Is your position defensible or are you just being defensive? 

Our guest Brendon Rumsey, Rumsey Construction & Restoration (South Carolina) joins us to discuss some of his experiences with getting into property restoration (insurance claims), collaborating with local contractors, and learning to defend your pathway to profitability as a contractor. 

IN THIS EPISODE:
0:00 An odd way to start
2:23 A rooftop confrontation with State Farm
12:18 From rooftops to water damage mitigation
16:47 Water damage symposium in Washington
18:21 On the verge of bankruptcy
23:31 Connecting locally with national resources 


#contractor #insurance #claims #podcast 

Contractors face many challenges. Friend of the show, Michelle Blevins, returns for Episode 102 of The DYOJO Podcast to discuss some creative ways employers and managers can better engage their community as they build a local brand. Michelle discusses authentic leadership, the importance of marketing TO the team as consistently as one markets to clients, and the unique opportunity to join with other restoration contractors for Restoring Kindness during the month of May. ​

In Episode 101 of The DYOJO Podcast, we will discuss some of the good, the bad, and the ugly of program work and the insurance claims emergency services and repairs process.

• Some contractors love program work and set up their businesses to attempt to thrive in this revenue stream.
• Some contractors hate third-party administrators and do everything in their power to avoid anything resembling a TPA agreement.
• Many contractors have questions about preferred vendor programs and who they can best utilize this resource.

Thursdays are for The DYOJO Podcast - Helping contractors shorten their DANG learning curve.

Any classic loss is gonna at least involve three people, what we refer to in How To Suck Less At Estimating as The Restoration Triangle. 
​

• The policyholder, the one who suffered the loss
• The contractor, the person that's going to fix it 
• The insurance company and their representatives 

As David Princeton, guest for The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100 says, "At a minimum, those are the three those are the three people that have to be involved in the claims process." 

As The DYOJO wrote about previously in Cleaning and Restoration (C&R) Magazine, 

​Throughout his career, Pete Consigli, The Global Restoration Watchdog, trained restorers to value the Restoration Triangle. Each party brings something unique to the table that should be heard and referenced as the agreed-upon scope is established:

• The insured (who’s damaged) has a unique perspective on the pre-loss conditions and the extent of the loss.
• The carrier representative (who’s payin’ for it) has a unique perspective regarding the details of the policy and the responsibility of the carrier with regards to the source and extent of damages—as well as any relevant exclusions.
• The contractor (who’s fixin’ it) has a unique perspective on the means, methods, and material costs that will be relevant to establishing an agreed-upon scope of work to restore the structure.

Pete reminds stakeholders,

The DYOJO wrote about contractors and insurance carriers working together from the same site documentation in Property Casualty 360 Magazine on the topic of ​Expediting Claims Processing. 
​
The goal or standard of claims processing is to create an agreed-upon scope of work to restore the damaged structure to resemble its pre-loss condition with materials of like kind and quality. I believe 360-degree capture tools will continue to improve and provide a valuable resource to all parties of a claim. If we want to arrive at an expedited, agreed-upon scope of work that is as accurate and thorough as possible, everyone in the claims chain will benefit from having access to the same information.

​Increased capacity while simultaneously elevating data capture and collaboration opportunities would seem to be reason enough for 360-degree capture integration in the claims process. For those who are reviewing the claim remotely, ask whether the company you are working with will share their virtual walkthrough. If there is a claims question, it will be helpful to access one of these resources so that carrier, contractor, and insured (the Restoration Triangle) can virtually access the three-dimensional capture of the affected area. I hope that carriers and contractors will see the value in the utilization and sharing of these resources.

This content was adapted from The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100 "Matching Materials for Insurance Claims" with David Princeton and Bill Wilson.