Your roof is meant to last you a very long time. Most roofs will last you from twenty to thirty years with asphalt shingles and up to fifty years with metal roofing. The longevity of your roof can be a curse in disguise, however. Since you don’t have to frequently deal with roofing companies, you’ll have a much harder time identifying which ones are legitimate dealers and which ones are trying to pull roofing scams on you.
Protect Yourself From These Common Roofing Scams
Experience with these scammers help, but how often do you come into contact with these people? Not often enough for you to know every scam in the book unless you’re an attorney. To help you out, we’ve compiled a set of the most common roofing scams to help you save your roof and your bank.
Overpricing
This is the least serious of all the roofing scams out there. Why? Because you can spot overpriced repairs from a mile away. Simply go to other roofing contractors to get a general idea of what a roof repair would cost. Any of them with prices way above the norm are trying to overprice their services and should be avoided at all costs.
The Door To Door Roofing Scams
This isn’t exactly a roofing scam in itself, but this is how many scammers operate. They’ll be roaming your neighborhood trying to sell their services to everyone and anyone that opens their door to them. They’ll be handing out fliers, leaving posters and bothering you to “have your roof repaired” even if you just recently had it repaired. There are two kinds of door to door scammers:
The Storm Chaser
Storm Chasers will be following in the path of hurricanes, or dust storms offering to repair any roofs damaged in the wake of these forces of nature.When you encounter them, don’t take up their offer for discounted repairs. They aim to target as many people as possible and repair as many roofs as possible before going off to look for another storm-stricken area. Their repairs tend to be quick and shoddy because of this. Like the storms they follow, they’ll leave a wake of carnage and roofing scams behind them.
The Good Samaritan
These roof scammers go door to door “pointing out” damage to your roof. You might think that they’re just being good Samaritans, but they’re simply hiding their horns under that halo. They’ll tell you that you have damage to your roof even if there isn’t any. Some will even go as far as causing the damage themselves before approaching your door. Like storm chasers, they’ll offer to repair your roof for cheap while compromising on quality.
The main takeaway here is that you get what you pay for. There are legitimate roofing businesses out there offering cheaper repairs, but they won’t come to your door begging to repair your roof.
Insurance Fraud
Scammers trying to pull insurance fraud on you will offer to repair your roof for cheap. Sometimes they can even offer repairs for free. A common way they do this is by creating two separate bills for you and their insurance company. Another way is having them pay your insurance deductible for you.Your bill will be substantially lower than the one they give to their insurance company. They’ll collect from their insurance company and you get a free roof. Win-win right? Wrong! You can get prosecuted alongside the scammer. Keep in mind, insurance fraud is against the law and willfully accepting a waived deductible means you’re an accomplice.
Who Can You Trust?
Renco Roofing has been in the roofing business for 10 years. With thousands of sturdy roofs and even more satisfied customers, we are dedicated to providing outstanding service on every job. Contact us today for a consultation!
