Home Inspectors vs Home Inspectors

21

Not from what I have seen over the years .
The two things that Come to me about being different is that we spell a few words differently to you and our paper money has different colours for different Bills .
I expect we will always be different with our spelling but would not be surprised to see you too go to coloured Bills .
So strange many new home Inspectors come into this industry and think that the established Inspectors are many times not doing things the way they should .
I wonder why I am others have made a good living so long doing things wrong so often.
Guess we are just lucky.

Roy Cooke … RHI…CMI…CHI… Royshomeinspection.com

22

Do you ever share stories about crooked real estate agents and brokers who try to get you to soft-soap a report? Pay a kickback for a referral?

I think there are about two “bad REagent” stories for every one “bad HI”. Maybe it’s time to share them with the right folks. They seem comfortable enough discussing HIs with you.

23

So strange many new home Inspectors come into this industry and think that the established Inspectors are many times not doing things the way they should .
I wonder why I am others have made a good living so long doing things wrong so often.
Guess we are just lucky.

Roy,

If you read my posts you won’t see where I ever said you were not doing things the way you should, it was the other way around, it was you saying that those of us who mention that we have E&O are not doing what we should.

You are doing things the way you want, I’ve got no problem with that, you have a lot more experiience than I do when it comes to Home Inspection and I appreciate the advice you and the other more experienced Inspectors give, but I don’t always agree, this is one of those cases where I don’t.

To me the arguement should be whether or not to have E&O, not so much what you do with it once you do. Like I said, the first thing a Attorney who is planning on sueing you is going to check is how much Insurance you have and what you own that he can get, it doesn’t matter, as far as Law Suits go, whether or not anyone knows you have the Insurance beforehand.

I don’t know about Ontario, but up in B.C. and Alberta there is a hell of a lot less tendency to Sue someone over any trival matter, here it’s getting to be a way of life.

I pay for the Insurance, some don’t, that’s a personal choice, if I want to give the Realtors or prospective clients a choice between an insured Inspector and an uninsured inspector that’s a marketing choice. I believe that most buyers and agents assume that the Inspector has Insurance, like some say it may be best not to.

Some Inspectors Inspect only to the SOP, others go much further increasing their liability…its an individual choice.

And Roy, there are good Experienced Inspectors out there that advertise Liscensed, Bonded, and INSURED…I did it for more than 25 years in my “Other Life”, and was never sued, and that was in four different States.

I really do appreciate your advice and your willingness to share your knowledge and that of so many others, that’s the greatest benefit of belonging to NACHI

Lew

24

I agree This is a great place to have a discusion .
Can you show me other professions that say ( I have Insurance ) it seems to be just the small self employed who feel this is an advantage .
This has been discussed many times on this Board and others and it is usually the newer inspector who feel it is a good idea .
It is not those who have been around and seen how bad an idea it is .
GM, FORD, your dentist, Can Tire ,NONE say we are insured.
Do you ask your eye Doctor are you insured. Try it I would not be surprised if you do that you will be looking some place else to get your eyes examined.
You are on your own Please look around and see how many if any successful independent Home inspectors advertise that they have insurance.
You are also wrong about BC being different they have many huge law suits going on out their right now on many of the buildings with water intrusion.
I would not be surprised if BC was not the capital for law suits in Canada.

Roy Cooke

25

The insurance has always made my clients feel secure. It is the same reaction I get when I mention BBB membership, and other consumer-friendly protections.

In our area all HIs must carry E&O, so the marketing is less effective, but telling clients about it reassures them, and I have yet to get the reaction of seeing dollar signs in a sue-happy clients eyes when I mention it.

I think that the fear of predatory clients is overdone, but to each his own.

Any marketing angle that gives me an edge is something I will use to its fullest advantage.

26

I have never had an RE ask me to water down a report or ask for a kickback. I have some Realtors I prefer not to work with since I think they expect to try to strong arm HIs, but I have not had this issue personally.

