Orion Restoration Blog

Do I Have To Use My Insurance Companies Prefered Vendor?

  

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Do I Have To Use My Insurance Companies Prefered Vendor?

You are not required to use your insurance companies preferred vendor! You as a homeowner, have the ability to do the work yourself, hire the work out to another contractor or use a preferred vendor.  Some insurance companies or insurance agents will imply that you have to use one of their vendors.  They might say that their preferred vendors are better because:

Myth: They can control what they do. 

Fact: Which is not true! If you have a problem there is nothing they can do except threaten them just like any other vendor.

Myth: They carry the appropriate insurance.

Fact:  All professional contractors should carry the correct insurance for the size of the jobs and the type of work they do and a good contractor will actually carry umbrellas and side policies for specialty work. 

Myth: They charge the correct amount and if your contractor charges more you will be responsible for the extra charges. 

Fact: Every contractor that works in the insurance business uses Xactimate as a pricing system and should be able to give a professional estimate in a reasonable amount of time. 

Myth: They are properly trained.

Fact:  Everybody sends their guys to get IICRC Certified and all good restoration companies will have all their lead guys certified and most will have all their technicians certified or in a training program working to become certified. 

Myth:  They have to respond in 2 hours per the program.

Fact: We all should respond in 2 hours, however if there is a catastrophe all insurance companies will take care of the agents that give them business all year and good restoration companies have Disaster Response Programs in place to take care of companies and agents actively refer them and handle their business all year. 

Myth: They all Drive Pretty Green Trucks

Fact: The local guy around me should probably wash his trucks a little more, however a professional image is always a plus. All Companies should take the time to make sure their guys have a professional image. 

In reality insurance companies do like to use their preferred vendors! It saves them money and they carry extra insurance to protect them.  However, most  franchises are just like any local contractor.  There are some great contractors and there are some horrible contractors. If there is a local contractor that is a one stop shop, your job will go much easier. However, this can be a double edged sword.  Most contractors in the restoration industry have a general background in something.  A lot of restoration contractors are from the carpet cleaning industry and then there are contractors from the Construction Industry. So, if your needs are to get a little water cleaned out of the house, a carpet cleaner would be fine, however if you have a large loss that requires a lot of reconstruction then I would go with the Best Construction contractor around.  I mean one that can really build something not just put a band aid on it. 

We all use the same estimating system Xactimate and charge the same thing! So if you can get the contractor that built the home above to repair your mansion why would you ever choose the contractor that built the house below? 

So, the bottom line is, use the best possible contractor in your area. Orion Restoration  serves all Metro Atlanta and South Atlanta all the way to Macon and would love to help anybody with water damage, Fire Damage, Mold and Commercial and Residential Construction.  We are a one stop shop where customer service matters!