Email To Agent (Why do underwriters doubt Inspectors)

Ever stop to think why pictures are required and the underwriters require documentation?

"Hello (Agent),

*I meet with (homeowner) today at the (----) street property. The property has a unshuttered side door with glass in it. *

***He (homeowner) told me I had to give him the shutter credit if I wanted to keep doing inspections for him. ***

***Needless to say, I don’t expect he will want me to perform anymore inspections for him. ***

Wanted you to know the facts before you hear from him. I’ve attached a picture of the unshuttered door to this email.

Have a great day and a spectacular weekend!"

-The agent and his office are fantastic, lets make that 100% clear. The homeowner is an investor I have done at least 15 or more inspections for.

…I wonder if his (the homeowner) next inspector will walk away as I did?

Because insurance agents do not want to give discount to clients because they know they are losing money by giving discount on premium and it is mandatory for the insurance company to give discount if the inspector find all features that a house will qualify for the credits.

I had a call like that today.

Sad to say it, but not all HI’s are going to be as ethical as you. He will eventually find someone that will do as he asks.

…I wonder if his (the homeowner) next inspector will walk away as I did?
I sure hope so, too not do so would be fraud

You all do realize that the agent does not determine the rates and is usually only worried about getting them signed. The agent usually does not work directly for the insurance company and would rather write the policy.

The agent does not get paid unless he writes the policy. Because of all of the fraud out there each agent knows that if he does not write the report, someone else will, and someone else will be able to temporarily get that customer a discount. They do not care what happens after the re-inspection, because now it is not their fault, but he fault of the inspector, and they get to keep the policy.

Response from the Agent:

"Jay:

[FONT=Calibri]Thanks for the heads up. I refer you to my customers because your experience and integrity. I know when you do a inspection I can send it out with total confidence. That if we expect the insurance re-inspections to be fair we should do the same. I appreciate everything you do and look forward to working with you.[/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri]Thank you!"

[/FONT]
It was the homeowner that demanded I overlook an unprotected opening, not the agent. Every agent I work with wants a reliable and accurate inspection.

Wind Mitigations are more detailed and demanding than many realize. Most inspectors are viewing them as an additional revenue source or an add on inspection.

I read the messages on the board and the questions range from insightful to ludicrous

Honestly, If you are not sure what you are doing. Get trained.

Blaming the agent or the underwriter because the inspector got it wrong or did not provide the documentation required is unacceptable. Blaming the agent or the underwriter, because the homeowner doesn’t have the ‘credit’ is unacceptable.

To quote my agent,
"That if we expect the insurance re-inspections to be fair we should do the same."

The agents I work with would rather know upfront. They get mad when a credit is lost. They do not want to hear the client complain later.

I have communicated this story several times. If you save someone $1200 and then it is taken away later in the policy term, their rates will spike! Say they saved that $100 per month. Then when the re-inspection takes it away they may have to make it up. Effectively raising the rates temporarily $200 per month. Inspectors need to do it right.

An inspector did a roof cert, everything was fine. Months later the underwriter sent another inspector out and he noticed a bulge in the decking, the policy was cancelled. The little old lady could not get another company to write her a policy. She had to replace the roof to get it done, for various reasons. Had the inspector pointed it out, it could have been easily fixed with a screw or she could have kept the old policy in place.

I do not think what happened was fair, but the inspector had to take some blame there. Guess who now does the inspections for that agent, because they want them right?

If you are not sure, learn from another inspector and take a class. For the sake of us all stop messing with peoples mortgage payments.

Even an inspector do the right job, there is know way of knowing what insurance agents will be dealing with this case, because agents don’t know anything about home construction, all they know is about all the features that apply from the form on the wind mit inspection, but if they agent from an insurance company know what they are looking at in the inspection form, they should give credits to the clients for the discount and then all inspector could avoid call backs from clients and complaining they didnt get the discount. Insurance agents can say whatever they want to prove that a house qualify or not for the discount, you never know, but its true as an inspector we should do the right job at first to avoid calls from agents and clients.

Agents and inspectors do NOT give credits! Credits are applied based on the HOUSE!

I tell customers who try to get me to look the other way the exact things mentioned above.

I have seen folks lose their house because they have had incorrect inspections for so long then they get one that is accurate and they cannot afford the insurance.