Year after year, we hear about our customers falling for roofing scams. These scams leave innocent homeowners thousands of dollars behind or with a bad roof over their heads. Roof scammers typically seek after budget-conscious homeowners who are looking to get the best bang for their buck. They will look for areas who have just been hit with a big storm or natural disaster and areas with a high senior citizen population. Sometimes they are hard to spot because they are good at what they do, but here are some signs that your roofing company could be a scam.
Signs of a Roofing Scam
They chase storms
Some roofing companies are called “storm chasers” because they will follow bad weather in hopes of finding a lot of damaged roofs in a specific area. In this case, they will often times go door to door to pass out flyers and leave them in mailboxes if no one is home. They will tell you that they see damage to your roof from the storm when in reality there could be no damage at all.
These scammers will try and convince homeowners they need a new roof and they can get one at a huge discount or for free. They’ll tell you to file a claim with your insurance company and that’s how you can get a new roof for so cheap/free. These roofing companies want to fix as many roofs as possible for as little cost as possible, then leave town. The life span of these roofs are often times half (or less) of the typical lifespan that you should expect from a roof.
Very Low Bid
There are some companies that offer you a very low bid, lower than their competition in order to win your business. Then once the new roof process starts, they keep running into unforeseen problems that they need to charge you for as well as inflated material cost.
Mystery Damage
These companies will come to your door because they were in the neighborhood and couldn’t help but notice the damage on your roof. They will swear it’s there and is a big red flag but you won’t be able to really see it. They will typically offer to take a closer look and tell you that indeed, it’s a big problem up on the roof. They will claim there is so much damage that you need a whole roof replacement, and that the area can’t be fixed.
Insurance Fraud
There are a few ways that roofing companies can try to commit insurance fraud. One is by submitting two separate invoices a lower invoice to the homeowner and a higher cost invoice to the insurance company. You should pay attention to this because since it’s fraud it could be prosecuted.
If you have any suspicions of a roofing fraud chances are it could be one. For a trusted and professional roofing contractor, work with Bay State Exteriors. We are a reliable company and have no problem explaining our process and why you need what you do with either a roof repair or a new roof. With any questions or for a free estimate, call us at 857-389-5284 or contact us on our website. We serve all of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, & Rhode Island.