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The Initial Inspection

In our previous article, we talked about the steps to take if your home experiences hail damage. If the damage is not severe, an inspection from a roofing expert can help make sure that your claim goes through easily and without any pushback from the insurance company. However, there are precautions that must be taken when selecting your roofing expert. The following is a guide that makes sure you cover all your bases.

1. Contingency Contracts

Once the roofing company is done recording damages, they may want you to sign off on an inspection report. Be very careful before you do this! This could be a contingency contract in disguise. A contingency contract is defined as a binding contract that comes into effect once a certain set of events or a contingency occurs in the future. In many of these contracts, the contingency is if you the homeowner decide to have the damage fixed through your insurance company, the roofing contractor that did the initial inspection will automatically get the job.

This can create a whole new set of issues. First, homeowners do not want to work with companies that sneak tricky verbiage into contracts to insure that they can get future business. For a roofing company that can fix hail damage in Florida that will never steer you wrong, please check out www.taylormaderoofing.com. You can feel assured with Taylor Made there will never be tricky verbiage that will bind you to the company that did the first inspection. Jacksonville to Saint Augustine are covered by these roofers!

If the homeowner makes the mistake of signing one of these binding agreements, you may have lost the ability to find a competitive company to do the repairs. Even worse, if the contract states funds from the insurance company will go to the roofers, they may take off with the money before the job is even finished. Please contact a legal professional immediately to see if there is any recourse for your particular contract.

2. The Initial Inspection

This first inspection should be free. It is the cost of doing business for the roofing company to quote you on the job. Make an appointment with the roofer at a time that you will be home. Do not allow the inspection to be made while you are not present.

Go outside to make sure the inspection is done properly. A legit company should have no issue with you supervising how the job is done. Listen carefully for any sounds of a hammer being used or scraping on the roof. A company that is not honest may try to create damage where there was none so they can secure the job.

Once again, make sure you are firm that no repairs are to be done at this time and do not sign anything. A contingency contract is not a worry if you never signed anything to begin with. Now that you have the opinion and estimate from a professional, the homeowner can approach their insurance company. The next article will cover how this should be done.