Fly-By-Night Roofers
With summer in full effect, it brings with it at times intense thunderstorms. That being said, many are aware of the potential damages that may proceed following a severe storm. Whether your roof was damaged by hail or a broken limb from a tree, storms can leave an impact. Therefore, it is important for you to choose the right people to fix the damages. The world is full of scammers, and this applies to the roofing business as well. In the event your roof is damaged, you will want to know who to avoid and how to avoid them. Fly-by-night roofers and “storm chasers” are individuals you want to avoid at all costs.
What is a Fly-By-Night Roofer?
First off, you will want to get familiar with the term fly-by-night roofer. Fly-by-night roofers are scammers which claim they are roofers. Most times after a sever storm, these individuals will go door-to-door, hoping to get business. In addition, fly-by-night roofers often offer mind blowing low offers. However, the catch is that these people are usually uninsured. Due to their lack of insurance, you will likely receive less than satisfactory work. Furthermore, if they were to get hurt on your property, you would be held responsible since they do not have insurance. Lastly, the main go of storm chasers and fly-by-night roofers is to simply exploit people.
Avoiding Fly-By-Night Scams
To begin, you should be aware that scammers do exist, and that it can happen to you. A great first step you can take to avoid being scammed is looking at what a real roofing company looks like. For example, most real roofer will not go door-to-door. An old adage to keep in mind is “if its too good to be true, it probably is”. This applies to both your roofer and their rates. Lastly, there are three major indicators to look out for when attempting to avoid fly-by-night scammers.
Large Down Payments
Above all, this is probably the easiest red flag to identify when dealing with fly-by-night roofers. If a door-to-door roofer shows up asking for a big down payment it should raise concern. Likewise, if your total cost of the job is low, but the down payment is big, you will want to avoid using them. Most times when a fly-by-night roofer is asking for a large down payment, it means one of two things. In one instance it could mean that they would not be able to the job without the down payment. This is a red flag all in itself. On the other hand, it could mean they plan on abandoning you after they receive the payment. Nevertheless, you want to avoid these situations.
Lack of Insurance
This red flag can apply to both scammers and bad roofers in general. No matter the situation, if they lack insurance, you should not hire them. In the event that you do hire them , all costs could likely fall on you. For example, if an uninsured roofer gets hurt on your property, you may be held responsible for the injuries. Lastly, if you have an uneasy feeling about this, look up the company’s insurance credentials. In the state of Illinois, businesses are required by law to have insurance.
Low Price Offerings
Always remember the saying “if its too good to be true, it probably is not”. It should be applied to the section regarding large down payments and does here as well. Therefore, in the event someone offers you a very low price, you will want to ask why. Often, fly-by-night roofers offer low prices because they do poor work. Therefore, you would likely understand why the job was so cheap after you saw the results. In conclusion, its best to avoid this all together. In order to do so, ask questions and keep an eye out for the indicators we just listed.
