So far this year, violent weather has cut a swath of death and destruction across vast stretches of the country, including tornadoes, wind and hail storms.
When this happens, insurance company representatives go into the field, staff catastrophe centers and work non-stop to assist victims in rebuilding their lives, their homes and their businesses. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, among the thousands of claims that these kinds of events generate, there are always some victims who experience additional pain—not from the storms, but from greedy scam artists and unscrupulous contractors.
After a disaster, contractors and others will often go door-to-door in neighborhoods, which have sustained damage to offer clean up and/or construction and repair services. Most of these business people are reputable, but many are not.
The dishonest ones may execute schemes to defraud innocent victims. One such scheme is to pocket the payment and never show up for the job, or never complete a job that was started. Another scheme is to use inferior materials and perform shoddy work not up to code in order to pocket more profit.
According to the NICB, almost all of these scams begin with an unsolicited visit from a contractor. It suggests storm survivors to follow the motto “if you didn’t request it, reject it.” After a storm property owners should contact their insurance company first. There is no need to speak with a contractor who solicits your repair work—especially when the work wasn’t requested by the homeowner, according to the NICB, as the insurance company will honor its policy and cover losses.
NICB suggests the following tips before hiring a contractor:
· Get more than one estimate
· Get everything in writing. Cost, work to be done, time schedules, guarantees, payment schedules and other expectations should be detailed
· Demand references and check them out
· Ask to see the contractor’s driver’s license and write down the license number and their vehicle’s license plate number
· Never sign a contract with blanks; unacceptable terms can be added later
· Never pay a contractor in full or sign a completion certificate until the work is finished and ensure reconstruction is up to current code
· Make sure you review and understand all documents sent to your insurance company
· Never let a contractor pressure you into hiring them
· Never let a contractor interpret the insurance policy language
· Never let a contractor discourage you from contacting your insurance company
The NICB suggests anyone who believes they’ve been approached by an unscrupulous contractor or adjuster, or have been encouraged to fabricate an insurance claim, to contact your insurance company or call the NICB toll-free at 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422). Reports can also be made by texting “fraud” to TIP411 (847411) or report it online at www.nicb.org. iPhone or iPad users can download the NICB Fraud Tips app to make it easy to quickly send a tip and get a response.
