It’s a Matter of Alignment
I read an interesting white paper entitled “Why Insurers Should Approve the Use of Portable Air Scrubbers on Every Water Damage Remediation Job” written by David M. Shagott, president of Abatement Technologies, Inc.
The article is both informative and well written but in my opinion highlights the misalignment between insurance carriers and the professionals in the mitigation and restoration business.
Let’s start with the title suggesting that insurers should approve the use of portable air scrubbers on every water damage remediation job. This statement is made generically without regard for policy language or coverage owed. The author doesn’t even acknowledge that some policies don’t cover for water damage and others do not offer any mold coverage at all. The article, while enlightening contains just the sort of information that mitigation professionals can use to scare policyholders and to potentially introduce friction between a policyholder and carrier.
Professionals in the restoration and mitigation business need to work more closely with insurance carriers to align the interests of all parties. Now granted carriers typically do not make it easy and typically view skilled trades and service providers as vendors with their greedy little hands in the carrier’s pockets. See my prior post on this theory entitled “The Dreaded “V” Word”
. As long as carriers and the professionals involved in restoring covered property view themselves as fighting over the same dollar, this misalignment of interests will increase cycle-time, increase friction, and ultimately cost carriers and service professionals alike much more than if they worked together towards a common goal on behalf of the policyholder.