The promise this trade makes that it has no authority to make
Insurance and your claim
Somebody will stand in your hallway tonight and tell you that your insurance will cover this. They cannot know that. Here is who actually decides, what we do and do not do about it, and the two offers you should refuse even when they sound like generosity.
We document your loss. We do not decide your claim. We cannot tell you what your insurer will pay, and neither can anybody else holding a moisture meter. Coverage is decided by your policy and your insurer's adjuster, not by your contractor, and a restoration company that tells you on the doorstep that you are covered is guessing with your money. What we can do is document the loss properly — photographs, moisture readings, a written scope, daily drying logs — so that whoever decides has something real to decide from. We will attend the adjuster's inspection and answer any question put to us. What we will not do is negotiate your settlement for you: in New York, a contractor who negotiates a claim on your behalf is acting as a public adjuster and must be licensed by the Department of Financial Services. We are not, so we do not, and we charge you nothing for dealing with your insurer.
Three parties, and only one of them decides
After a loss there are three people with opinions about what your insurer will pay, and it is worth being precise about which of them has any authority.
Your insurer's adjuster decides. They apply the wording of your policy to the facts of your loss, and their decision is the one that produces money. You can dispute that decision, appeal it, and — if you want somebody arguing it professionally — appoint a licensed public adjuster to do it on your behalf. Your contractor, which is us, has no authority whatsoever. We can describe what we found, what we did and what it cost, in a form that is hard to argue with. That is the whole of our role and it is genuinely useful. It is not a decision.
So when a restoration company tells you on the doorstep that you are covered, one of two things is happening. Either they are guessing about a document they have not read, or they are saying whatever gets a signature at eleven at night. Neither is a reason to hire anybody.
Why we document but do not negotiate
This is a legal line rather than a stylistic one. In New York, a person or company that negotiates the settlement of an insurance claim on behalf of the insured is acting as a public adjuster, and that role is licensed by the Department of Financial Services. A contractor who does not negotiate with the insurer, and who charges the insured no fee for dealing with them, does not need that licence.
We are firmly in the second category and we intend to remain there. We will photograph everything before it is moved, write a scope that says what we will do and what it costs, take moisture readings at marked points every day and date them, log the equipment, and be on site when the adjuster inspects so that any question about what we found gets answered by the person who found it. What we will not do is telephone your insurer to argue about the number.
If your claim needs somebody to argue it, the honest answer is that you want a licensed public adjuster, not a contractor with opinions. We will tell you that, and we have no financial interest in whether you take the advice.
The deductible, which is not a discount
Somebody may offer to make your deductible disappear — to waive it, absorb it, discount it, or credit it against the work. It is worth understanding exactly what is being proposed, because it is not a favour and it is not a marketing gimmick.
The arithmetic only works one way. If your deductible is a thousand dollars and the contractor genuinely absorbs it, they are a thousand dollars down. They are not. What actually happens is that the invoice sent to your insurer is inflated by roughly that amount, so that the insurer pays the deductible without knowing it. That invoice is a false statement made to an insurer, which in New York is insurance fraud under the Penal Law, and the Department of Financial Services has published exactly that position. Your signature is on the paperwork.
So the offer is not "we will absorb your deductible". The offer is "let us commit a crime together, using your name, on a document you will sign". And the contractor is telling you, before any work has started, that they are comfortable sending your insurer an invoice that is not true — which is a useful thing to know about somebody you are about to give keys to.
Nobody here will waive your deductible. We will not waive your deductible, absorb it, discount it, rebate it, or find a creative way to make it disappear. In New York, a contractor who covers a policyholder's deductible and bills the insurer as though it had been paid is committing insurance fraud under Penal Law 176.05, and so is the policyholder who agrees to it. The Department of Financial Services has said so in terms. When somebody offers to make your deductible go away, they are not doing you a favour: they are asking you to commit a crime that is much easier to prove against you than against them, and they are telling you in advance that the invoice they send your insurer will not be true.
