What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AZ
Just a few weeks back we had a flood in our home. This is the first time we've ever had to file an insurance claim of any kind or deal with a contractor so we had no idea what we were getting into. We hired a restoration company to do the necessary demo and dry-out. We signed a contract with them which was rather vague but which I do believe was for the demo and dry-out only.
While we were waiting for the area to dry we had our insurance adjuster come out to estimate the costs for the repairs. The company we hired for the dry-out, with our consent, had a representative present during the estimation process to make sure that all costs would be accounted for and agreed upon. The adjuster, the contractor's representative and my husband discussed each of the needed repairs one by one and even discussed the costs involved in moving furniture. My husband said that he could do some things himself, such as move furniture and paint. The representative for the contractor kept using phrases like, "If we get the job" and "If you have us do the work." We never did sign a new contract but agreed to a start date for the work. We were told that we could talk to the owner about the work we wanted to do ourselves.
The owner expressed that if we did too much of the work the job wouldn't be worth it to him and he would pass. We explained that our main concern was saving enough to make up the difference of the deductible. He said he would go over the numbers and call us back. When he called back he gave us a short list of things we could do and said that if we did them he would waive the deductible. We were relieved not to have to pay anything out of pocket until we realized that the work we were doing, based on the estimate, was worth about $1,000 more than the deductible. We felt like they were trying to manipulate us into paying them for parts of the job that we were doing ourselves. We told the owner we didn't feel like we should be paying them the entire insurance check when clearly they weren't doing ALL the work. He said he would look things over and see if he could give us that money.
Suddenly he became really busy and difficult to get in touch with. By the time he got back in contact with us some of the work had already been done and we were starting to paint a few areas. My husband wasn't happy with some of the work they had done and he was getting tired of this guy not getting back with us. He told the owner that while he was happy with most of the work, there were some mistakes that needed fixing. He told him he didn't want to move on to other jobs, mainly carpeting and tile, until it was fixed and from now on he wanted to pay for each job as it was completed. The owner said he wouldn't invoice separately and when my husband insisted on it, he said the mistakes would be fixed and then he wanted out.
We just received an invoice by email earlier today for the FULL amount of the insurance estimate including the deductible. I'm absolutely in shock. He didn't even finish the job! We never agreed that he would be getting the entire check. At the very least we shouldn't be paying him for the things he didn't finish and honestly I don't feel like we should be paying him for the things we did either. Now he wants the check and deductible amount out of pocket that he agreed to waive! I also want to add that this should not include the demo and dry-out. The contractor and the insurance are supposed to negotiate about that separately. I believe the check for that goes through us but I doubt they would have added that amount onto this invoice. Besides, the invoice is for the EXACT amount of the estimate.
I realize now we should have gotten an estimate from the contractor before any work was started but there's nothing I can do about that now. Is he allowed to just charge us whatever he wants since we don't have it in writing? Would he be able to put a lien on the house if we don't pay? He was the one who walked out on us! Is a verbal agreement enough when it's based on an insurance estimate that the contractor helped negotiate with? I'm sorry this is so long. Thank you to whoever is actually reading this. It's almost 2:00 AM and I can't sleep, I'm so sick over this.
~JRiles
Just a few weeks back we had a flood in our home. This is the first time we've ever had to file an insurance claim of any kind or deal with a contractor so we had no idea what we were getting into. We hired a restoration company to do the necessary demo and dry-out. We signed a contract with them which was rather vague but which I do believe was for the demo and dry-out only.
While we were waiting for the area to dry we had our insurance adjuster come out to estimate the costs for the repairs. The company we hired for the dry-out, with our consent, had a representative present during the estimation process to make sure that all costs would be accounted for and agreed upon. The adjuster, the contractor's representative and my husband discussed each of the needed repairs one by one and even discussed the costs involved in moving furniture. My husband said that he could do some things himself, such as move furniture and paint. The representative for the contractor kept using phrases like, "If we get the job" and "If you have us do the work." We never did sign a new contract but agreed to a start date for the work. We were told that we could talk to the owner about the work we wanted to do ourselves.
The owner expressed that if we did too much of the work the job wouldn't be worth it to him and he would pass. We explained that our main concern was saving enough to make up the difference of the deductible. He said he would go over the numbers and call us back. When he called back he gave us a short list of things we could do and said that if we did them he would waive the deductible. We were relieved not to have to pay anything out of pocket until we realized that the work we were doing, based on the estimate, was worth about $1,000 more than the deductible. We felt like they were trying to manipulate us into paying them for parts of the job that we were doing ourselves. We told the owner we didn't feel like we should be paying them the entire insurance check when clearly they weren't doing ALL the work. He said he would look things over and see if he could give us that money.
Suddenly he became really busy and difficult to get in touch with. By the time he got back in contact with us some of the work had already been done and we were starting to paint a few areas. My husband wasn't happy with some of the work they had done and he was getting tired of this guy not getting back with us. He told the owner that while he was happy with most of the work, there were some mistakes that needed fixing. He told him he didn't want to move on to other jobs, mainly carpeting and tile, until it was fixed and from now on he wanted to pay for each job as it was completed. The owner said he wouldn't invoice separately and when my husband insisted on it, he said the mistakes would be fixed and then he wanted out.We just received an invoice by email earlier today for the FULL amount of the insurance estimate including the deductible. I'm absolutely in shock. He didn't even finish the job! We never agreed that he would be getting the entire check. At the very least we shouldn't be paying him for the things he didn't finish and honestly I don't feel like we should be paying him for the things we did either. Now he wants the check and deductible amount out of pocket that he agreed to waive! I also want to add that this should not include the demo and dry-out. The contractor and the insurance are supposed to negotiate about that separately. I believe the check for that goes through us but I doubt they would have added that amount onto this invoice. Besides, the invoice is for the EXACT amount of the estimate.
I realize now we should have gotten an estimate from the contractor before any work was started but there's nothing I can do about that now. Is he allowed to just charge us whatever he wants since we don't have it in writing? Would he be able to put a lien on the house if we don't pay? He was the one who walked out on us! Is a verbal agreement enough when it's based on an insurance estimate that the contractor helped negotiate with? I'm sorry this is so long. Thank you to whoever is actually reading this. It's almost 2:00 AM and I can't sleep, I'm so sick over this.
~JRiles