Roof Project Scams: Avoid Home Improvements Scams & Protect Your Investment

Here are some scary statistics when it comes to get your roof replaced.

·      15% of all home improvement scam reports received by the Better Business Bureau were roof-related projects. (inspectionsupport.com/home-improvement-scams-trends-report-2022) – Homeowners lose thousands of dollars.

·      80% of roofing companies FAIL within the first TWO years. 96% fail within FIVE years! (roofinginsights.com/5-reasons-contractors-fail-in-roofing-business) – Leaving homeowners with no warranty coverage.

·      The FBI estimates that insurance carriers pay at least $1 billion annually on fraudulent roof claims. (roofcontractor.com, September 12, 2024) – Homeowners don’t realize they are being pulled into insurance fraud when a roof contractor or public adjust file a bogus claim.

“Free Roof Inspection” Scams

                  A common tactic used by many, if not all, roof contractors is to offer a “free roof inspection.”  While many contractors will honor this proper attention and service, it also opens the door for major scamming opportunities.  Once you allow someone on your property they can (a) push you for costly, but completely unnecessary repairs or replacements – because how will you know if it’s not true. Or (b) cause damage themselves by folding/creasing shingles, cracking tiles and damaging underlayment, or many other ways to report to you and your insurance company that your roof needs to now be replaced.

Don't fall for the smile!

“Free Roof” Scams

                  Contractors who offer “Free roof replacements” are, very often, creating insurance fraud.  Most homeowners insurance policies require that the homeowner pay the deductible, but unscrupulous contractors hide this and say they will cover the cost out of the amount they recover from the insurance company.

“Low Price – change order” Scam

                  Many contractors will present a very low price for a roof replacement but hide the cost of extras and hit property owners with very high change orders once the project has already begun essentially trapping the owner in a “pay or else” situation.  Bad acting contractors will report excessive wood damage and replacement cost, but not actually replace the wood.  They will also hit the homeowner with changes for roof accessories that were not included in the original proposal.

Don't be fooled!

“Upfront Payment” Scams

                  Most all roof contractors require payment terms that require a customer to pay some amount upfront to get the project started.  This is usually between 25 and 50% of the total contract.  Bad actors request 50% upfront, and then are never to be seen again.

Protect Your Home

What is a homeowner to do with all these threats of scams when they need to get their roof replaced? To best protect against getting scammed, a homeowner must do extensive research on local contractors in their area.  Even if they are referred by a neighbor, you never know when the worst can happen, so it is always recommended that a thorough vetting process is done on all contractors.  You don’t just want to read their Google reviews, but you need to dig deeper and look at their license, ownership (sometimes license holders don’t even work in the business – called “renting or leasing a license”), number of years in business (see stats above), size of crews they use, do they use subcontractors, what type of insurance do they carry, and many more questions.  The next step is to read through quotes and contracts word by word to fully understand what you are signing.  Bad acting contractors will hide extra fees for wood, double layers of shingle removal and many more inside the fine print which most people don’t read.  Lasty, make sure you do all of this at least three times with three different roof contractors from your area. 

The other option is to allow RoofBids to protect you because they do all of the homework for you.  Extensive vetting process, knowledge of owners, established relationships, and multiple quotes done all for you.  Go to www.myRoofBids.com