Following a violent storm or
tornado, home owners are left to pick up the pieces and find ways to put
their homes back together. And insurance executives and legislators are
warning storm victims to beware of contractors who try to get home
owners to sign costly contracts before the insurance adjusters arrive.
These insurance executives are being dubbed “storm chasers” or “storm
scammers,” who offer quick, costly deals to desperate home owners, USA
Today reports.
Several states are considering or already have passed legislation to
prevent these “storm scammers” from duping vulnerable home owners
following a storm. For example, Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill
that would “void repair contracts signed when the contractor represents
himself as working for an insurance company, promises to rebate a
deductible, or fails to give customers a disclosure about how to cancel
the contract,” the USA Today reports. Lawmakers also recently added a
provision for consideration to make it so that such contractors can be
prosecuted under consumer fraud law. Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois,
Missouri, and South Dakota have already passed similar bills to protect
home owners after storms.
"There are some very good contractors who set up their businesses to
be able to respond to storms, but there are good ways to do it and bad
ways to do it," Bill Good, executive vice president of the National
Roofing Contractors Association, told USA Today.
To help safeguard against being scammed, home owners need to make
sure the contractor is licensed in the state (if it’s required in their
state) and not sign any documents that authorize a contractor to
negotiate directly with their insurance company, Good says.
Source: “States Fight Back on Shady ‘Storm Chaser’ Contractors,” USA Today (April 16, 2012)
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