The Independent Insurance Claim Adjuster Resource

If you have worked with more than ten claims resulting from any kind of hail storm you’ve probably been exposed to what is commonly known as “neighboritis”.  Neighboritis is practically like a bad case of the flu; it spreads easily. The only logical cure is awareness of this costly and time consuming problem.

Neighboritis is a serious condition that needs to be addressed because it is damaging to independent adjusting companies and independent adjusters. The effects of neighboritis in relation to independent adjusting companies are discussed in this separate post.

Neighboritis happens in following stages:

1. A roofing sales person claims to be a hail expert and finds a neighborhood that was never really exposed to hail damage, or was exposed to hail that did not caused damages.  The sales person knocks on a door and claims to be a roofing expert, explaining to the homeowner / insured that they were exposed to hail and that they have damages on their roof.  The roofing sales person then offers the homeowner a new roof at NO COST, but only if he can inspect their roof right away and usually before the insurer is even notified of any potential claim.
2. The roofing sales person then works to smooth out any skepticism the property owner has by explaining the various values of a new roof in relation to property value.  Homeowners catch on to the concept that they could end up with a new roof at no cost and it takes little convincing that hail may have fallen and damaged their roof when they weren’t aware.
3. The salesman convinces the homeowner that they need to conduct a brief roof inspection to see the hail damages.
4. The salesman pushes the homeowner to sign a “contingency agreement”, although usually unenforceable by law.
5. The roofing sales person gives the property owner incentives to “spread the word” (neighboritis) by offering $500.00, $1,000.00 and larger referrals if neighbors sign on for their roof at no cost.
6. In the worst case scenario, the roofing salesman tells a story of his or her working with neighbor John Doe on his roof for hail related damages; all of which are a result of only having a contingency agreement.
7. One or two inexperienced property insurers pay for roof replacement when it was completely not necessary or by having mistaken mechanical damages for those caused by hail, thereby initiating one roofing salesman to claim that other roofs were replaced because of hail damage.  In extreme circumstances, a roofing company may have been hired outside of an insurance settlement to replace an aged roof and the same company comes back several months later, after hail occurred in a remote area, advertising that a nearby neighbor had their roof replaced (not indicating why) and thereby starting a frenzy in the area.

As you can imagine, the question has and continues to remain about what happens when said roofing salesperson is up on the that roof with no supervision? What is the viewpoint of a profitable insurance adjusting company on neighboritis?

Eight years ago I was on a roof with a roofing salesman named Mike who would bend down towards the shingles every time I turned around to take a photo or put my eye up to the viewfinder.  I couldn’t help but notice the little yellow lighter Mike was clutching from the corner of my eye.  Just as I suspected he was making his own damages hoping I would mistake them as those caused by hail.  Mike wasn’t the first nor the last but these salesman have wised up to creating false damages in front on insurance claim professionals.  Since then I’ve personally witnessed and documents familiar conditions on 8 other occasions; most of which occurred prior to the times we were expected to meet for a survey.

So, to answer the question of what could happen when a roofing sales person is on a roof with no supervision or oversight – let’s just say the potential for mechanical damages not caused by hail exists.  Neighboritis is a deceiving tactic used by roofing sales persons and companies to extract money for claims that do not legitimately exist.

Neighboritis can be prevented with awareness.  One way to help prevent this condition is for insurers to notify their clients in high-hail areas that roofing salesmen are out and to be aware of their sales-roof inspection tactics.  The general population in hail and storm chasing contractor areas can get used to the idea of joint roofing surveys prior to allowing a financially motivated roofing salesman on a roof.

What do you think about changing the ways that insurers and property owners work with roofing companies?  We’d love to hear your input – leave a comment!

Our Denver insurance claim services office has taken notice to the rapidly evolving concept that, at least in Colorado, there has been an immense growth in the number of “hail damage” roofing and exterior structure component related businesses over the last few years.  Unfortunately we can’t speak for everyone but some of our colleagues in the area contribute this increase is a direct result of population growth in Colorado over the same time line.  A quick glance on Google’s Public Data chart shows a massive 5.93% population growth rate from 2005 to 2008 for Colorado, but we also note other states have seen a notable increase in contractors while population declines.  We assume Denver to be the highest concentrated advertisement area for these hail damage and roofing related businesses and note it’s population also grew at an astounding 5.89% for the same period.

We know that population growth was evident throughout the area but does that mean the number of roofs in the area grew so rapidly that it caused a major and rapid amplification in the number of roofing businesses?  What about the number of roofing businesses that claim to specialize in hail or wind related damages?  While we’re working on compiling data about the actual number of roofing related businesses (read as businesses with “roofing” or “hail” in their name), several questions remain about the legitimacy of these companies advertising themselves as insurance adjusters, experts, or having public adjusters operating out of the same offices.  Some have even gone as far to say they have independent adjusters on staff, or that they have public adjusters waiting to prove the need for their often excessive costs of $600 per square foot on regular 3 tab asphalt composition residential roofing.

What do you think of these roofing related businesses? Assuming all of the damages were legitimate – are the costs that some of these companies associate with them? Read more…