For contractors
When the supplement is denied and the project cannot move
Colorado's roofing contractor law keeps contractors out of the adjusting and appraisal roles on projects they are performing. When a documented supplement has been declined more than once, the homeowner needs an independent appraiser, and the contractor needs the project to move. That is where we come in.
When to suggest appraisal to your customer
- The carrier approved a repair where the inspection and test squares support replacement.
- The carrier's estimate omits items the work cannot be done without: underlayment, drip edge, step flashing, code-required ventilation, detaching and resetting equipment.
- A supplement with photographs and code citations has been declined or unanswered, and a reinspection has been refused.
- The difference between the carrier's figure and the contract is large enough that the homeowner cannot proceed.
- The disagreement is about the damage, its cause or its cost. A denial as wear and tear or not storm related is a causation question, which a Colorado appraisal panel may decide. A denial based on an exclusion or late notice is a policy question for an attorney.
What appraisal does for the project
Moves the dispute to the appraisers
Once appraisal is invoked, the disagreement is between the two appraisers. The contractor is no longer writing supplements or arguing with the desk adjuster.
Supports the customer relationship
The homeowner hears from an independent third party that the scope is legitimate, which carries more weight than the contractor saying it again.
Keeps the contractor within the law
The file goes to an independent appraiser rather than the contractor negotiating the claim.
Ends in a binding figure
A signed award is enforceable. The carrier pays it under the policy and the project proceeds.
What we need from the contractor
The carrier's estimate and letters
Every version of the estimate, and any letter declining or reducing the supplement.
Your estimate and photographs
Your contract or estimate, inspection photographs with test squares and slope overviews, and any roof measurement report.
The policy declarations page
So we can confirm the appraisal provision and how the policy treats the roof.
The homeowner's contact information and a short history
Dates of loss, inspection and carrier contacts. The engagement is with the homeowner; you are copied if they ask.
On referrals: we do not pay or accept referral fees. A Colorado appraiser must be impartial, and a financial arrangement with the party that referred the file would compromise that and could compromise the award. What a contractor can expect instead is prompt communication and a project that reaches a settled figure.
We are available to walk a contractor's sales or production team through recognizing when a claim should go to appraisal. Email Appraisals@HeidmannAndAssociates.com to arrange it.
Have a stalled project?
Send the carrier's estimate and yours to Appraisals@HeidmannAndAssociates.com. We reply within one business day.