Storm season brings knocks on the door. Which contractors to let in

Two days after a serious hailstorm, a neighborhood fills with trucks. Most of them carry out of state plates and most of the people knocking are salespeople rather than roofers. This is a legitimate business model, because a genuine catastrophe generates more work than local crews can handle and traveling crews fill the gap. It also brings a smaller number of operations that will take a deposit and leave.

I worked storm restoration for two seasons. The good outfits and the bad ones knock on the same doors and open with roughly the same sentence, so the sorting has to be done by you.

What a legitimate approach looks like

Someone offering a free inspection is normal. Someone who has spotted damage from the street and wants to look closer is normal. What follows the inspection is where the difference appears.

A reputable contractor will show you photographs of what they found, explain whether the damage is likely to meet your policy's threshold, and give you a written estimate with a scope of work. They will be willing to leave and let you think about it. They will not need a signature today.

The other version compresses everything into one visit. There is an urgency: the crews are only in the area this week, the price is only good today, the insurer will deny it if you wait. There is a document to sign now, and it is often not the estimate.

The document to read before signing anything

The paper handed over at the door is frequently not a contract for a defined job at a defined price. Two forms are common and both deserve a slow read.

The first is an assignment of benefits, which transfers your rights under your insurance policy to the contractor. It lets them deal with the insurer directly and be paid directly. It can be convenient, and it also means the party negotiating the claim is the party being paid from it, and that you may have limited control over what is agreed. Several states have restricted these for exactly that reason.

The second is a contingency agreement, which commits you to use that contractor for the work if the insurer approves a claim. Signed at the door, it commits you before you have any idea what the scope or the price will be, and before you have spoken to anyone else.

Neither is inherently improper. Both are things to take inside, read fully, and decide on tomorrow.

Four questions that sort it quickly

1. Are you licensed in this state, and what is the number? Then check it with the state board rather than taking the card at face value. Many states require registration for roofing work specifically after a declared disaster.
2. Who will actually be on my roof, and are they your employees or subcontractors? Subcontracting is completely normal. What you want to know is whether the crew is covered by the insurance you are about to be shown.
3. Can I see your certificate of insurance, sent directly from your carrier? A certificate emailed by the agency naming you carries weight; a photograph of a certificate does not.
4. What is your address, and where is your local office? A traveling crew is not disqualifying. A company with no fixed presence anywhere, reachable only through a cell number, is a problem if you need warranty work in three years.

The deposit question

A large deposit demanded before any material is ordered is the single most common structure in storm fraud, because it is the fastest route from a signature to money.

On insured work the sequence is usually different anyway. The insurer typically issues an initial payment and holds back a portion until the work is complete, which means the contractor is not funding much up front. A demand for a substantial cash deposit on top of that should prompt a direct question about what it is for.

Never pay in cash, and never write a check to an individual rather than to the company named on the contract.

Your right to cancel

A contract signed at your home rather than at a place of business is generally covered by a federal cooling off rule that gives you three business days to cancel without penalty, and many states extend that period after a declared disaster. The seller is required to tell you about the right and to provide a cancellation form.

If neither happened, that is itself a violation and worth noting. That three day right exists because of a Federal Trade Commission rule covering sales made away from a seller's usual place of business, and the same agency takes reports when a seller ignores it.

To cancel, put it in writing, get it out inside the window, and use a method that leaves you holding evidence it arrived. Keep a copy of everything, including the contract you signed.

Where to escalate if something has already gone wrong

Work through it in order. First, a written demand to the contractor stating what was paid, what was not done, and a deadline. Then a complaint to the state contractor licensing board, which can act against a license and which many contractors take considerably more seriously than a letter from a homeowner. Then your state attorney general's consumer division, which often runs a dedicated response after a declared disaster.

Tell your insurer as well. Insurers track contractors operating in a catastrophe area and have their own interest in a claim that was paid for work not performed.

The version of this that works well

None of the above is an argument for turning everyone away. After a large storm, waiting for a local roofer can mean months with a tarp, and the traveling crews are frequently the reason a neighborhood gets repaired before winter.

The workable approach is simple. Take the free inspection and the photographs. Take the estimate. Then get two more, including one from a local company, on the same scope. Call your insurer yourself and start the claim in your own name. Sign nothing on the first visit. Every good contractor in this business expects that and most will tell you to do it.