Does Your Reinstatement Contractor Really Know The Insurance Market?
Building restoration contractors are unlike any other general building contractor. Building restoration is a business that requires very specialist skills and knowledge. Insurance repair companies are a breed apart from the general building industry, for good reasons. It is absolutely a niche sector within the building trade, with different rules and guidelines that every professional restoration company should know how to follow.
Building restoration companies have to satisfy two key ‘customers’ and ensure that they reinstate a building back to its condition before the fire damage or water damage took place. The insurance repair quotes have to reflect that the property will be reinstated with what is called ‘no betterment’ so the insurance companies are paying the right amount to reinstate, not improve, the property to the condition it was in before. All parties have to remember that the insurer is paying the reinstatement insurance bill, not the property owner, so they have different motivations. Professional building reinstatement companies are well aware of this and fully understand how to satisfy both parties.
For commercial insurance reinstatement claims, the insurer will not pay the VAT element. The client has to pay this government tax, not the insurance company. Confusion over VAT and other industry processes can lead to a difficult experience unless the policyholder and the building restoration contractor are familiar with how this niche reinstatement industry works. Having an already experienced reinstatement contractor that understands all these processes will lead to a simpler, easier and faster reinstatement project.
Any experienced insurance repair contractor will almost certainly already have good relationships with insurance loss adjusters and surveyors. This builds trust between the reinstatement contractor and the loss adjusters which greatly helps the smooth running of any reinstatement project. This helps reinstatement contractors to negotiate on behalf of the insured when it comes to any unforeseen expenses or variation in costs as the project unfolds. Loss adjusters know who they trust and who they have worked with before so professional, ethical reinstatement companies will always get the balance right for both the property owner as well as the insurance company paying the bill.
Another consideration is that payment terms can be extended beyond the expectations of normal building contractors. Insurance reinstatement companies will be familiar with the approval and signing off process on insurance repair projects. They will understand that due process has to take place before they receive their final payments. Not many general building companies understand this or are prepared to wait for the insurance companies to settle the accounts and this can cause problems during the final stages of a project.
Another issue is the understanding of insurance excess deductions. With many policies, an insurance excess is negotiated and agreed at the policy outset. Of course the amount of excess previously agreed affects the cost of the policy premiums and any reinstatement company will be aware of the procedures to be followed in collecting the excess element from the policy holders. This will be deducted from any settlement figure from the insurance company.
In all cases, the policyholders need to be absolutely clear what building reinstatement repairs the insurer is agreeing to and what they are prepared to authorise before reinstatement work commences. Policyholder should ensure that they create a full audit trail of all correspondence relating to any building reinstatement project so every step of the process and agreement is recorded and agreed so there are no surprises during the process.
Fire Damage Claims
Fire damage claims and repairs are notoriously difficult for inexperienced property owners and building contractors to manage properly. It is common for inexperienced participants not to understand the importance of a full decontamination and soot seal process prior to the actual building reinstatement itself. Repairs can often proceed without decontamination and become finalised only to find that are still fire odours within the property. This is usually because they've not fully appreciated what is required during the decontamination process and they left pockets of smoke residue in unseen places.
Guarantees
A reputable insurance contractor that wants to maintain a reputation will offer a guarantee on their workmanship and will face any problems arising after the job has been completed and paid, with understanding and a determination to ensure the property owners and insurance companies are satisfied that the job is well done to a high standard.
Based in Central Scotland, Paradigm Reinstatements is one of the UK’s leading building reinstatement companies with an excellent reputation with insurance companies and loss adjusters. As a result Paradigm is a top choice for insurance companies looking for a trustworthy, professional and expert building reinstatement contractor.
