The agent must follow the underwriting guides, so they are not idiots, they are following the rules that they have been given. If they can use the “old” form with a “shutter” verification they so be it. Did you know that some agents can give hip roof credit without the form, or that they just need the wind mit to prove hip roof. It really depends on the underwriting guidelines and company policies.
We almost always have a conversation with the agent if there is a “special request” to clarify the need BEFORE doing the inspection. Unlike some here we can have an adult conversation with agents, underwriters and clients about their needs.
I am not wrong.
I cannot see any scenario where I would willingly do what is being discussed here.
If insurance agents or homeowners want to play “fast and loose” with the 1802, fine. I will not be part of it.
I have had this situation come up on a few occasions, and I have told the homeowners, find someone else. One guy got new shutters and his previous inspection was done in 2011. I asked him why he didn’t use the guy who did the inspection originally. He said that the guy told him the form changed and he was going to lose his hip roof and roof to wall connection discount. I told him he should have that guy come back, when the insurance company asks for a new inspection due to the following at the bottom of all four pages of the wind mit form:
Let sleeping dogs lie until the insurance company asks for a new inspection. “And one other thing, I looked up the permit date on your home and it was June 1994. You are going to lose that discount as well.”
The insurance agents can do whatever they like. If the agents wish to overlook what it says on the bottom of the form, fine. They have the luxury of doing what they want. I don’t.
I’ve listened to the comments and have this to add - I do partial inspections when asked because I am only responsible for the portion that I am inspecting — whether it is validating just opening protection, hip roof or other. Sometimes I am asked to verify a feature that the previous inspector was unable to verify for:
lack of effort — lack of knowledge - or - some other reason.
Having said that, I would not want to do partial inspections for any agent that was knowingly piecing together multiple reports for fraudulent purposes.
I guess I’m fortunate the partial thing has not come my way.
Only previous clients that have upgraded their protection & want a new one done.
I then do a complete one over again.
If someone asked me for a partial, I’d probably say I only do them fully.
Sometimes when changing carriers, they need the newest form. Their older one was 4 years old.
Now they will lose the hip credit because of the rear porch flat roof.
I still can’t see why you wouldn’t do a complete wind mitigation inspection while you were already there. After all…some can do it in 10 minutes or less!
Then again, if you charge 40 bucks for a full wind mitigation, then a 1/4 of one should be 10 bucks. :mrgreen: An hour of total drive time, doing the inspection,compiling the report,fuel costs, insurance…sounds like you should be able to retire…never! :mrgreen:
The only reason why is because the agent ONLY WANTS a partial (for whatever reason). I can do a Wind Mit in under 10 minutes in most cases, so time and effort are not a concern. It actually takes longer to write a partial report due to having to cross through sections that i’m excluding and scanning (lol).
Think of this scenario:
You have a 2013 built home that the agent has already given a smorgasbord of credits automatically due to year built and FBC compliance. He only needs to verify “Opening Protection”. Give him (agent) what he wants. His request is valid. I charge the same price for a partial, so it’s a win win.
If you are not flexible with your agents, you will lose them. More is not always better.
If the request is from a homeowner, I suspect that they are trying to hodgepodge together the best possible combination of reports… and I ask to see their report just to confirm that it was accurate.
OK, lets take your scenario out a little bit. You get to the property and the front door sticker, is gone. So is the one on the garage door…which has windows in it. Now, when the agent sees this, they want verification of roof to wall, nailing, etc…
Which is why I wouldn’t do a partial and you are correct, it would probably take longer to fill out the form having to “X” out everything. In the long run, if you do a complete inspection, you won’t have to go back as you already have everything.
Well I’m here to verify the Opening Protection, so if this is the case they won’t get the credit.
What I neglected to mention was that I document everything while I’m there, even if it is a partial — but I only report what the agent has asked me to report. I don’t like making 2 trips, so I gather all the info for future just in case.
I used to not do partials for all the same reasons that you are mentioning… But in the past few months i have changed my perspective on the issue due to agent relationships. Just pointing out the other side of the coin!
Perhaps it’s a blessing - I have no agents referring me for a WM. So “politics” are not considered.
All my work usually comes from full comp home inspections with the WM & termite report added, sometimes a 4 Point also when the home is 30 years or more.
Question: on a 4 Point (not the full comp inspection), do you guys list an outlet that is not grounded, or say a bathroom GFCI is inoperative? Let’s say there’s a few room outlets that the hot/neutral lines are reversed, maybe some exposed wiring in the attic, etc.
Would you condsdier stuff like this not part of a 4 Point & only address “major systems”?
If those items are in your inspection report they should be in your 4 point. Suppose you leave off the ungrounded outlet in your 4 point ant there is a fire. Insurance company asks to see the inspection report and it shows that the outlet was ungrounded. How are you going to defend that one?
I do not check electrical outlets when i do a stand alone Four Point inspection (accept to note whether GFCI breakers are present where NEC requires). I look for exposed electrical wiring and defects inside the breaker panel such as double taps. I do not crawl the attic looking for all potential hazards unless there is reason to suspect that something exist. I look at readily accessable areas.
However, if the Four Point is done in conjunction with a full home inspection, I list everything that I found wrong with electrical. If you are aware of defects, then you should mention them in the 4-Pt.
