Insurance Work

charlesmd

Ive never dealt with insurance work before. I have a good customer
that had a basement flood recently and the insurance co., has sent her
an estimate as to what they think it will cost to do the repairs. Its very low
of coarse. Im not sure what they expect as far as an estimate goes. I
usually give a lump sum price with details of whats to be done-they itemize.
Got a feeling my estimate is going to get kicked back from the ins. co.
to be itemized.This customer wont deal with any other contractors so I
know the job is mine. Question is, if Im doing the work and the ins. co
wont agree on my price-what are her options- I know I can walk away from
the job but how can she get the money to pay for the rapairs. Does she have hire someone that the ins. co recommends who falls within the price range or can she demand more money to get me in there. Ive got a great
drywall guy that used to deal with ins. co. but wont anymore due to the
hassel. (What am I in for????).

Tin Cup

1) owner should always hire who they want to do repairs to restore "their" asset. The contractor should know how to deal with the adjuster, owner and owner's agent can get involved if it's not going well. Owner should consider hiring their own public adjuster for a large claim.

2) an important point to doing repairs that is covered by an insured claim is to itemize every single step in the process. that will increase the price, but that is the way the ins. adjusters see the claim. use "unit" pricing where possible (sq.ft., ln.ft., etc.) use hourly rates elsewhere. include cost to remove, clean, and return contents. Your total price is now your "subtotal". add 20% to that amount for "overhead & profit", that is now your new "total".

3) in your proposal, leave a provision for change orders when you find unseen conditions, damage you didn't know or anticipate.

4) if the adjuster argues unit prices, ask them where their number comes from. owner may need to get other bids to validate your pricing, but probably not. you may get less than you want in some areas but more in others, it usually works out.

5) small claims like basement water damage, the ins. adjuster really just wants to write a check and move on. it is really small potatoes to them.

Good luck, this quick advise is from my experience with mold, wind, water, fire damages as a contractor and estimator.

Other more experienced forum members will add their wisdom soon.

Good luck,

Tin Cup

charlesmd

Thanks for the info-I will be working on this estimate tomorrow.

katttfishh

Insurance companys only accept itemized bids. You have to meet or beat your competitions price as the claim rep only has to meet the lowest bid.Check with the claim rep and see if they use Xactimate. Google it. Xactimate is the format most insurance companys use. It has all the local pricing based on zip codes and it is the same pricing used and allowed by the insurance companys. You will make money a lot easier if you use Xactimate. I think they had a trial version for a couple hundred or so.

genecarp

TIN COVERED most of it, just know, the first $ the ins co offers, begins the negotiation, there agenda is pay as little as possible, yours is the opposite. also, i have found being real nice to the adjuster, goes a long way ($). sometimes you have to go to war, but avoid it if possible.

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