CONTINGENCY AGREEMENTS ARE SCAMS.
So, you were approached by a contractor who promised to inspect your roof for free and now you feel trapped to give away all your claims money?
Do not fear. Thousands of homeowners find themselves in this very situation, literally on a daily basis.
“Bad roofing contractors.” “Contingency agreement roof.” “Roofer wants me to sign over my insurance check”. Top three online searches in the Dallas Fort Worth area right now following recent hail storms in Allen and Plano Texas.
If not careful, many homeowners can find themselves hustled and fast talked into ridiculous contingency agreements before fully understanding how their claim works. Not to worry! There is great news.
“It is your insurance money to do with what you please.”
Thats right! Regardless of what you signed, at no time are you in debt to any contractor, who is attempting to scare or bully you into believing that you now owe them all or a portion of your insurance money, simply because they put a tarp on your roof or wanted to meet with your adjuster when your claim was approved.
Promising to meet with your insurance company to “get your claim approved” is the number one sales tactic designed to make you feel as if you need to hire the contractor immediately and takes your mind off of pricing or gathering estimates for comparison.
However, contrary to popular belief, in no way does meeting with an adjuster entitle a contractor to your insurance money, or your project.
Once the claim is approved, homeowners reserve the right to change their minds at any time for any reason and may use any contractor they want. Regardless of the contingency agreement you may have signed.
How is this possible? Because “contingency agreements, dependent upon an approval by your insurance company, are not legitimate roofing contracts.”
As long as no actual labor has taken place at your home, you do not owe anyone anything.
Meeting with your insurance adjuster does not qualify as manual labor in the state of Texas. Furthermore, roofing contractors have absolutely no legal say over the approval or denial of your claim. They simply want to be present if and when your claim is approved so you will feel as if they were somehow responsible for the approval and feel an obligation to use them.
On the other hand, if the claim is denied, the contractor walks away with no responsibility for the denied claim. Blaming your insurance company for your misfortune, while moving onto their next victim.
The life of a claims chaser is a roll of the dice numbers game played with your insurance claim.
Not getting the job after the claim is approved is a risk all middleman contractors take when attempting to hustle homeowners into giving away all their insurance money.
Although they may scream, fuss and threaten to take you to court, They Cannot Legally Do Anything To You and They Know It!
If you have “legitimate” storm damages to your roof and home, those damages are going to be approved by your insurance company, whether you have a roofing contractor present during the inspection or not.
After signing a contingency agreement with a contractor, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to begin to have second thoughts and consider other options. Especially once the claim is approved and payment is issued.
Understandably, homeowners simply want to see estimates for any work that’s needed as opposed to giving all the money away to a contractor and hoping for the best.
You are doing absolutely nothing wrong for wanting to get the most out of your money. It is your claims money!
Never feel bullied or threatened into believing you are doing anything wrong for wanting to see estimates or deciding not to move forward with a contractor you are no longer comfortable with.
What if i signed a contingency agreement and the contractor had to nail down a tarp or strips of felt on my roof as a temporary repair?
Answer: This will depend on what your comfort level is. You will basically have two options.
OPTION ONE – The majority of homeowners refuse to pay anything once they figure out the contractor was attempting to pocket all their insurance money. Regardless of any temporary repairs made to the property.
*If you decide to go with this option, the contractor either accepts the loss and goes away or complains and threatens to take you to court for a while, where ultimately, nothing ever happens.
Contractors are not allowed to file liens against properties were no “approved” work took place.
We have yet to experience even one homeowner being taken to court over a canceled contingency agreement or temporary repair payment refusal.
OPTION TWO – The second option, is to pay a small fee to the contractor for any minor tarp repair work that was done.
At most, you may owe them for minor tarp repair work, but at no time do you owe them all or a portion of your insurance money simply because you decided not to move forward with them.