What we actually hand you
The documentation, item by item
Photographs before anything moves
Taken on the first visit, before the first machine runs. Once the water is out it cannot be photographed, and this is the record an adjuster works from.
A written scope with prices
What we will do, what it costs, and where the price could move — on one page, before we start, rather than as a total afterwards.
Daily dated moisture readings
Same marked points, same instrument, against a reference from an unaffected area. This is what answers "why was the equipment there for six days".
An equipment log
What was on site, from when to when. Machines come off the log the day they stop earning their place.
A written salvage assessment
Item by item for anything significant: cleanable, restorable, or replace. Before money is spent, not after.
Completion photographs and readings
The condition at handover and the readings that closed the file. Your copy arrives whether or not you claim.
Two offers to refuse
What not to sign, and what not to accept
Both of these arrive in the first hours, from people who are being extremely nice to you, at a point when you are not at your best. That is not an accident; it is the business model.
- An assignment of benefitsA form that transfers your claim to the contractor. They then deal with your insurer directly and you lose control of a process that is about your home. We do not use them at all.
- A deductible waiverInsurance fraud under NY Penal Law 176.05, requiring a false invoice to work. You are easier to prosecute than they are.
- An open-ended work authorisationA signature with no scope and no prices attached to it. Emergency measures fit on one page; anything longer can wait until morning.
- A blank or detached signature pageIf the page you are signing is not physically attached to the terms it agrees to, do not sign it. Not ours, not anybody's.
None of this is advice about your particular policy, which we have not read, and none of it is legal advice. It is a description of how the arrangements work and where the law sits, so that you can ask better questions of the people whose job it is to answer them.
Questions people actually ask
Insurance and your claim — frequently asked
Will my insurance cover this?
We genuinely do not know, and nor does any contractor who tells you otherwise while standing in your hallway. Coverage is decided by your policy wording and applied by your insurer's adjuster. As a very rough orientation, sudden and accidental discharge from a pipe or an appliance is commonly covered, and long-term seepage and groundwater flooding commonly are not — but those are tendencies rather than rules, and yours is decided by a document we have not read.
Do you work with insurance companies?
We document for them, thoroughly, and we attend the adjuster's inspection and answer anything they ask. That is a different thing from working for them, and a very different thing from negotiating with them. We are not on any insurer's panel, we are not anybody's preferred vendor, and we charge you nothing for the time we spend dealing with your insurer.
Why won't you negotiate my claim for me?
Because in New York that is a licensed activity and we are not licensed for it. A person or company that negotiates the settlement of a claim on behalf of an insured is acting as a public adjuster, and public adjusters are licensed by the Department of Financial Services. A contractor who documents, estimates and attends the inspection without negotiating, and who charges you no fee for dealing with the insurer, does not need that licence. That second description is us, and we intend to stay inside it.
Should I hire a public adjuster?
Sometimes, and it is worth knowing the option exists. On a large or contested loss, a licensed public adjuster works for you rather than for the insurer and can be worth their fee. In New York their fee is capped as a percentage of the recovery. On a small, straightforward claim they are usually not worth it. We have no financial interest either way and we will say what we think if you ask.
Can my insurer make me use their contractor?
No, unless your policy specifically says so. An insurer may recommend, and a recommendation from the party paying the bill is worth reading in that light. A preferred-vendor arrangement is a commercial relationship between a contractor and an insurance company, not a quality award, and you are entitled to choose who works on your home.
What documentation do you provide?
Photographs from before anything is moved, a written scope, moisture readings taken daily at marked points and dated, an equipment log, a written salvage assessment for contents, and photographs at completion. You get a copy of all of it whether or not there is a claim, and whether or not you use us for the reconstruction.
Ask before you sign anything
Not sure what you have been handed?
Telephone and read it to us. We will tell you plainly what the document does, whether it is an assignment of benefits, and whether it can wait until the morning. That conversation costs nothing and does not end in a visit unless you ask for one.