by Guest » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:39 am
I have hail damage. My deductible is almost 3K with depreciation, the contractor offered to submit one claim for the amount of damage equal to what I will receive for my claim, then give me a lower estimate because I don't have the 3k for the deductible. Is this fraud? Could I be prosecuted? Should I choose another contractor? Help, I don't want to go to jail!
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 03:00 am Post Subject:
I want to say TX and OK my have % deductibles, but I'm not sure. I know that some condo master policies have them for hail.
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:04 am Post Subject:
Dasfuk, on all the percent deductibles I've ever seen they have always been 'peril' specific....do you agree. or have you ever seen one (basic ho) that had a straight percentage (not peril specific).? I have not, but certainly doesn't mean it doesn't happen in some state.
Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 01:09 am Post Subject:
I would agree. The only perils that I have seen with % deductibles is hail and hurricane. And I'm not really sure about OK and TX, but I thought I had read that some homeowners have % deductibles in those states due to houses being hit with large hail every year. I know with the condo master policies that % deductible were put in place by some carriers due to large exposures. I handled a number of large condo assoc. a few years back with some of them getting close to 7 figures. Thats a lot of money for hail damage.
But yes, there are quite a few hail damage fraud claims today!
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 01:13 pm Post Subject:
I have hail damage. My deductible is almost 3K with depreciation, the contractor offered to submit one claim for the amount of damage equal to what I will receive for my claim, then give me a lower estimate because I don't have the 3k for the deductible. Is this fraud? Could I be prosecuted? Should I choose another contractor? Help, I don't want to go to jail!
First, before over-reacting or assuming it to be a hail damage fraud , we would need to know if the contractor offered the *Same* repair for two different prices.
OR
Calculated the repair cost of complete repairs for your Insurance Claim. Then calculated the cost of an *incomplete* repair that you could afford.
Fred,
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 01:19 pm Post Subject:
the contractor offered to submit one claim for the amount of damage equal to what I will receive for my claim, then give me a lower estimate because I don't have the 3k for the deductible
I'm taking this that contractor is going to provide an inflated bill to the OP's insurer to cover the 3k, then give the OP an estimate/do the work for a lesser amount thus the OP not paying their deduct/depreciation...THIS IS FRAUD, no matter how you color it...Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 01:30 pm Post Subject:
I have to agree here and if you get caught there would probaly be a higher price to pay later.
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 02:38 pm Post Subject:
Yes... Lori & fireyone, most everyone in this Thread *assumed* the worst. Its always a crooked contractor..!!
So to add a little balance... I Post:
First before over-reacting, we would need to know if the contractor offered the *Same* repair for two different prices.
OR
Calculated the repair cost of complete repairs for your Insurance Claim. Then calculated the cost of an *incomplete* repair that you could afford.
If you'll notice, I didn't make a Judgment. My thought was, is this a Crook, or an Honest Contractor trying to help someone that's in a bind from being short needed funds to fully repair their property?? Hmmmm, maybe it would be best to clarify a point before commenting negatively. So I did, and I'm still waiting for a response from the OP before proceeding.
To me it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Fred,
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:55 pm Post Subject:
Allow me to break it down for you Fred...
the contractor offered to submit one claim for the amount of damage equal to what I will receive for my claim
,then give me a lower estimate because I don't have the 3k for the deductible
If the contractor where going to give the OP one bid to present to the insurance carrier, then ANOTHER one BECAUSE they don't have their deductible...I think it's pretty clear..what is going on...also there is another thread that is similar in nature saying, a contractor offered to not complete 'tear off' that they were paid to do, in order to save the insured deductible....were the contractor simply not completing some of the work that too could be fraud assuming the mortgagee is also on the draft...also sincerely doubt it would've been spelled out with the key words above...Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 02:34 am Post Subject:
Lori,
I'm still going to wait for a response from the OP to clarify. But in the mean time, lets look even closer at the OP's words. To me the OP seems a little confused.
the contractor offered to submit one claim for the amount of damage equal to what I will receive for my claim
A contractor writes an estimate for what they believe the complete repairs will cost. Not submit a Claim?? (unless its the contractor's house)
Isn't the amount the OP will receive equal to the estimate less the deductible? So no matter what the contractor writes, (within reason) won't it be equal to what the OP will receive?
then give me a lower estimate because I don't have the 3k for the deductible
As a repairer, Deductibles are not collected, payment in full is what's collected. They get paid for what they do. If they do less they get paid less.
A Deductible is something *insurers* and *insured's* agree upon when the Sell/Buy coverage. The repairer is not a part of this contract between the consumer and insurer.
So as a repairer why should they care how or from whom the homeowner gets the Money to pay the full repair bill?
When a consumer can not afford a full and proper repair, (for whatever reason) and request a lesser repair in a price range they can afford.... And a repairer agrees to do as good of an repair that they can with what the consumer will pay....... where if the FRAUD??
So in my simple little mind, until the OP clarifies if the contractor is offering to do the same Complete, Quality repair for two different prices or not... Should the contractor be painted with that big bad Broad brush??
FK,
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 05:18 am Post Subject:
Going back to the % deductibles.
Texas does have the option of % deductibles. Most carriers do offer a $500, $1,000 and then percents. The standard home deductible in Texas is 1%. Less will generally be surcharged and more will be discounted. We do have seperate deductibles with one being Windstorm, Hurricane and Hail and the other being "All others".
Within the last few years, Texas has also introduced another deductible for "Tropical Cyclones". This deductible applies to any "named" storm such as hurricane or tropical storms. You generally see this deductible in the first 3 counties from the coast. After Katrina, some carriers are requiring 2% for the tropical cyclone deductible. Mortgage companies will usually require no more than 1% deductibles and are now slowly allowing 2% for the tropical cyclone deductible.
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