The Attorney & Contractor Relationship Explored – London Crounse & Michael Dye

Carriers don't have to talk to a contractor or public adjuster, but they respond fast to an attorney - claims that drag for a year can settle in weeks once a lawyer is involved.

On large losses, an attorney can stack treble-damage exposure (bad faith, delay, time), which pressures carriers to settle rather than litigate a multi-million-dollar claim.

Documentation is the contractor's loaded gun - Apex shot 4,000+ photos on one HOA job so the attorney could prove layers, labor, and cost and lay evidentiary foundation.

Finish agreed-scope work and fight over the rest later; sending an invoice that's under the original estimate makes the claimant look reasonable and the carrier's bad-faith meter climb.

Use the 'release all undisputed funds' demand - if the carrier can't give a reasonable basis to deny remaining line items, they're exposed to bad faith.

On an 80% coinsurance/underinsurance dispute, the contractor can provide both repair and replacement-cost estimates to argue the building wasn't actually underinsured.

Never pick the date of loss for the policyholder - present hail reports and let them choose; a wrong or carrier-chosen date can turn a million-dollar claim into a zero payout via deductible changes.

Decline redundant carrier 'mutual inspections' when damage is already documented - the worst accusation is failing to agree to a mutual inspection, which carries little weight.

Avoid UPPA accusations by stating facts, not opinions - 'the damage is here, it costs this, the policy says this' - and let the conclusions lead themselves; no one has ever been charged with UPPA.

The legislative fight: making public-adjuster fees payable by the carrier (like attorney's fees) so they don't come out of the policyholder's - and contractor's - profit.