I have a lot of confidence in my inspection & reporting abilities, as a matter of fact I know I’m in the top 2%, and that was recently confirmed this morning when I met with one of my Realtor/Investor clients.
It appears that one of his investment properties was insured under Citizens where I had performed the wind mitigation using the old 2-page form. The $50 reinspection contractor spent over an hour on site and over a 1/2 hour in the attic and at the end all he could complain about was not having a copy of the permit which he could have looked up himself prior to showing up at the property.
Jeeze… gas + travel + insurance + time… all for a lousy $50? I hope everyone decides to whore themselves out doing these $50 reinspections leaving more real home inspections for real home inspectors… Just sayin’
Thats exactly how i felt a year ago. Then my region got slammed with reinspections. Right or wrong, my referral base does not have to workforce to argue each and every inspection, and niether do I. They eventually have no choice then to use a company which will not be reinspected. Thats what Im finding out.
Joe, good job! Top 2% though? Maybe top 3% LOL
Dennis, as you keep saying, training is everything. If your form is filled out correctly like Joe’s then there is no disputing it. Let the re inspectors go out and make their little $50. Once we give in to the major companies and think that is the way to go we’ll all be thrown into a pool just like the appraisers were. Personally, I like working for myself and independent. I don’t feel like crawling thru an attic and spending all that time just to make $50 while some major company makes $100 off my hard work. And don’t think that a major inspection company won’t be re inspected. They were re inspected with the MSF program and how many of those companies were found to be doing the forms wrong? Just saying.
As of this moment, contractors are the only ones who can do re-Inspections.
HOWEVER,
The goal of Nachi Management is to facilitate HI to be able to perform re-inspections. If they are on the form… then it only makes sense they should be able to re-inspect.
Also, we expect the state and Citizens to go to a preferred vendor system. Inspectors who are part of a Preferred Vendor (Nachi Management) will NOT be re-inspected. This is also a HUGE plus for all Inter-Nachi Inspectors.
What is the purpose of a re-inspection? HAving been a contracted inspector for a large insurance carrier at one time, my experience tells me that a re-inspection is required sometime after a corrective action is taken.
If the purpose of a wind mit inspection is to inspect the roof, relay findings to the client, and take corrective action for insurability (mitigating risk to the carrier), then wouldnt a re-inspection be to confirm the corrective action has taken place.
Am I wrong on this, because I’m okay with that.
But, if I am right… then the notion of no re-inspect is not justified just because the initial inspector was competent.
Also, I believe the state is opening itself up to a lawsuit if it went to a preferred vendor network. The argument would be that pay to play with a management company does nothing more ot less to protect the public than a means that ensures minimum qualifications are met. In fact, one could argue that it is unjust to burden otherwise qualified inspectors with paying a fee to belong to a preferred vendor network.
Kind of like extorting money. Especially if it is somehow tied back to a person receiving a fee for doing little.
Citizens is not re-inspecting to confirm that corrective action has been taken. Citizens is re-inspecting to confirm that the original inspection was correct and fraudulent free.
The preferred vendor system… would potentially remove the chance that an inspector is performing inspections without proper training or in-adeqate quality control.
Just food for thought. Wasn’t the old original MFSH (whatever the acronym was) basically a preferred vendor setup / system and didn’t the State of FL almost get sued because of it? The WCEs were basically preferred vendors and blocked a lot of others from the “Right to Work” violating FL law. The WCEs were supposed to be “trained” and certified as well. This has the appearance of the same horse with a different saddle on it.
The key word there is potentially. It is my understanding that the “preferred vendor” system will include all field inspectors associated with all Management Vendors, not just Nachi Management. I have been to some of the training seminars provided by other management vendors and am not impressed. Even the training provided by Inspection Depot is inadequate. However, the quality assurance program should elliminate the widespread fraud activities that have plagued the wind mit market, and thus the preferred vendor list is born.
It will be interesting to see what happens when a reinspection is ordered on a home that a retail wind mit was performed by a non preferred independent field inspector, and errors are found ---- and then the field inspector becomes a preferred vendor by signing on with a management vendor — lol - read it again. The bottom line, being a preferred vendor only means you will not be reinspected, it does not necessarily mean you know what your doing. Still, its a great marketing tool, especially when agents realize the benifits of only hiring preferred vendors.
