A recent insurance claim did not include the costs for OSHA Fall Protection for my contractor client. The claims adjuster carried two ladders and a plank in his claim estimate to do a 30 square roof on a 2 story colonial. He either did not know how to properly assess staging or he did know and tried to get away with excluding it.
OSHA Fall Protection Directive went into effect 9/16/2012
I prepared an estimate on behalf of my contractor client that included the costs of complying with the OSHA Fall Protection directive effective on 9/16/2011. The insurance adjuster sent us a letter stating that he wanted us to prove it by citing the OSHA Standard. I gave him the OSHA 1926 Subpart M (fall protection) and Subpart L (scaffolding) Standards as well as recent announcements form OSHA mandating fall protection for the residential construction industry. After reading the standards he had a change of heart.
The adjuster agreed to pay the amount required for OSHA compliant staging in the claim. I figured pump staging with nets and fall arrest systems. The adjuster had zero clue about the standards. This item raised the legitimate claim amount over $3,000.00. The contractor was pleased that his cost for setting safe staging was approved. He said in the past he would just eat these costs and move on with the job.
Many insurance company estimating programs have not been updated to reflect the true costs residential contractors must carry to comply with OSHA requirements now being imposed on the residential contractor. In addition most insurance adjusters are not up to speed on the increase in regulatory, code and compliance costs facing the residential contractor.
To win a fair settlement and get true direct job costs included you need to question all insurance claims line item by line item. You need to include all direct costs in your detailed estimate and present them to the adjuster. When you meet with resistance stand your ground and provide proof why items are included. When the insurance company says it is included in the square foot cost ask them to break it out and go through it with you step by step.
If you get a difficult adjuster call his supervisor or have the homeowner call the supervisor and ask to have the adjuster removed.
Above all do not accept a low ball estimate from an adjuster who is ignorant of what you know you must include in your price.
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