Thank you to our Orlando Public Adjuster Brad Barrett for answering the following question: Q. I had damage to my roof during a storm. Shingles blown off as well as some hail. Insurance told me to get 3 estimates which I did and then sent their adjuster out and he wrote me a check. The 3 estimates said…
Some contractors in Florida have been offering homeowners free roofs and offering to handle the insurance claim in exchange for signing what is called an Assignment of Benefits (AOB) contract. This may allow the contractor to charge high fees and sue your insurance company. In Florida, it is against the law for contractors to file or negotiate…
Florida has gone through a remarkable decade without any wide spread wind losses. The past two weeks broke this lucky streak when two weather events resulted in tornado damage on the west coast of Florida, most notably in Coral Springs, Siesta Key and Sarasota. It seems that most experts contribute these wind loses to the…
As we transition into Spring, hail storms will cause severe property damage to roofs, siding, screen enclosures and any other structure within its path. As public adjusters, we consistently see insurance company claim adjusters minimizing the damage and trying to do patch work. This can lead to real differences of opinion between the policyholder and…
“At least it’s snowing.” This was in an email message I received from the manager of my client’s hotel in Kentucky. Hard to believe that given this winter’s bitter weather, ice and snow that a property management team would be glad it is snowing again! The back story on this is that all the buildup…
With New England and now the eastern United States in a deep freeze from record snow and ice accumulation, remember the old saying, it’s the darkest before the dawn. Yes, there will be a spring and it’s just around the corner according to the Old Farmers Almanac. Spring, also called the vernal equinox comes in the Northern…
A phone call to our office today from a public adjuster colleague in Boston confirms what we all are seeing on TV. The call started out this way… “Dick as you know our firm has been in the public adjusting business for a long time and we have never seen anything like this. We need…
A rising problem that we in the public adjusting profession have been dealing with for years seems to finally have caught the attention of Florida officials. That is, the practice of insurance adjusting without a license by roofers and restoration contractors who sometimes are also unlicensed. A recent article, Illegal for roofers to act as insurance…
Here is an insurance claim question that we recently were asked to weigh in on as a contributing member of insurance claim experts for United Policyholders who advocates for property owners. Q. We received a question from a North Carolina consumer regarding a roof replacement due to windstorm damage. The carrier is claiming that only a “spot-repair” is…
Given the serious ice conditions hitting the Houston area and the frozen Northeast, we want to thank roofing expert Mr. Andrew Smith, Director of Field Operations at Roof Leak Detection Co. for contributing this very good explanation of ice dams and the resulting roof leaks and water damage it can cause. The damage this causes is a…