Preferred Vendors vs. Independent Contractors
In this article we will explore two types of contractos that can be hired for your restoration project, Preferred Vendors and Independent Contractors. It’s YOUR choice who you hire, YOU can select your own contractor. Be wary of Preferred Vendors that operate within the insurance companies trust, often times limiting the amount of your claim, resulting in a sub-par restoration and costing you more in the long run.
Insurance Preferred Vendor
An insurance preferred vendor has a special agreement with the insurance company to work at discounted prices, in return for future work. This arrangement can create a conflict of interest and lack of trust.
Who Do Preferred Vendors Work For?
The preferred vendors have a loyalty to the insurance company. Their goal is to reduce costs for the insurance company in return for promised additional work. Their scope of work is dictated by the insurance company’s expectation.
Independent Restoration Contractor
An independent contractor works for the policy holder, not the insurance company. They are not influenced by the insurance company’s practices or opinions on cost. They are objective and do whatever is necessary to get the job done correctly, the first time.
Who Do the Independent Restoration Contractors Work For?
They work for you, the policy holder, plain and simple. Their loyalty is to the customer and their goal is to return the property to it’s pre-loss condition at a fair cost. The scope of work is dictated by data, science and IICRC standards, not the insurance company. Property conditions and building materials are always taken into consideration. The amount of drying time is determined by moisture readings.
Preferred Vendor Programs
Should I Use a Preferred Vendor?
While it may be tempting to use an insurance company’s preferred vendor – who do they really work for? You or the insurance company? What are they most concerned about? Returning your structure to a pre-loss condition? Or their relationship with the insurance company in order to get more job referrals?
Can I Choose My Own Contractor?
Yes, you can choose your own restoration contractor. A qualified independent contractor will provide everything the insurance company needs but their loyalties are to the property owner. A competent restoration contractor will document the damage, provide a scope of work, test results. Dryman Restoration handles everything for the policy holder, and meets with your adjuster to go over every step of the process.
Why do Insurance Companies have Preferred Vendor Programs?
The insurance company keeps a preferred vendor program simply to save money. On average, claims double, triple or even quadruple once an independent and competent restorer is on the project. Only because they have the skill and experience to find all the damages and the resolve that the preferred vendor lacks to bring them to the carriers attention.
Isn’t That a Conflict of Interest?
These preferred vendors operate on within the insurance companies trust and in exchange, control the amount of the loss. It is not a contractors job to ensure profitability for an insurance company. It is their job to find all of the required work to make the insured whole and represent it fairly to the carrier. So, who does the preferred vendor really work for?
Is drying time really only three days?
So your insurance company is saying your structure will be dry in three days. The problem? Insurance companies use a preset formula to determine how much equipment and how many days they will “allow” a structure to be dried. If you are using a preferred vendor they will be required to follow this protocol. The amount of drying time is determined only by monitoring the moisture content of the materials and advanced testing. Again, this is where an independent contractor will be able to show the data and act accordingly.
Improperly dried structures are hazardous to health hazards of mold are far reaching and a structure that develops mold growth will need to be repaired to maintain property value.