Transcript…

Time: 0:00  

What is up, rebels? Mr. McCabe here. Hey, I want to get together next year. And I’m thinking, Boulder, Colorado because that seems to be our theme for the last two years or three years, whatever it is. 

I want to tell you a story though. 

I had a phone call today and an appraisal meeting today. Me, the umpire, and the opposing.

This file was sent to appraisal by Safeco in June. Safeco did not like one of our members. He’s a member of OUR group in Camas, Washington. Safeco didn’t like their mitigation bill $15,000. 

The gist of it was seven days of stabilization while they’re waiting for asbestos results, and four days of drying. $15,000 worth of demo that was done. Not an unreasonable amount. 

So it goes to appraisal. I get called in. I charge the homeowner 2500 bucks or so. Six months later, I’m still dealing with these Yahoos. And today, guess what we decided? We decided that the original $15,000 was reasonable. 

Shocker (Yes, that is sarcasm). 

The mitigation estimate I came up with (based on the information given to me) was $33,000. But here’s the kicker… neither the umpire NOR the opposing appraiser wanted anything to do with my number. And this is why this industry drives me to drink. 

I get SO angry because of the injustice level and the unfairness. Here’s an insured. They don’t know anything except for they’re pretty sure they don’t want to go with the vendor that Safeco recommended. So they go find their own vendor. They find a quality vendor. He knows what he’s doing. A guy that documents the hell out of his shit. A guy that’s in THIS group. 

He does a bang up job. Not ONLY does he do the mitigation and not get paid for it. He does the repairs. And they’re beautiful. He hasn’t been paid yet. But here we are SIX MONTHS later in the appraisal process. And all Safeco is going to have to pay is the ORIGINAL invoice of 15 grand. The homeowner is OUT. The restoration guy is OUT. He’s had to wait on this money. You know this is dead money to him at this point. Not only did we decide that $15,000 was the right number. The panel (not me) decided that there was “no additional accommodations to be made for my fees.” 

This is what’s wrong with the industry today. The fox is guarding the henhouse. The insurance companies are buying lawyers and buying judges and buying legislators and lobbying and submitting legislation for their own purposes. Who’s doing it for US? Nobody. Yeah, talk to me about the IGA layer. Alright, DM me. Here’s the bottom line. The only way this is going to change is if we come together and we act as one.

Time: 3:59  

The MINUTE someone goes across the line and says, “Oh, I had a friend who was an adjuster who asked me to give him a number” we’re all in trouble. Don’t give that number. Don’t be the pet contractor. Don’t give these comp bids. Your contractor, not a consultant. You’re not a building consultant. You’re not an adjuster.

I know you got friends in the industry. They aren’t all bad people. I get that. I understand that. But the bottom line is this: a carrier is NOT here to make people whole. The carrier is here to make money.

Stop giving comp bids. Don’t do it ever again. And here’s the reason I want you to give to the adjusters. So here’s what I want you to tell the next adjuster that calls you. He’ll say, “I got this crazy contractor that’s giving me wild numbers. I need you to come give me a comp bit.” I want you to tell them that you’re NOT an adjuster, and you’re NOT a claims consultant. You’re a contractor. 

If the insurance company wants to hire you to do that work, you’re more than happy to come give them a number. Otherwise, shut the fuck up and get out of my face. Contractors that give comp bids are eroding the credibility and power of EVERYONE else in this industry. 

So stop doing it. I understand WHY you did it. I want you to STOP RIGHT NOW. 

All right. Can we agree on that? 

I get so emotionally involved in every claim that I’m in. Because I understand at a deep level that the vast majority of my clients cannot afford to have this loss. The vast majority of my clients would not rebuild. If they didn’t have insurance, they would move away (and that happens from time to time).

We can do better. But we can ONLY do it TOGETHER. We can ONLY do it RIGHT HERE. So let’s start RIGHT HERE in the Restoration Rebels Facebook Page. Let’s start here. 

But let’s not let it stop here. Continue it on. 

Hey, I came up with a new logo. Alright, new logo for the Rebels. Love it, hate it. I don’t know, whatever. But if you like the rebels and what we stand for, change your Facebook profile, your LinkedIn profile to the logo. Let’s make a statement. Even if it’s for the next three weeks, through December, change back to normal in January. I don’t care. We need to send a signal that we are not blind to what’s happening in this industry EVERY SINGLE DAY. And we’re NOT okay with it. Can you do that? I hope we can. 

Hope you’re doing well. Have a great day and go get them. 

Make it happen.

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