DIRTY LITTLE SECRET #4: The “Deductible Assistance Program” Or “Referral Reward Program”
This one sounds so nice and so helpful. Hey, a $1,000 deductible can represent a LOT of money for some people. Some homeowners have even higher deductibles. So when a “roofer” tells you that he can waive or rebate or pay all or part of your deductible, that can sound very tempting. The problem is that this is called insurance fraud. It’s illegal in Colorado as of June 6, 2012 (refer to Colorado SB12-038). Some roofers have what they call their “Referral Reward Program,” such that if you give them the name of a neighbor or friend, they’ll give you $1,000 or more for that “referral.” That’s gaming the system.
This Is How This Works:
To get all the insurance funds sent to the homeowner, but then discount the amount collected for the job, the roofer falsifies his invoice to the insurance company stating what his charge to the homeowner is and then collects less from the homeowner than he stated on his invoice to the insurance company. The problem for the homeowner is that even though it is the roofer falsifying the invoice, the insurance company considers the homeowner to be complicit in the fraud. If they have justifiable reason to believe that this deductible payment is occurring they don’t have to pay the costs of the roofer’s invoice, thereby putting the homeowner on the hook for out-of-pocket costs he would not normally have had for the roofing project. Think about this: If a roofer is willing to be dishonest regarding this law, just to get a sale for a roofing job, can you trust him to be honest with you?
I’ll Admit Something…
There are a lot of roofers who will do this for a homeowner. They’ll pay $1,000 for a name of someone, or they’ll flat-out give out a check for deductible reimbursement. Homestead Roofing will not do that. We won’t offer to pay a deductible in any amount or any form. We don’t even pay you for “referrals.” If you refer us to someone, then if we get the job, after that job is done and paid for, we do send you a nice referral gift, but it’s not cash or a check. If a homeowner wants a roofer to help him with his deductible, Homestead Roofing is the wrong company to interview for the job. We really do value our clients and hope they truly value the fact that we treat them with honesty and integrity, even though it may be financially to their benefit to hire a different roofer. I hope all of our clients, and the people you may refer to us, know that if we won’t game the system in order to get hired to do a job, we won’t take advantage of them either. That’s why we say that your Homestead Roofing roof is 100% Risk Free.