TAMPA BAY — Nothing in Florida’s regulation stops contractors from chilly calling owners, and ABC Action News lately discovered males working for one Tampa Bay roofer advised residents they probably certified for a free roof courtesy of their insurance coverage firm.
Melissa Crans caught the door knock and gross sales pitch on her Ring digital camera. Crans didn’t reply the door and spoke to the 2 strangers by way of the Ring speaker. She mentioned she was not , however they endured. The males advised her an inspector could be by later to find out if her roof certified for a free replacement.
Melissa Crans
One of the boys mentioned he represented a contractor who was reroofing properties within the Oldsmar neighborhood.
“They are just a company working with all the homeowner’s insurance to cover the cost of the roof replacements,” he advised her.
Down the road from Crans, house owner Trigg Kelley advised ABC Action News three males lately approached him a few roof giveaway.
“I said I’ve already got a roofer,” Kelley recalled. “And they said, ‘we can get it through your insurance for free.’”
ABC Action News known as the roofer listed on the cardboard left for Crans to ask concerning the door knocks and free roof pitches. He claimed they canvassed neighborhoods hit by extreme climate and supplied to examine roofs for storm injury that could be coated by insurance coverage. The contractor mentioned he would discuss to the staff about utilizing the phrases “free roofs.”
ABC Action News just isn’t naming the roofer as a result of there may be nothing unlawful about these door knocks. In 2021 Governor DeSantis signed a invoice into regulation that outlawed these solicitations. A choose blocked that portion of Senate Bill 76 after a roofer filed go well with claiming the regulation violated freedom of speech.
But former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller and different insurance coverage consultants blame these chilly calls, partially, for Florida’s skyrocketing premiums.
Miller advised ABC Action News, “Insurance companies are not in the business of replacing roofs unless there is a legitimate damage claim.”
Door-to-door solicitations like these can result in denied insurance coverage claims and roofers suing the insurance coverage corporations. The Insurance Information Institute mentioned greater than 100,000 lawsuits had been filed in opposition to Florida property insurers in 2021 alone. That represents about 76% of the fits filed nationwide.
A brand new regulation, handed in May, is anticipated to have an effect on contractors who do insurance-based work. Senate Bill 2-D modified the requirement {that a} roof with 25% or extra injury had to get replaced. If your roof meets the 2007 constructing code you might have the choice to restore it.