Messages posted by: wcolton

I'm with Nathan on this one.

Winterization is a General Liability exposure. In most cases it is better to provide the coverage by way of another policy. $500 is a minimum premium standard for many insurance companies and I believe winterization to be a greater General liability exposure than full Home Inspection.

The issue your E&O providers will run into with a rider is how that rider can be tied to E&O, which will increase your claim exposure.

Long story short, Winterization is best written separately. it is the most cost and coverage effective way of doing it.

I will work on finding a separate policy that is affordable, so that inspectors don't have to chase multiple sources for their needs.

Russ

I completely understand your frustration and this scenario has also been a frustration for me as an agent at times. A current benefit of your policy is Pre-claims assistance. This provides guidance and response letter assistance prior to many situations needing to be an actual claim. Our policy and carrier have a very aggressive claims philosophy and settlement is not something we rush into doing. I can promise you that there are many cases where it makes sense for all parties involved though.

This is a very complicated discussion. The truth is insurance regulation, insured responsibility, and many other factors play into the way the claims process is handled. There are many situations that can definitely be handled without a claim needing to be opened. The scariest part is many inspectors are not as capable of handling these situations as well as you have handled the mentioned situation and we have had cases where handling them without the involvement of the adjuster and claims department has increased the severity of the claim and the defense of the inspector. Not to mention, acting without reporting can affect your coverage.

My advice to my clients is to ALWAYS contact me to discuss. This doesn't open a claim and protects you if the situation becomes a claim or already should be one. I believe my insurance carrier and claims department continue to improve in the handling of claims and the dismissal of frivolous claims. I have also discovered that many inspectors continue to improve their risk management habits.

To keep things simple, here are a few keys to live by:

1. GET YOUR CONTRACT SIGNED 100% of the time
-Yes this applies to clients who arent at inspection (i.e. - out of state buyers, investors, etc.). in todays world, electronic signature of simple confirmation and agreement by email is easy
-Make sure your contract contains some type of limitation of liability
-Get your contract regularly reviewed by legal counsel (every few years)
2. Take a ton of Pictures-I always get harassed for this one, but take a ton. not just of problem areas or of things included in the report, but of the entire house. i can site mulitple situations where pictures indemnified the inspector
3. Communicate Professionally in potential claims situations - NEVER ADMIT RESPONSIBILITY OR FAULT in an E&O claim situation.
4. Contact your Agentt-Discuss ALL potential problems with your Agent
5. Understand the value of your Time and Referring Relationships - sometimes it will make a ton of sense to refund an inspection fee or simply take care of a minor situation, especially when it is a valuable Realtor or other referring relationship. In the inspector world, your time is your money.
6. Release of Liability - if you ever offer a refund or other monetary solution, GET A RELEASE SIGNED. If you dont have one, email me and I will send a few sample forms.

I hope all this helps

This is Great Stuff Guys.

as an insurance provider, i would love to diversify my business with some of these additional offerings and believe that many of them will be added in the future. I hope to soon have available and option for short term Disability, workers comp, GL for some additional outside the box services like winterization and larger amounts for equipment. The auto wrap coverage may be a difficult one, because it will require a commercial auto policy which many inspectors will unlikely want because of additional expense. It will work great for the larger operations with a fleet of vehicles, but will be very expensive for the one man operations.

Workers comp is definitely a challenge because they are basically classifying you currently as roofers, but i promise I am working on something and hope to have success in getting a decent rate per inspector.

Eric

You can already get tools and equipment coverage up to 10,000 in coverage on our policy. Email or call me for specifics.

Alright. I need your advice on what you believe you are missing from a coverage standpoint? How can the insurance providers in the industry improve on their already coverage specific offerings?

At InspectorPRO, we already feel like we are offering a superior product. I want your opinions on how to make it better and what else is missing related to insurance or any other item in your business?

----Don't tell me you want coverage cheaper or for Free. All insurance agents already know their clients want more for less.

I'm referring to additional coverage and offerings that are under-serviced in the Inspection World: Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Workers Comp, additional types of inspections and services that you don't currently have coverage for? How can Customer Service improve and Education of what your really buying be delivered better?

I know...lots of questions and ideas already. Being the best option isnt enough. Even the Best need to continue to improve.

GO

....

and as always, if you havent already gotten a quote for the best coverage in the industry for the best Price....https://www.inspectorproinsurance.com/application/?c=wcolton

Heres one:

Controlled Dangerous Substances Exclusion: The Client understands that this home inspection is not intended to discover or disclose whether any system or component of the Property has been affected by the illegal or legal manufacture, distribution, storage, possession or sale of any controlled dangerous substances, including, but not limited to, methamphetamine and/or Marijuana, and including any and all chemicals, tools, household fixtures or appliances used to facilitate such activities, and the Client further understands that the Company cannot determine whether any environmental hazards exist at the Property resulting from any activities related to any controlled dangerous substances.

Very Well Nathan.

I will see if I can get some verbiage and specifics from someone much more qualified than myself and post it here for all to have access to.

as a Side Note: what precautions have you taken in your reporting and especially your inspection Contracts to limit your liability in these situation. For those of you in states where MJ is now legal, I believe you should especially seek legal guidance in making additions to your contracts.

The environmental exposure created from a cannabis grow room is minimal in comparison to a Meth lab situation, but the issues that can be created from a grow room as far as Mold and other issues are huge. We have not had any major claims related to this situation, but I anticipate their will be complaints and frivolous lawsuits from clients coming in the future and sophisticated risk management will help us to tell these clients making frivoulous demands outside the scope of inspection to Pound Sand!

I believe you should add "distinguished" to Russ' designation