Your Property Specialist
Clad only in this garment, Property Specialist Vaughn Woolf can be found repairing old pickups and gardening during the summer.
Overalls
When you call the insured to set up the inspection she demands to be present. She makes it difficult to reach an agreeable time by insisting it should be tonight, after working hours, or this weekend. What do you tell her?
An Insured is going to need to make a reasonable attempt to meet with us just as we need to do our best to meet with them at a reasonable time.
Tell her when you CAN meet with her.
There is a dispute with the contractor due to a difference in measurements. How do you reconcile the dispute?
Hover and Eagleview will support their reports.
Ask the contractor to provide you their measurements and send them to Hover/Eagleview.
Material invoices are not sufficient documentation of the actual size of the roof.
After your inspection of the property the insured is not available. A neighbor offers to take a message. What do you tell the neighbor?
You can not give claim related information to anyone other than our named insureds without permission from our insureds.
You may call the insured and ask them if it would be okay, but if you have them on the phone you might as well explain your findings at that time.
The document you receive from a contractor is vague. There is one line item for the entire job. You need to know if the insured completed all the repairs included on our estimate and for how much. What do you do?
DAILY DOUBLE
Request an itemized estimate to compare scope, like kind and quality, and price.
Contact the insured to verify completed repairs and incurred invoice.
Despite his rugged good looks, the owner of a dropped Chevy pickup, and the Harley parked out in the lot, this Property Specialist drives a minivan around Columbia picking up the kids and groceries after work, never exceeding the speed limit.
Mike Billington
The insured wishes his contractor to be present and requests for us to schedule the time with them. What is an appropriate response?
We want to meet with the contractor.
Set the appointment with the insured and let them schedule their contractor.
The insured’s roofer claims the roof must be replaced, he can not warrantee the repairs, and therefore does not perform repairs. What do you tell the insured?
Remind the insured that they can hire whomever they wish.
We owe for the damage, not the warrantee.
They may have to find a new contractor or pay out of pocket for the difference.
After writing your estimate you call the insured to discuss the payment you are sending to them. They tell you that their mortgage holder has changed and the one listed on the loss report is incorrect. What do you do?
The insured should provide documentation to support that the mortgage holder listed on the declarations page no longer has an interest in the property.
Once we have that documentation may issue the payment directly to the insured.
The insured calls and lets you know they found damaged items that were not on your initial estimate. They would like you to come back to reinspect the property, update the estimate and issue them a supplemental payment. Will you be able to oblige?
Yes. Take a new assignment in Cotality. Create an estimate revision for claim related supplements.
Tip: Find out if the insured has hired a contractor. How does their scope of damage compare to ours? Try to avoid a third inspection.
Which Property Specialist loves to party at Disney World with his wife yet refuses to wear the traditional mouse ears as they may mess up his hair.
Adam Smith
List five pieces of information that should be obtained during the first contact with the insured?
DAILY DOUBLE
Appointment time, extent of damage, interior damage, accessibility, dogs, email, mortgage holder, to whom you are speaking, who will you be meeting,
The contractor is saying he will only work off of his Xactimate estimate. How do you respond?
$$$
We will provide an estimate base on Cotality's database. It is also a reputable estimating platform.
Confirm that the scope of repairs is the same.
The contractor may charge whatever they wish but that does not mean we owe what they charge.
Contact the insured and explain the situation. They may need to hire a different contractor or pay out of pocket for the difference.
Insured is convinced they have "full coverage" but their policy settles losses at ACV. How do you respond to the insured’s concerns?
We will settle the insured's claim in accordance with the policy in force at the time of the loss.
Questions regarding which policy they had in force or which coverage they should have had should be directed to the agent.
The invoice you receive is for ordinance or law upgrades to the insured’s home. You call the municipality to confirm. What sort of information do you need?
The ordinance number. If there is a law that regulates the construction, there should be a corresponding ordinance number that we can look up, print, and place in our claim file. There is a document on Mango, and a Smartsheet to fill out, for ordinance or law items to be recorded. Ice & Water, drip, and valley are not kept on that list, we use OneClick Code for this information instead.
Two of our Property Specialists have tattoos. This particular Specialist has tattoos dedicated to his trade.
Austin Quinlan
You are handed 80 claims when you first arrive on site. How do you schedule your appointments?
Prioritize by severity first and then plot the loss locations geographically.
When you call the insured, tell them when you will be there.
You are assigned a reinspection. The roofer is claiming the roof must be replaced. The first adjuster did not meet with a contractor and found no damage during his inspection. You know the first adjuster claims to have walked the roof, but his file notes and inspection photos are inadequate. What do you do?
Schedule a meeting at the property with the contractor present.
Consider getting a copy of the contractor's estimate to address any scope differences.
Perform a second inspection, starting fresh, and make objective and principled decisions, regardless of the first adjusters adjustment.
Your inspection of the roof has found no damage but the insured notes other roofs in her neighborhood have been replaced. How do you address her concerns?
We adjust the claim based on the damage at the loss location. Objective and principled decisions must be made based on the observations at the loss location.
There are several reasons why a nearby roof may have been replaced. Some of those reasons have nothing to do with whether there is actual claim related damage to the roof.
You are informed and the contractor has provided photos of plank 1x decking underneath the asphalt shingles. The contractor states that the roof must be redecked? Do you allow for new OSB to be overlaid over the existing deck because there is not a “nailable surface?”
$$$
Maybe. Is there a building ordinance that requires solid sheathing?
There were shingles attached to the 1x decking before. We do not owe for new sheathing without an ordinance.
Recently Bo has had all but one of the following animals in his home:
(a)Dog
(b)Bat
(c)Mouse
(d)Kangaroo
Bat
Upon calling the insured to schedule the appointment you learn that Insured has already replaced the roof. This is your territory and you have seen little damage in the area. How do you proceed?
Advise the insured of the condition in the policy that we inspect the damaged property as often as we may reasonably require.
Ask if they or their contractor have photos of the damage.
Inspect the property for collateral damage elsewhere.
The inspection found no damage related to the hail event but the insured has already signed a contract with an out of town roofer who says the insured's roof needs to be replaced. What should you tell the insured?
The contract the insured signed is between them and their roofer.
Our adjustment decision is based on our observations at the loss location and in accordance with the insured's policy.
Follow up with a no damage letter.
You have completed your inspection and you have found hail damage to the roof and gutters. The insured has a HO-3 Policy. Explain the settlement process to us as if we were the insured?
$$$
i.e. Damage found, amount of depreciation taken, how to recover depreciation, what to tell the contractor, whether overhead and profit is necessary, mortgage holder.
See the Claims Settlement Bullet Points document in the Policy-Settlement section of your Binder.
The invoice is for a metal roof and the original estimate was for asphalt shingles. How do you settle the claim?
$$$
Verify the scope of the repair. Did they tear off the old shingles? Apply new felt?
If not, we do not owe recoverable depreciation for work that was not performed.
Therefore, they may not be entitled to the full recoverable depreciation amount listed on our original estimate.