The Truth about Contractors and Carriers Continued;
Good Ole Boy
Most insurance repair contractors are what I refer to as “Good Ole Boy” Contractors. Their work comes primarily from adjuster referrals and is reliant on their relationships with Insurance Carriers and Adjusters. I know this because I have worked for several of the large repair and restoration Contractors in the Seattle-Tacoma area. These “Good Ole Boy” Contractors spend tens of thousands of dollars wining and dining adjusters each year. Golf trips, club memberships, free lunches, free remodel work on their homes, if you can think of it then it probably is or has been done in order to procure future work from an adjuster.. There is a good possibility that your adjuster has already given you one, two or three “Good Ole Boy” contractors to call. While they seem impartial when referring these Contractors, the truth is, they are not impartial at all. Getting a “bought and paid for” Contractor assigned to a loss is the best scenario for an insurance carrier. You see, a “Good Ole Boy” Contractor has to be very careful not to upset or anger the adjuster and/or carrier. If that happens, the work stops. That’s not good for the bottom line. “Good Ole Boy” Contractors have to keep the adjusters happy at any cost; Unfortunately that usually amounts to an underpaid settlement or cutting corners during the course of repair.
Program Contractor
You may be insured with a carrier that has you signed up on their program, which simply means they have a pool of “Good Ole Boy” Contractors on rotation waiting to be assigned to your claim. In many cases, Contractors doing program work have no other source of revenue. If they upset the wrong person and are kicked off of the program, their business will collapse. Program contractors will do just about anything to keep the adjusters happy and can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
Homeowner Oriented Contractor
The “Homeowner Oriented Contractor”, like Step Up Cpnstruction, is focused on the needs and interest of the homeowner. Your Carrier does not want a “Home Owner Oriented” Contractor assigned to a claim. Being forced to settle a claim honestly, is not good for the bonus structure most carriers have set up for their board members and CEO. I moved to the homeowner side of the fence in my early forties, not because the money was better or the work was easier to get, quite the opposite actually, but because the stress and guilt of being part of an industry that was designed to cheat homeowner’s became too much to bear. I take great pride in helping homeowners achieve a fair settlement and can honestly say that I sleep much better at night.
