Carpet Cleaning Business having insurance company ills

[JD]

Looking for advice.

I'm researching this for a friend. He has a pattern of continuous run in's
with insurance companies. He works "real hard" on floods for days, putting
numerous pieces of equipment onsite and constantly checking them
(dehumidifiers, fans, etc), this is coupled with doing moisture checks
sometimes twice a day only to find the insurance company trying to swindle
him down to little more than one third of his original asking. He is not
looking to be paid quickly but feels he has nothing to do but comply as it's
a war he doesn't know how to fight. Some insurance companies are more apt
to give what he asks I suppose but does anyone have some tips on how to
fight this battle? He has used the blue-books. But the blue-books talk
about making $30 an hour and such, he doesn't clean carpet that cheap and
doesn't see any reason to come down that low for floods simply because of
that's what the cheapest companies charge. If you know this business you
know that investing in flood equipment is a healthy expense unless the
equipment is rented. He is nearly asking himself at this point "why deal
with floods" when he knows they can be very profitable. What's the method?
Is tip #1 to "just say no" to customers who use state farm??

Suggestions, info, comments appreciated.

Thanks,

JD

[Vox Humana]

"JD" <johnmdecker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0zWub.59813$n6.14097@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> Looking for advice.
>
> I'm researching this for a friend. He has a pattern of continuous run
in's
> with insurance companies. He works "real hard" on floods for days,
putting
> numerous pieces of equipment onsite and constantly checking them
> (dehumidifiers, fans, etc), this is coupled with doing moisture checks
> sometimes twice a day only to find the insurance company trying to swindle
> him down to little more than one third of his original asking. He is not
> looking to be paid quickly but feels he has nothing to do but comply as
it's
> a war he doesn't know how to fight. Some insurance companies are more apt
> to give what he asks I suppose but does anyone have some tips on how to
> fight this battle? He has used the blue-books. But the blue-books talk
> about making $30 an hour and such, he doesn't clean carpet that cheap and
> doesn't see any reason to come down that low for floods simply because of
> that's what the cheapest companies charge. If you know this business you
> know that investing in flood equipment is a healthy expense unless the
> equipment is rented. He is nearly asking himself at this point "why deal
> with floods" when he knows they can be very profitable. What's the
method?
> Is tip #1 to "just say no" to customers who use state farm??
>
> Suggestions, info, comments appreciated.
>

The most sure solution is to have the customer sign an agreement to cover
the cost of the service. The agreement should state the cost, who is
responsible for payment (i.e., the homeowner), when payment is due, and if
assignment will be accepted from the insurance company. I had a small
kitchen fire, and I found that one company didn't want to get involved when
they found who my insurance company was -- so yes, it might be a good idea
not to deal with some companies. It may be that in your area flood
remediation isn't a profitable business. If all your friend's competitors
are willing to accept the amount that the insurance company pays, then that
is the going rate and they will get the job. If your friend wants to charge
more, then he will have to somehow position himself in the market and try to
differentiate why his services merit a higher fee.

[JD]

Thanks Vox, no need to cross reply to all groups if you don't want to. I am
trying to invoke multiple responses from various individuals by posting to
multiple groups. I appreciate your input, we have gone over options such as
those you mentioned and then some. I think what I am looking for is
responses from people who are in adjacent or similar fields who have learned
how to deal with insurance companies. My freind is fairly determined to not
drain the consumer, -the customer is paying for insurance and for what
reason?- this is a big catch obviously. He has recently given in by coming
down 60+ % on a job not knowing if he will get that or more like 35% of the
asking. I'm looking for people with business experience to give input. I
don't have that much myself and I believe that everything with insurance
companies is a game. Except for their own money of course.

Thanks for any suggestions or even links.

JD

"Vox Humana" <vhumana@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:zb5vb.16415$uw5.12696@fe2.columbus.rr.com...
>
> "JD" <johnmdecker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:0zWub.59813$n6.14097@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> > Looking for advice.
> >
> > I'm researching this for a friend. He has a pattern of continuous run
> in's
> > with insurance companies. He works "real hard" on floods for days,
> putting
> > numerous pieces of equipment onsite and constantly checking them
> > (dehumidifiers, fans, etc), this is coupled with doing moisture checks
> > sometimes twice a day only to find the insurance company trying to
swindle
> > him down to little more than one third of his original asking. He is
not
> > looking to be paid quickly but feels he has nothing to do but comply as
> it's
> > a war he doesn't know how to fight. Some insurance companies are more
apt
> > to give what he asks I suppose but does anyone have some tips on how to
> > fight this battle? He has used the blue-books. But the blue-books talk
> > about making $30 an hour and such, he doesn't clean carpet that cheap
and
> > doesn't see any reason to come down that low for floods simply because
of
> > that's what the cheapest companies charge. If you know this business
you
> > know that investing in flood equipment is a healthy expense unless the
> > equipment is rented. He is nearly asking himself at this point "why
deal
> > with floods" when he knows they can be very profitable. What's the
> method?
> > Is tip #1 to "just say no" to customers who use state farm??
> >
> > Suggestions, info, comments appreciated.
> >
>
> The most sure solution is to have the customer sign an agreement to cover
> the cost of the service. The agreement should state the cost, who is
> responsible for payment (i.e., the homeowner), when payment is due, and if
> assignment will be accepted from the insurance company. I had a small
> kitchen fire, and I found that one company didn't want to get involved
when
> they found who my insurance company was -- so yes, it might be a good idea
> not to deal with some companies. It may be that in your area flood
> remediation isn't a profitable business. If all your friend's competitors
> are willing to accept the amount that the insurance company pays, then
that
> is the going rate and they will get the job. If your friend wants to
charge
> more, then he will have to somehow position himself in the market and try
to
> differentiate why his services merit a higher fee.
>
>