I am sitting on a committee that is attending a conference in June for the State of Florida's Inspector General's Office.  They want me to address the group on topics including fraud and price gouging after the storms of '04 and '05.  Our adjusting firm did see some of this type of activity and I will be sharing our fim's experience with the group so they know what to watch out for should FL get hit again this year.

Without naming names, any CADO adjusters have any personal stories to share from the Florida storm claims you handled back then?

It may be important to seek out those "contractors" that are no longer in business since '05

One simple way is to search Sunbiz.com 

There are lists of thousands of contractors of all occupations, GC's, Certified GC's, Roofers, etc.

Perhaps a study group could determine which are legit and which are not. Unfortunately , John, this public forum could get a lot of people in deep water, were they to name firms. 

The MSFH just issued a warning as to some of the repair contractors who defaulted on their agreements under the FL My Safe Home program, thats a start. 


Perhaps the discussion group could issue applications to these 1000's of contractors and verify their credentials?

Many small contractors as well as larger home builders have gone belly up here due to the market down turn. Roofing and pool cages were the two biggest issues. I put a Timberline roof on my house just before Charlie and it was $175 a square R&R. The subsequent price increases were unconscionable. Ditto for tile. I am sure the Latino workers were all documented and very well paid for their labor.   Ice etc. was addressed regarding price gouging but roofing and pool cages went up due to 'market forces'. I am sure if the homeowner was paying for this work there would have been more than a few complaints. (They are paying for it now in the form of extremely high premiums.) Since it was 'insurance dollars' it was perfectly fine.  

I did handle a FIGA claim and the insured was a pool cage contractor. An honest one too. He did not raise his prices and only did the cages of his existing customers. He had a friend, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, that called him to have his pool cage looked at for bid purposes. The contractor went over and saw that the punctures in the screen were apparently from the inside and asked the good professor about it. The prof replied that he had been paying premium bla bla bla and the contractor left.