I am also not there to insult anyone, so retorting about bad RE stories seems inappropriate.

They are expressing legitimate problems with HIs (for the most part) so I listen, address their concerns, and turn the situation into a marketing opprtunity.

The reality is that there are hacks in all professions. I am glad they feel comfortable enough with me to share concerns or past HI horror stories with me so that I can address them and allay the fears. Often, these conversations take place in informal settings or socially, and it would not fit the occasion to turn it into an RE-HI tit for tat.

27

Can you show me other professions that say ( I have Insurance ) it seems to be just the small self employed who feel this is an advantage .>

Roy,

Here a a few of the businesses that advertise that they are “Licensed, Bonded, and Insured”

General Contractors, Handymen, Electricians, Plumbers, Siding Contractors, Sheetrock Contractors…many businesses related to Real Estate and Home Construction.

Idaho only recently made it a requirement for a General Contractor to be “Registered”, not licensed, and for them to have a Bond, prior to that all you needed was a Plaid Shirt and a Pickup with a Ladder Rack. many of us advertised Bonded and Insured, there were, are, so many fly by night contractors that the customers had little if any protection, In a State where licensing, bonding, and insurance is not required for most trades, who would you hire someone who is Bonded and Insured or someone who is not.

We had, and still have, serious problems with supposed Contractors and Craftsmen Cheating homeowners and customers out of their money, even if the cusomer catches up with the “Contractor” there is little they can do to collect any damages. Your buddy Mike Holmes would throw a fit down here.

Like I said before its having Insurance or not having it is the big question, maybe with more experience and after my attorney makes it so I don’t own anything, I will drop my E&O or at least minimize it. but for now I can’t see any reason for keeping it a secret that I have it. Just like I advertise in Washington that I am a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector…many aren’t and many aren’t insured.

BC probably does have a lot of Lawsuits, but not nearly like we do here in the States where you can be sued for absolutely anything like getting burned by hot coffee or for having someone overhear you say they have a Big ***…that happened to a friend of mine.

Now I changed my mind, I just went through a bunch of brochures that I have collected, one of mine included, I don’t mention Insurance in either My Brochures or on my Website, I must have been smarter when I made those, but I will still give copies of the Rider that protects, supposedly, the Real Estate Agent who refers me from any liability for what I do or don’t do…quite a few of the Agents I have marketed to have asked about Insurance and all of my inspections so far have been done in Washington where I do Market that I am a Licensed and Insured SPI, which is required but ignored by quite a few Inspectors

Maybe I’ll change my mind when I do my New Brochures and Website.

28

OK, by contrast, would you use a plumber or electrician who was the only one who did NOT advertise “fully insured”?

“Licensed, bonded, and insured” are on most contractors ads for a reason - consumer reassurance.

In the end, it comes down to marketing strategies, waht works for you and what you feel comfortable with. Try the pitch out on a few friends and relatives if you are curious. You may need to work or refine it to something that works…or you may find that you are not comforatable with this approach and elect to avoid it altogether.

There is no right or wrong answer on this one…

29

Joe
I agree,after all we are expressing our opinions here.

Here is my opinion

My business is contracting,I only started inspecting homes 2 years ago.
My liability insurance for my construction business is less than $1000 For home inspection,I don’t carry,primarily because of cost.

I don’t advertise the fact that I have liability insurance,the only thing my clients are concerned with seems to be if I have workers comp.The trades that I hire all have comp. and everyone seems to be happy.Now this scenario I just described is for residential work. Commercial work is a differant ball game alltogether.*

I have been in business since 1985 not one of my clients asked me if I have liability insurance.

I feel it’s the HI that have made a big deal out of having ins.thinking it would somehow increase business,or give them credibility within the industry.

Mario

P.S. office cleaners in Toronto advertise “insured and bonded” Myself I have never advertised my contracting business 21 years and counting!!!

P.S.S. And I have so much work,I have to turn some clients away.*