In yesterday’s put up, When Roofers Turn into Adjusters: Iowa Court docket Says Not So Quick, I mentioned how Iowa’s federal court docket confirmed that contractors can not step into the sneakers of licensed public adjusters. The Shamrock case demonstrates that states can draw a distinction between contracting work and claims adjusting. However roofers and restoration contractors usually ask me, “Chip, what precisely can we do with out being accused of unlicensed public adjusting?”
The reply comes instantly from an Iowa Insurance coverage Division administrative choice involving 33 Carpenters Development, 1 a case that adopted the Iowa Supreme Court docket’s 2020 rulings. In that continuing, the Insurance coverage Commissioner supplied a transparent assertion of what contractors might do with out violating the regulation. As the order states:
33 Development and its brokers, representatives, staff and officers might carry out any of the next acts with out violating Iowa Code § 522C.6:
(1) Solicit and provide restore or reconstruction providers to owners or enterprise house owners;
(2) Provide opinion to an insured house owner or enterprise proprietor as as to whether injury was attributable to wind, hail, storm or different incident usually lined by an insurance coverage coverage;
(3) Put together an estimate and scope of labor for the loss;
(4) Talk about with the shopper the estimate or scope of labor;
(5) Advocate to an insured house owner or enterprise proprietor that the policyholder file an insurance coverage declare with their insurer;
(6) Attend any inspection of the injury by an insurer’s adjuster; and
(7) Reply questions the policyholder or the insurer’s adjuster has in regards to the estimates.
This record is critical as a result of it outlines the permissible boundaries of contractor and roofer involvement within the claims course of. A roofer can inform a house owner that the injury seems to be like hail injury, put together an in depth estimate, and even attend the insurer’s inspection. They will suggest that the house owner file a declare and reply questions on their estimate. What they can not do is negotiate with the insurer, advocate for protection, or current themselves as an insured’s consultant within the claims settlement course of. These actions fall squarely inside the area of licensed public adjusters.
The 33 Carpenters administrative order is a sensible guidepost. It acknowledges that contractors inevitably work together with insurance coverage points when repairing storm injury, however it attracts a agency line at claims advocacy and negotiation. That distinction displays the state’s shopper safety coverage that contractors might restore and supply info, however solely licensed public adjusters might signify and negotiate.
For contractors, I recommend this implies coaching workers rigorously to keep away from crossing the road. Gross sales representatives and challenge managers should perceive that whereas they’ll focus on the scope of restore work and supply their skilled opinion about the reason for injury, they can not converse on behalf of the house owner within the claims course of. For public adjusters, this choice confirms the unique nature of their function and the protections round their occupation. For regulators, the order offers readability for enforcement, making certain that shopper safety targets are met with out stopping contractors from doing their legit work.
The easy lesson is that roofers and restoration contractors can function confidently inside their lane in the event that they follow estimates, repairs, and factual opinions about injury and prices. The second they start to barter with insurers, maintain themselves out as declare representatives, or promote public adjusting-type providers, they cross into public adjusting and expose themselves to enforcement.
For my restoration development and roofing pals, I do know that no one likes being advised they can not do sure issues. I can recognize that many have a really completely different view of this and suppose that this regulation merely protects insurance coverage firms and public adjusters whereas harming these doing the restore work.
As a lawyer, I’ve to elucidate the regulation and ask that everybody comply with it. What sort of nation would this be if no one needed to comply with legal guidelines and no one was held accountable? This administrative matter a minimum of offers steerage about what may be executed with out violating public adjusting licensing legal guidelines, which explains for the put up.
Considered the Day
“Readability affords focus.”
—Thomas Leonard
1 Within the Matter of 33 Carpenters Development, No. 105269, 2021 WL 1717542 (Iowa Sec.Bur. Apr. 19, 2021).
