Insurance Restoration Contracting


Book Description

Insurance restoration the repair of buildings damaged by water, fire, smoke, storms, and other disasters is an exciting and challenging field of construction. It also offers contractors lucrative work that's immune to economic downturns pipes still break, buildings still burn, and trees are still blown over, regardless of the economy. And with the insurance companies funding the repairs, your payment is virtually guaranteed. But not just anyone can repair fire- and water-damaged buildings. You need the knowledge and the equipment to get the job done right, and that's what this book is all about. From understanding fire repairs and smoke odors to restorative drying methods, mold remediation, and handling contents, you'll not only learn how to provide top-notch property and content restoration services, but also how to become the person homeowners and insurance companies turn to first in an emergency putting yourself first in line for all the best jobs.




The Book on Restoration Collections


Book Description

"The Restoration Lawyer" Ed Cross has been collecting money for restorers across the United States since 1997, representing everything from small sole proprietorships to the biggest names in the restoration industry. He has recovered many tens of millions of dollars for restoration services, often avoiding litigation, and overcoming problems with adjuster lowballing, the inappropriate use of standardized prices, interference from third party consultants and bill reviewers, workmanship complaints from customers, and vigorous opposition from lawyers representing carriers and policyholders. The Book on Restoration Collections shares his battle-tested 10-step process to cutting through insurance red tape to accelerate and maximize receivables. STEP 1: Build a Powerful Restoration Contract STEP 2: Document the File to be Lucrative STEP 3: Be in the Loop for Every Communication with the Adjuster STEP 4: Defeat Attempts to Use Standardized Prices as Global Prices STEP 5: Neutralize Adjuster Excuses & Cut Through the Smokescreen STEP 6: Overcome Challenges from Third Party Consultants STEP 7: Keep Insurance Proceeds Away from Mortgage Companies STEP 8: Gradually Escalate Collection Efforts STEP 9: Properly Leverage Mechanic's Liens STEP 10: Decide If, When and Whom to Sue Ed Cross recommends that contractors seriously consider obtaining Assignments of Insurance Rights from their customers to allow direct billing to insurance. In the first book in this series, The Book on the Assignment of Benefits, he explains how Assignments work, how to present them to customers and insurers, and how to prosecute them. It includes Assignment of Insurance Rights forms and Notice of Assignment form letters for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This book picks up where the Assignments book left off, and includes downloadable demand letters in MS Word format for use when the restorer has an assignment and hits an impasse with the carrier.




Be Intentional


Book Description

What is this book about?This book will help sharpen your senses for taking on greater challenges in your professional development. The value of this book is in setting the right growth mindset for approaching insurance repairs and developing habits that will lead you down the path of success with the resources available to you. * If you are new to estimating property damage repairs, this book will help you to form a much better understanding of the framework for clear and consistent estimates. * If you have been using working in property restoration and using Xactimate for a while but have been frustrated with poor results, this book will help you correct many of those bad habits that commonly plague poorly structured teams. * If you are an adjuster or a claims review professional, this will help you understand the estimating dynamics and will be a tool that will help you better converse with restoration professionals. ?* If one of your responsibilities is to train estimators and/or build a team, this book will help you to present the foundational information to your team members and will provide them with resources that will supplement your hands on training.




Markup & Profit


Book Description

In order to succeed in a construction business you have to be able to mark up the price of your jobs to cover overhead expenses and make a decent profit. The problem is how much to mark it up. You don't want to lose jobs because you charge too much, and you don't want to work for free because you've charged too little. If you know how much to mark up you can apply it to your job costs and arrive at the right sales price for your work. This book gives you the background and the calculations necessary to easily figure the markup that is right for your business. Includes a CD-ROM with forms and checklists for your use.




Repairing Your Flooded Home


Book Description

When in doubt, throw it out. Don't risk injury or infection. 2: Ask for help. Many people can do a lot of the cleanup and repairs discussed in this book. But if you have technical questions or do not feel comfortable doing something, get professional help. If there is a federal disaster declaration, a telephone "hotline" will often be publicized to provide information about public, private, and voluntary agency programs to help you recover from the flood. Government disaster programs are there to help you, the taxpayer. You're paying for them; check them out. 3: Floodproof. It is very likely that your home will be flooded again someday. Floodproofing means using materials and practices that will prevent or minimize flood damage in the future. Many floodproofing techniques are inexpensive or can be easily incorporated into your rebuilding program. You can save a lot of money by floodproofing as you repair and rebuild (see Step 8).







The 24-Hour Tech


Book Description

The 24-Hour Tech is a training manual for those in the water damage or "restoration" field. This manual walks the reader through the 20-Step Mitigation Process. It is intended as a complete training manual for new Water Damage Technicians who wish to quickly learn how to properly document insurance losses involving water damage. Andrew McCabe developed this process over years of water damage claims experience. He still uses it today in his consulting practice - Claims Delegates. If you want to learn quickly how to properly document and perform water damage mitigation, without paying for an expensive certification class, The 24-Hour Tech is perfect for you. The process and manual are also the perfect complement to recent grads of WRT or ASD training classes. You may understand HOW to dry a structure, but The 24-Hour Tech teaches you how to get PAID by insurance companies. The system is designed to flow directly into the Xactimate estimating software used by 90% of the insurance claims world.




The DIY Blacksmithing Book


Book Description

How to build a forge, spend less on an anvil, and start blacksmithing over the weekend.Want to learn how to blacksmith, but don't know where to start? Is the idea of setting up your own shop causing you to feel overwhelmed? You already know that blacksmithing is one of the least expensive trades as well as one of the most impressive once you know how to do it. The problem? You need to know where to start. In The DIY Blacksmithing Book, you'll get a step-by-step plan laid out for you along with resources and suggestions for ways to do it all on your own terms for less money. STOP before you spend $2000 on a forge and anvil alone!There are much cheaper ways to find a makeshift anvil and build your own forge. If you're a true DIYer, you'll be able to put the steps laid out in this book into action over the weekend. Follow the 7 Step Plan for Getting Set Up FastYou'll learn to: - Source anvils, create your own, and avoid ASOs (anvil-shaped objects).- Harden and temper steel for use in knife and tool making.- Finish your pieces with both traditional and modern techniques.- Locate the best deals on hammers on tongs.- Find steel suppliers and know what type of metal to ask for.- Set up a backyard forge with materials you already have available.- Build your own coal forge for less than $50.Would you like to know more?Pick up The DIY Blacksmithing Book and start setting up your forge TODAY. Scroll to the top of the page and select the 'Buy Button.'




Project Management for Construction


Book Description




Ask a Manager


Book Description

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together