium paying insured (that makes you the boss, not the insurance company) with the help of your 3RSystems, LLC™ trained and certified contractor, contractor sales rep or PA are more likely to be paid all the money owed to you on your claim in much less time and with much less stress.  And, working with a 3RSystems, LLC™ trained and certified contractor, contractor sales rep or PA will never cost you any more than working with even the least experienced contractor, contractor sales rep or PA.

Want to make sure that your insurance company pays you everything they owe you on your storm damage or other insurance covered claim? Put your trust in a 3RSystems, LLC™ certified contractor, contractor sales rep or PA today.  To find out if a contractor, contractor sales rep or PA you are considering for your restoration is 3RSystems, LLC™ certified, click on the "confirm certification" link below.  If they are, you can be confident that they will do everything they can get you the best possible insurance claim settlement. 

Sincerely,

about Larry

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