100+ Questions to help you NOW.
Hurricanes suck, unless maybe you’re a surfer… or weather reporter.
Recovery and clean up afterward are even tougher. We wanted to share an a la carte list of questions that can help you, as real estate Owners and Investors.
Whether you are dealing with an insurance carrier, independent adjuster, building consultant, restoration contractor, or specialty consultant, these questions can help you now.
Questions for your insurance carrier/ adjuster
- Who is my assigned adjuster?
- What is their CAT (catastrophe) experience (number of years and/or disaster events)?
- How soon can they be on site?
- Up to what limits ($ amount) can the adjuster actually approve in regards total claim proceeds?
- At what limit ($ amount) does the claim approval escalate to their supervisor?
- Who is your building consultant that you plan to use to adjust the claim?
- Will the building consultant provide an estimator or will you engage a separate company?
- What is their (the building consultant’s) CAT (catastrophe) experience (in years and/or disaster events)?
- What is a building consultant?
- Why do you (the adjuster) need a building consultant?
- Do you (the adjuster) have contractors that you’ve work with in the past that are a good fit for owners during Emergency Mitigation Services (EMS)/ recovery/ restoration?
- Do you have contractors that you’ve work with in the past that are a good fit for owners during construction/ build back?
- Can you send me a copy of my current insurance policy?
- Can you explain to me the difference between actual cash value (ACV) and replacement cost value (RCV)?
- What is recoverable depreciation?
- How soon can we engage a contractor for mitigation services?
- Do we have different policies or coverages for Flood damage and Wind damage?
- Is Storm Surge damage the same as Flood damage?
- My contractor wants me to assign my rights to the claim proceeds to them, what do you recommend? Why? **THIS IS A TRICK QUESTION. ALWAYS SAY NO TO THE CONTRACTOR** This question is to test your adjuster’s experience and willingness to represent your interests as the Client (aka the Insured)
- Will my carrier cover the cost of a third party consultant (certified industrial hygienist) for measuring air quality, other testing/ sampling, etc. independent from the EMS contractor?
- Who covers the cost of moving personal contents that were damaged from the property?
- Will you (the adjuster) need to hire an architect, engineer, or other specialty consultant to assess the extent of damage to any of the property?
- Will we be able to get a copy of any reports or estimates from your/ the carrier’s consultants?
- If not, why not? As the insured, are we not the client of the insurance company?
- How do we get in touch with NFIP to determine our field adjuster that has been assigned to this claim?
- We hear that their mitigation/ drying standards are limiting and strict. What is your experience with flood cuts and NFIP adjusters?
- Since the entire first floor units flooded, can we remove water heaters to dry the wall?
- Since we are dealing with CAT III water, should we be removing tubs on the first floor to dry the adjacent walls?
- How do we handle mold growth on the exterior sheathing behind the brick and siding?
- How long from the start of EMS/ mitigation do you expect to have the claim “fully adjusted” and an actual cash value established?
- What documentation do we need to submit to receive the recoverable depreciation value after we complete the construction/ build back?
- Would you like to receive the daily reports from our contractor?
- What are the code required upgrades that we should anticipate?
- Do you have any experience with typical code upgrades required by the City?
- Do we need a demolition permit from the City?
- Have you inspected the roof for wind damage? If not, why not? Can you?
- Is landscaping, clean up, fencing, and jetting of the storm sewer system included in the adjusted claim value? If not, why not?
- Can you include these items?
- We are worried about the remaining useful life of the pad mounted transformers. What should we do in regards to dealing with the Utility provider? Can you help?
- At what moisture level (%) should we consider the sheetrock/ walls “wet enough” for removal?
- What level of flood cut are we targeting? How high in feet (ft)?
- How are we supposed to do that?
- How long are you anticipating the build back/ construction portion to take?
- What should we do in requesting an advanced payment?
- Are any documents required for an advanced payment?
- Do we need to request a specific dollar amount for the advanced payment based on your initial budget of the claim costs?
- Once you have an ACV established, how soon should we expect the balance of the claim proceeds?
- Are those proceeds unallocated or intend for specific line items related to the claim? We realize that we need (and intend) to be good stewards of the claim proceeds.
- Do we need to formally request the remaining ACV balance in writing as well?
- What are we forgetting?
- We need to engage an independent third party to provide QA related to [environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, code] issues. Does that sound reasonable?
- Have you worked with _________, our EMS contractor before?
- Have you worked with _________, our reconstruction contractor before?
- How bad is Class III water?
- What if it was stagnant in place on the property for several days?
- How do we know all the “dirty” water has been cleaned?
Questions for your contractor (EMS, general construction, HVAC, etc)
- Do you have one to three references you can share regarding similar work in recent history?
- How much experience do you have in a CAT work environment?
- How soon can you provide an estimate and scope of work?
- Have you worked with __________, our [adjuster/ insurance carrier] before?
- Can you provide a schedule for your estimate/ scope of work?
- What are your work hours? For how many days a week?
- From the time we sign an agreement, how soon can you be on site?
- What kind of mobilization payment is due?
- [if mobilization payment is over 30% of contract sum] That seems high, how are we supposed to do that?
- Can we agree on a 20% mobilization payment?
- Can you send an invoice and lien waiver for the mobilization payment?
- Who is going to be your main point of contact to manage the contract?
- Who is going to be your main site contact?
- What is your ratio of supervisors to laborers that you target?
- Can you track your progress in a daily written report?
- What time will you issue the daily report?
- Can you help track your progress by building/ location/ unit/ phase of work?
- How long should the EMS scope take?
- How many laborers will you have on site at one time?
- Do you have a contents release form that we can review and sign?
- Can you perform testing for ACM prior to demolition?
- Have you started moisture mapping?
- Have you agreed to a protocol related to flood cuts with the adjuster/ carrier?
- Have you started removing vanities, water heaters, tubs?
- Have you obtained the adjuster/ carrier’s approval in writing for these scope items?
- Do you have a company that can help us salvage appliances?
- Do you have access to enough dumpsters?
- What can we do to help make your work easier?
- What do you need from us?
- How many condensers are included in your estimate?
- Do you have air handling units (AHUs) also included in your estimate? How many?
- How many HVAC systems can you install per day, ie what is your velocity?
- What about overflow drain lines to the exterior, are those included in your scope?
- What about electrical work for the condensers, is that included in your scope?
- How soon after we sign a contract can you start?
- What kind of down payment, or mobilization, do you need to reserve the materials/ equipment?
- How many buildings/ units are you currently working in?
- How many buildings/ units have you completed?
- How much time is left to complete your scope of work?
- Can we set up weekly check-in calls to quickly discuss progress or lack thereof?
- We noticed [tile flooring, tubs, water heaters, etc] are not being removed? Why not?
- How are you planning to removed the deteriorated sheathing at the exterior walls? From the interior or exterior?
- Do we have a price and estimated duration for the exterior wall sheathing repairs?
- Are you able to price fence repairs?
- Are you able to price jetting of the storm drains in the parking lot?
- Are you able to price jetting of the yard/ landscape drains?
- Do you know what the City will require in terms of permitting, ie what permits are required – per scope, building, property, etc?
- Is the cost of permits included in your estimate?
- What kinds of documents do we need to submit for permits?
- Is the City able to provide a pre-construction inspection to help provide feedback on required code upgrades?
- How long will permitting take?
- We received your invoice, thank you. Can you please provide a partial lien waiver as well?