Last week, I posted this as a comment to another post:
A couple of things are killing insurance in the area.
1 About a year ago, a couple of roofing companies were going door to door, offering a “free roof.” All you had to do was sign an “assignment of benefits” so they could bill your insurance. About a third of the houses around here took the offer. Now all of us who DON’T have a new roof are seeing increased rates. The price of honesty, I guess.
Here is a good example of the kind of stuff I was talking about.
John Sutton, doing business as Kaizen Construction Group, had salesmen go door to door in Pasco County in 2021 and 2022, instructing homeowners on what to say in filing an insurance claim, Florida’s chief financial officer said in a bulletin. Some of the homeowners agreed to sign “direct to pay” documents, essentially assigning benefits to the roofing company.
Investigators from the Department of Financial Services and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office determined that Sutton and Kaizen Construction were unlicensed as roofers and were responsible for more than $41,000 in insurance claims. Sutton later reportedly made a statement saying that he has victimized hundreds of homeowners throughout the state, the DFS said.
4 Comments
Barbarus · April 2, 2023 at 6:18 am
Isn’t that conspiracy to commit fraud?
Big Ruckus D · April 2, 2023 at 9:59 am
The same sort of practice.(door to door sales tactics to encourage solicitation of an ‘inspection’ and bid to replace a roof) is rampant here as well, anytime we have even a mild hail storm. I have multiple customers who have related to me – with a certain amount of relish – that they got one over on their homeowners insurance by getting a roof replacement covered. I’ll not defend the insurance companies either, but I find this sort of behavior fullsome.
Quite often these roofs being replaced were 12 or more years old, and already in marginal to poor condition. So the slimy bastard roofing contractor opens the door for them to collude in insurance fraud so as to subsidize putting on a new roof that they already needed before a storm, assuming the storm even did any actual damage, which claim is often dubious in itself.
And they do this with the belief they effectively got their new roof for free, even gloating about it. They are too stupid to realize they eventually pay for it anyway – and then some – through the inescapable reality of increased premiums. As do all the rest of us, even those who didn’t chose to take advantage of the situation and make the (often false) claim we had damage requiring a roof replacement. And then we get hit again for being honest by paying out of pocket to have our roof replacement done when it is actually necessary.
Meanwhile, many of those who fraudulently made insurance claims get substandard work by shoddy shitbum contractors who put on such a cheap roof with substandard practices, that it needs replacement again well ahead of what should have been it’s useful life span. Then they pray for another storm bad enough they can start the process over again with another insurance claim. Socialized roofing, just another wonder brought to you by fat, lazy and entitled American fuckups.
Divemedic · April 2, 2023 at 11:36 am
That’s where I get put to a disadvantage. I am far too honest and won’t defraud anyone (even the insurance company) to get something for free that isn’t mine to get.
I know, all of that old fashioned stuff like honest, duty, ethics, honor, etc. are old fashioned concepts that have fallen from favor. I don’t care. I will continue to do what I feel is right, even if it is at my own expense.
My character will not permit anything less.
My brother is travelling the country, running marathons, going snow skiing, and living his best life. All while collecting Social Security disability. He got a PPP loan that paid him $300k and found a scam to not pay it back by making his kids into his ’employees’.
My sister has been a welfare queen for as long as I can remember.
I just won’t.
Big Ruckus D · April 2, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Right there with you on that sentiment. But man, does it piss me off watching these smarmy pricks benefitting from their dishonesty. I really want to see people who pull this stuff – both the shady contractors, and those who avail themselves of the scam, get their shit fucked up. It doesn’t happen nearly enough.
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