working with insurance companies after disasters

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BILL WARD

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Posts
2,451
Loc
Tampa, FL
contrary to popular belief, FLORIDA hasn't quite blown away, yet...ok, so it's ALOT flatter in spots(and very littered), but............ as
there are LOTS and LOTS of destroyed/damaged artwork/framework thruout the state, and I'd like to be able to be part of the solution--putting Humpty-Dumpty's pictures/frames back together again.....

questions:
1)has anyone had any (hopefully good) experiences dealing with insurance companies after major disastrers???? ie hurricanes and flooding.
2)how'd you go about finding someone other than the claims clerk to deal with(ie descision makers)?
3)any particular problems I should attempt to avoid in this enterprise as far as fixingup/reframing etc stuff that I havn't already come up against in normal business?

till the next big blow.........
w.ward
 
Hi Bill,

In my neck of the woods, it is often the "Restoration" companies who get the big contracts, and then they farm out specialized work, such as the treatment/reframing of art.

Regardless of whether you are working for the insurance company directly, or for a restoration company, or for the actual client, I'd suggest charging an hourly rate to do the initial accessment (depending on the size of the collection). Once the accessment is done, you can quote on the job. If you get the job, ask for 50% down, with balance due on completion. Otherwise you can wait a long, long time for payment.

Rebecca
 
I used to do work for an insurance company years ago. It was mostly for house fires. I quit doing it after just a couple of years.

First reason is it just got to darn depressing. If you have ever walked through a burned out house and looked at damaged and destroyed family treasures that go all the way back to the 1800s, it just plain loses it's appeal, no matter what the financial rewards are.

One of the other biggest reasons is, working up an insurance claim can take weeks. You have to write out and price every picture, just like any work order coming into your shop, very time consuming.

Just because you do all that does not mean you are going to get any work out of it. Most of these people who receive a check from their insurance companies, have other uses for the money. Framed pictures are at the bottom of their list.

I used to charge ten percent of the invoice for an insurance quote, it still was not enough for all the time involved.

Your idea is a sound one, except for the above reason. The insurance companies do not give you the work order, their policy holders do that.

Unless you are dealing in very treasured family heirlooms or very expensive collectibles, most people would rather just have the insurance money to cover their loss.

You may be taking on a lot of paperwork for very little money.

John
 
tanks, everyone....good advice....thing to think on
w.w.
 
John's right. Have priced all the work for 2 different water claims where pipes burst on 2nd floor and ruined framed pcs on 1st floor. Most of what's brought in really isn't worth reframing anyway. You can make some money on doing the estimates (if it's really slow and you need the money) but in both situations, I only ended up reframing about 5 small family photo pcs. that actually weren't really damaged. It is depressing work, as the families are overwhelmed w/what all needs to be done just to get their homes back into a living condition.
 
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