Another Florida Rain Bomb Stokes Restoration Services Demand
With June underway, La Niña officially here to stay, and water temperatures at record highs, the 2024 Hurricane Season is shaping up to be a busy one for remediation and restoration service contractors in Florida.
We are only a fortnight into the 2024 Hurricane Season, and the first major disturbance, Invest 90-L, just dumped up to two feet of water across a wide swath of South Florida and Southwest Florida in the span of two days.
Keep in mind that home and business owners in some of the hardest-hit areas like Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Aventura and North Miami are still recovering from the massive rain bomb that dumped 25 inches of rain on April 12, 2023.
At the time, meteorologists were describing the April 2023 storm as a “1,000 Years Storm.” Now, only fourteen months later, the region has been hit with another massive rain bomb, and the phones are ringing off the hook for water remediation and restoration service contractors.
Those initial calls for help will set in motion a long series of events that will require diligence and documentation to avoid litigation and late payments. So the timing was perfect for this week’s Restoration & Remediation webinar.
Legal Matters For Restoration Service Contractors
Legal Matters: What’s Best for Your Bottom Line? is the topic of this week’s webinar at Restoration & Remediation. Editor-in-Chief Myldred Ingram welcomed Josh Ehmke, the co-founder and general counsel for One Claim Solution for the one-hour session.
Ehmke said he has been in the restoration services industry “from a legal perspective” for a decade, although he could not find a lot of attorneys that were involved in the industry when he started out. “The more time I spent (in the industry), the more I realized why,” said Ehmke.
Over the course of the next hour, Ehmke shares a wealth of lessons he has learned over the past decade which remediation and restoration services contractors need to hear regardless of your level of experience or number of years in the industry.
There's No Such Thing As Too Much Documentation
If you had to summarize one of the key takeaways for remediation and restoration services contractors, it would be “Document. Document. Document.”
Ehmke says if the old adage is “Only document those things that you actually want to get paid for,” you also need to heed the inverse of that as well. In other words, “Don’t document things that you don’t want to get paid for.”
The need for documentation stems from the simple fact that a lack of documentation typically leads to lower payments and, quite often, denials. Carriers can and will use a lack of documentation against remediation and restoration service contractors in trying not to pay them for services rendered.
When it comes to resources, he says “the S500 is the industry standard guideline, and is one of the best tools to make sure you and your team are remediating losses correctly.”
And in terms of quantity of documentation, he says there really is no such thing as too much documentation with the added caveat…just make sure you are documenting the current loss that is in question.
The Importance of Documenting The True Cause of Loss
Ehmke expands on the importance of this last point by referencing a close friend and colleague who represents homeowners after working for many years as defense counsel for a major insurance carrier. This friend emphasizes the importance of understanding the true cause of loss.
In summary, a remediation and restoration services contractor’s ability to a.) understand the cause of loss and b.) document that cause of loss will go a long way toward getting paid for services rendered.
If you can document the ONE event that caused the damage in conjunction with other companies that responded to the home or business owner’s request to repair the damage, you will be in a much better position for documenting the actual cause of loss.
In closing on this topic, Ehmke says a lack of documentation combined with failure to document the true cause of loss is a recipe for not getting paid for services rendered.
“We are seeing a lot more claim denials come through over the last couple of years. As restoration contractors, you can do your part by clearly documenting the actual cause of loss.” – One Claim Solution Co-Founder Josh Ehmke
More Legal Matters: Assignment of Benefits, LPOAs and Pre-Liens
While the need for sufficient and accurate documentation is the key takeaway from the webinar, Ehmke also takes a deep dive into other legal matters that impact remediation and restoration services contractors.
First and foremost are Assignment of Benefits (AOBs) which Ehmke describes as the topic he is most passionate about in the industry. It’s not surprising that his company is based in a state (Arizona) which allows assignment of benefits.
“Depending on the state you are in, this is the most valuable tool at your disposal as a restoration contractor. When used appropriately, the AOB is an amazing tool.” – Josh Ehmke
“Assignment of Benefits puts you, the restoration services contractor, in the shoes of the policyholder. You get to speak directly to the insurance carrier to negotiate your rights and your invoice. That keeps the recourse directly with you and the carrier which homeowners love when you explain it to them correctly,” Ehmke said.
Of course, this portion of the presentation was the least helpful for home and business owners in recently rain-bombed Florida where the right to assign benefits was eliminated for policies issued after January 1, 2023.
Limited Power of Attorneys (LPOAs) and pre-liens are also addressed at length in the context of tools that can help restoration service contractors get paid. And finally, appraisals are highlighted as another form of alternative dispute resolution that can help bring accountability and transparency to the claim resolution process.
To listen to the full one-hour webinar, visit Restoration & Remediation.
Contact CII Today
If you own an established remediation or restoration services business in Florida or Georgia and would like to get a better understanding of the current market value of your company and important steps you can take today to maximize that value, get in touch with a CII business advisor today.