The Best Insurance Claims Response for Contractors

David Princeton of Advocate Claim Service joined us for The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100. He had this piece of advice for contractors working in the complex world of restoring homes during an insurance claim.

The best thing a contractor can do is not tell somebody what they think. The best thing a contractor can do is ask strategic questions to reveal what the other person is thinking.

When asked by host Jon Isaacson, David elaborated that the contractor should always use questions to discover what their customer and the insurance carrier know or understand about the loss. The customer has important details about the loss occurrence to bring to the claims process. The carrier has important details about the terms of the policy to bring to the claims process. 

All I all I do is I ask the strategic questions that I can anticipate answers to, but I want to understand what they know.

Whether a claim is adversarial or not, the contractor should first listen and seek to understand what the other parties understand so that they can respond appropriately. 

​It's not important if I know it. I want to know what they know. And I want them to explain to me what they know. And then I want to ask follow up questions about what they've explained to me so that I'm understanding

The reader can hear more of this conversation with David Princeton and author Bill Wilson on The DYOJO Podcast Episode 100. The topics on this episode include matching materials for insurance claims repairs and the role of public adjusters in the claims process.