Hey guys just wanted to shed a little more light on this. Mueller Services is charging the homeowner $55. State Farm is also paying an unknown amount. I have not been able to verify but I would guess that they are matching the $55 cost. Mueller Services and State Farm have some sort of arrangement worked out.
I have received a handful of “4 point” requests from a local State Farm agent in my town. I always quote a State Farm insurance inspection (I refuse to call these 4 points). They seemed to be coming in pretty frequently when State Farm first begin to write but have since died down. I suspect this is because of the agreement with Mueller Services as I was quoting anywhere from $125-$195 based on size of the home.
Its amazing how you can market, supply a quality product, and do all the work to get your foot in the door with a local agent only to have the corporation come along and pull the rug out from under you by entering into agreements with these sort of “inspection clearing house hubs”.
You would think that a direct line of communication to the inspector performing the work would be an essential piece to a successful business relationship, specifically in a field that relies on accuracy of reports. I’m just a small business so what the hell do I know…
Unfortunately you are a small fish in a big pond, no offense. I’m by no means a shill for any one of these companies, but look at the big picture, these are statewide insurance companies, put yourself in their shoes and you have 2 options;
somewhat subsidize these inspections BUT you get a consistent homogenized product with the exact things you as a company are looking for to manage your risks or
You throw it out to the open market and you get who knows what.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m big insurance, I’m choosing #1 all day long. Not saying that alot of use here don’t produce a quality product, but there’s alot more that don’t than do. Doesn’t help you or I any, but it is what it is.
A larger company can insure consistent reliable work. There are more inspectors to meet demands and there is a quality control department.
Unfortunate the inspectors that work for these companies do not realize that they are not getting paid what they are worth. You can try to compete but as sad as that is you will usually have to meet or beat their price. You can not match their service as they have an office with customer service reps, you simply can not be as available.
I have the State Farm Four-Point with images. It is expandable just like my Citizens Four-Point so you can put an unlimited number of pictures in the report. It has all the same features that are in my Citizens Four-Point and wind mitigation reports. http://www.windsurance.com