Awesome. Little background...
My buddy was moving out of state and gave me his contingency contracts and said they wouldn't work in his new state. I changed the logo and swapped our name and it collected dust.
Then an epic baseball size hail storm came and completely wiped out my town. He called and told me get my butt out there and get those contingency agreements signed....oh....okay.
By the end of the day we had 20. By the end of the week...50. Average claim is $20k. We are now averaging about 4-6 a day in referrals.
Question #1. What do you guys pay your sales guys on those? My sales guys typically get 10% of Par and split anything over. After looking at the Scope of Loss it seems my margins are going to be a lot less. Example they are paying way less per square of siding than I typically get. That 10% might sting a little.
Question #2 - I've noticed on the Scope of Loss every single adjuster is different...even for the same agency. One accounts for drip edge, starter, and hip and ridge but nothing for waste. One guy accounts for waste and says the aforementioned is included in the waste calculation. My thinking is all of those items should be on there.....Who is right?
Question #3 - one adjuster line itemed hollow-back siding with 1/4 backer. The homeowner has Crane Board. I emailed him and he said, "Stick it up and we'll pay you for it." How? And how are they going to account for the difference since it looks like they have some markup calculated in there? Do I submit an invoice and they will put there own mark - up on it? Do I just invoice my regular price?
Question #4 - Every Scope of Loss is missing something. Do I get an accurate one before proceeding? Someone mentioned just turning in a supplement. Is that before or after? How do i invoice? Where does it go?
Question #5 - Someone suggested I get Exactimate and do my own Scope of Loss so when the adjuster shows up I can just give him the report, makes his job easier cause he can walk around and confirm the line items and then he'll create his own. Should I make the invest in something I'll probably never use again? Would it be easier to talk pricing and line items with the adjuster?
Question #6 - Someone suggested I hire an independent adjuster to go out, make a Scope of Loss, talk with the adjuster, and handle the Supplements. That way I can focus on production. Thoughts? How much do they get paid? I feel like it's just another thing added to a low margin scenario...
Question #7 - tricky question I now but what are the typical margins? My gross margins hover a little of 50%+. Could expect the same? I'm not seeing it based on the few reports I have so far.
Question #8 - I live quite a ways from our metro area where I do most my work. The installers typically charge a little more for working out here because of the time and expense of coming out this way which in justifiable. Will the adjuster "adjust" for that? I jus thought of it and haven't asked.
Question #9 - One home had lead paint. I told him the labor is higher because of the process of following the ERA guidelines. He said they don't pay for lead. So now I've got higher rates for the distance adjusted higher rates for lead and the adjuster isn't comping for any of that. I might do $1M in business and go broke doing it!
Question #10 - In what circumstances do the adjusters typically give out O & P?
We have the crews and the experience in how to punch these out and still keep high quality work. I'm just not sure on these items above.
Thanks in advance for letting me drop in and the advice.
