Avoid The Storm-Chaser Scam

When a severe hail storm hits your area, most (If not all) of the local contractors are poorly equipped to handle storm repair damage in addition to their
regular business.

Consequently, most will be approached by "storm-chasers" and offered a substantial amount of money to lease their name and phone number (So now all of a sudden anyone can instantly be in the roofing business).

Unfortunately, this leaves you with absolutely no idea who you are hiring, where they are from, or what their real reputation is.

The local contractor that doesn't sell out is forced to subcontract their labor-force from wherever they can; once again leaving you in completely in the dark as to who is actually repairing and doing work on your home.

How The Scam Works

There is nothing that attracts a scam artist faster than disaster, and unfortunately the roofing industry has more than its share of shady characters.

Here’s a list of a few tricks they have up their sleeve:

• Paying Money Up Front: Never give any contractor money for work not already done, or to buy materials. Any reputable contractor has a supplier that will work with them on costs up front • Substantially Lower Bids: This can work in a couple of ways. The most common is adding to the contract after the job is done. Crooks know that the insurance company is paying the tab and will submit the final bill reflecting the final cost. Most insurance companies will pay the invoice, and in some cases the bid is just flat too low and doesn't cover all the costs involved. In this case all bills don't get paid and you get stuck covering the rest. In some cases it is the materials bill never gets paid, and the supplier has every right to put a lien on your property forcing you to pay for the materials. Remember, when someone delivers materials to your property it always needs to be paid for. • Submitting Two Invoices: One to the home owner and one to the insurance company at an inflated price… This by any definition is insurance fraud and is illegal

Remember This About Proper Insurance

Most contractors without general public liability insurance are not financially secure enough to repair major damage to your home (And may not be willing to pay anyway).

Also, severe storms can blow up rapidly and even the most experienced crews can get caught in the rain. An uncovered roof in the rain following the initial storm can cause significant damage to the interior of a home.

Uninsured contractors can work much cheaper than properly insured ones but the risks are very high, so think about this real hard before hiring the uninsured crew to save a few bucks’ verses the potential for much more costly bills in your future.

Licensed… Or Not?

Licensing requirements for contractors vary greatly from city to city and from state to state.

Some have no requirements at all, leaving anyone with a hammer and a ladder instantly in the roofing business. Now how does that proposition sound when you really need to get your life back to normal?

Easily Restore Your Home After Disaster Strikes!

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