NACHI Management needs to separate themselves from the other mangement vendors by providing the best education and training - and I have no doubt that will happen – IMHO.
The goal for the insurance industry is to raise the rates so the reserves will be adequate. The form was changed, question interpretation was changed, laws where passed and models were presented to the OIR indicating inaccurate MIT inspections. This is organized and legal.
Who will present the model of the inaccurate re-inspections?
Who will challenged the legal interpretation of the questions?
Who will stand up for our fixed income retired, sick and hardship case citizens which can’t afford a $1000 or more increase?
There are mistakes, difference of opinions and scammers in all professions.
The insurance industry has sooooo much power it can…
The strength is in numbers:
Get the homeowners to lobby their Tallassee representatives
Let the media know what is happening
When you do an inspection for a lawyer, law enforcement, judical personnel, lobbist or people of influence, let them know what is happening.
Write/email the OIR.
The reinspection program will not meet the need of the reserve issue. The answers can only be in the fact that this great country has and always will listen to the voters. Take a look at the Declaration of Indepedence.
Quotes from Thomas Jefferson
They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.
-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800
Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
NACHI Management is just a little division of Inspection Depot. Congratulations all that support that. We’ll all be just like Walmart employees. How much do you think they’re going to pay you to crawl thru that attic? How much are they going to make off of you crawling thru that attic? I worked damn hard to build my business and I busted my *** to make a good name for myself. Now I am suppose to sign up with them since they’ll be the PREFERRED company?? I’m a Home Inspector. I’m a Licensed Home Inspector in the State of Florida. I’m not going to be someone else’s employee. I’m not going to crawl thru an attic so someone else can make money off of me. Citizens needs to realize they don’t control the home inspector market and I’m going to get that message across to my elected officials, The OIR, and every Realtor, Insurance Agent, and Client I know to make sure it doesn’t happen. I will not see our business go the way of the Appraisers. ENOUGH![/FONT][/FONT]
You are absolutely correct. That is exactly what this is. Now, in order not to be left behind, NACHI has to come up with a way to get their inspectors approved…which merely adds to the problem.
If a “State Licensed Home Inspector” can perform the WMIs and according to Florida law, the insurance companies are required to accept those inspections, why can’t home inspectors do the re-inspections?
It would appear that another e mail to Citizens is in order, with the implication that a complaint may be filed with the State, except that I will then receive another phone call in which I will waste another hour of my life, stating the obvious to one of the “higher ups”!
I wonder how much luck I’ll have with the OIR!!!:twisted::twisted:
Home inspectors are just getting their licensees and in my opinion that is why they have been left behind.
If you want to change it, which I think we should work towards. You need to talk to your elected officials, since the law allows re-inspections as long as the insurance company pays for it. Re-inspections are to correct all the inspections that were done wrong. You can blame it on MSFH, contractors or any other group you want. The issue is they are grossly wrong. I believe Home inspectors have not been listened to since the beginning and we need a louder voice. Hence, the Florida Insurance Inspectors TWO day meeting. The second day if for politics only.
If you want to participate and do RE-inspections you have to play by the rules of the people paying, and they are following the law and setting their own requirements. Not doing them is certainly an option for all. I personally think that wind mits are too much of my business to ignore. Most of the contractors came to the home inspection business because of wind mits, by HIs not doing them it just invites more contractors . If Nachi did not get involved it would not change it, it is the law. The plan(and we are not ready for business) is to pay better and train better than the other guys. Anyway you look at it re-inspections are going to happen, there is too much money on the line. Do not participate if you do not want to, but SOMEONE else will. Do yo really want to invite others to our business? Don’t participate, don’t learn, don’t get paid, do them on your own and face the prospect of being on the receiving end of re-inspections.
What can NACHI management do to make it better? Seriously? Pay and training are the two I can think of. Any others?
John S appears to have the Mac Daddy set up to perform retail and the re-inspection wind mits in quantity and it may be profitable for his company even at the cut rate of the re-inspection fees. I concentrate on HI’s with wind mits as an extra service if requested.
Being on the preferred vendors list will benefit inspectors like myself as well as others marketing just wind mits. We can all be on the same page, and hopefully underwriters will not be asking for additional info not not asked for on the current or future 1802 forms.
