Beating DEDUCTIBLE Eaters? | Scary Truth About Insurance Fraud & How to Explain It [Roofing Sales]
A sales-training YouTube video by Adam Bensman (The Roof Strategist) teaching roofing sales reps how to handle homeowner objections about contractors "eating" or waiving insurance deductibles. Bensman emphasizes that deductible-waiving is insurance fraud, contrasts calling it merely "illegal" vs. "fraud," and provides a scripted role-play and simple math (example uses a $2,000 deductible and $20,000 claim) to show how false invoicing creates fraud risk for homeowners and contractors. He cites language from State Farm and Nationwide scopes and references state-level legislative actions (Florida, Colorado, Texas) to back his claims. The video includes an in-field example (Round Rock, TX) and tactical talking points for opening a sales presentation and closing ethically-minded customers.
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Insurance fraud. This is the scary truth about eating deductibles, waiving deductibles, sign allowances and all that. Yet despite it being insurance fraud, and we know that it's insurance fraud, homeowners who are dealing with hail, wind or hurricane claims are always hearing this from contractors. That guy will eat my deductible. He'll waive my deductible. He'll pay me to do my roof. And it makes it so difficult for us to win business. We lose deals, we have deals inked. They get pulled out from under us because there are sign walkers, as I call them. They see a yard sign and they're snakes and they're like, oh, well, I could just pay this homeowner to get the roof. Talk about real salesmanship, real quality of work, right? Walk up to someone who went through all this work, earn someone's business legitimately, and then offer to participate in insurance fraud and pay them to do the roof. This is not sales. This is the stench of desperation and it's soiling this industry. And it drives me absolutely batty. So in this video, I'm going to be teaching you the exact training that I just did in the back offices about seven different companies in Texas just last week, Houston, Dallas and Austin, to help those guys who are dealing with this deductible junk overcome it. And then I ran a sales appointment with Alex in the field and went through this exact process with a homeowner. So my wish and my goal, not my wish, my number one goal from this video is for you to leave this video with a new set of tools to communicate this to an insurance company. Now, listen, if you think you know it all, if you've said that it's illegal, you, you are right. And at the same time, you're likely going to glean one or two little tweaks that you can make to this process that are going to help you lock in those deals. I'm also going to be backing this up with some exact language that's written on this very State Farm scope, along with the extra scary language from this nationwide scope. So I highly recommend that you stick around all the way to the end so you can see how this builds upon each other and the different layers we use to overcome the deductible objection with our homeowners. Now, last thing before we jump into the nitty gritty, what I'm going to be teaching you, I actually go over in the very beginning of my presentation. Yep. Before I even get to the contingency, when I start sharing how I can help. I tackle this right away. Now, why is that? I tackle it right away because it is the largest objection. It's what I know my customers are thinking about and I know that they've probably heard it somewhere in the neighborhood from another roofer. So if I can tackle this out of the gate, I. I have captive attention. And when I get to the end, the hardest part's already done and it's very easy to get that autograph. So without further ado, let's hop right into today's video on insurance fraud, the scary truth about eating deductibles. Welcome. My name is Adam Bensman, the roof strategist. And everything I do here on this channel and in the podcast, in my programs and in my one on one services are very simple. They're designed to help you smash your income goals, to sell with honor, with integrity, with honesty, and to serve people from a place, love and yeah, that may sound cheesy, but you know what? At the end of the day, it's more than about money. Smashing our income goals is the journey, but the pat on the back is the big victory. The supporting your family is the big victory. Transforming your life is the big victory. Getting out of debt, creating life changing opportunities. And for owners, it's doing that for your team and being a hero. So I'm so glad you're here. If you are new, click the subscribe button and the bell so you don't miss a thing. Now, let's begin. Let's do a little exercise. Do you want to play a fun game with me? Let's do this. I'm going to ask you a question. I want your honest response. So who here speeds when they drive? Yeah. Have you sped? Have you broken the speed limit? Oh, you have. So that is illegal. Yet for some reason you're willing to do it. You're willing to break the law to maybe speed. Have you ever passed someone in the zone? You're not supposed to. Yeah, it happens, right? You're in a hurry, so maybe passing. Or what about parking illegally? So we've all done this illegal stuff and then you can layer in some of the other things that you might have done as a kid. We have all broken the law, but we take this calculated risk. So when we explain to a homeowner, because many of the sales reps that I met with, I'm like, hey, how do you do it? How do you talk with a homeowner and explain this insurance deductible thing? And they say, oh, well, I tell them it's illegal. Well then I ask them this, have you ever, do you ever speed? Yeah. So you do things that are legal. So why would your customer not care if you said the deductible eating is illegal, but you're willing to do illegal things too. But if we change the dialogue and I said, hey, are you willing to participate in insurance fraud? Lot of silence. I have done this. I've asked these exact questions in rooms of 30, 40 sales reps. Alright, you know what everybody says? Heck no. So the difference is when we hear insurance fraud, it is illegal, Right? But it is a very different type of illegal. So I want you to stay focused on the fact that eating deductibles is insurance fraud. It is not just illegal. In fact, don't even say this anymore. We just need to stay focused on this fraud piece. Why? Because this describes what it is in a much more accurate way. Now here, my friends, is how I break it down with homeowners. Now I'm going to shift into a little bit of a role play mode. Exactly as I've done this in the offices of numerous companies just in the last week between Houston and Dallas and Austin as I traveled to Texas. And I kept hearing that this is the biggest issue they're facing down there. These guys just playing, playing dirty, stealing jobs and doing unethical practices, to be frank. So here's what I do, Mr. Homeowner, before we get started, by the way, watch this screen because I'm going to be writing down those key points. Mr. Homeowner, before we get started, I want you to know that you can choose anyone you want for this project, alright? Now of course I would love to earn your business, but it's important for you to know that you can choose anyone. Now your insurance company can never force your hand to use anybody. They may ask for you to estimates, they may ask for you to talk to people, but at the end of the day, you can choose anyone. Now why is that? The reason is that this price is fixed, alright? It doesn't matter whether your claims $2,000,000 or $2,000. All you owe is your deductible. And there's no way around it, no legal way around it, which I'm going to be explaining here in a minute. So, Mr. Homeowner may ask, what is your insurance deductible? Oh, okay. It's $2,000. So I'm just going to write this down. So this is a $2,000 deductible way. That is a contractual agreement between you and the insurance company. I'm going to repeat that. That is a contractual agreement between you and the insurance company. It has nothing to do with me. So that means whether your claim is $2001 or $200,000, your deductible doesn't change. It's just the 2,000 bucks. Okay, that's it. So when I say you can choose anyone, here's why. Now, since this is a contractual agreement between you and the insurance company, whether there's stuff that's discovered in the process that the insurance covers, which I've seen happen, up to $7,500 worth of stuff and more even that we've uncovered in the middle of a project, the insurance covers it. And guess what? Your deductible stays the same. Likewise, if you find someone who can do it cheaper, when you tell the insurance company, who are you saving money you owe your deductible? Think of it like a copay when you go to the doctor. Now, if you're in there for a knee surgery, for example, and they find out that it' more invasive and it takes longer, they just do it and you owe your copay. That's it. It doesn't matter what the surgery costs. So your roof is no different. So I want to explain to you, Mr. Homeowner, those things that you know. Roofing companies come by and say they'll eat your deductible or waive your deductible. Most homeowners don't realize how they are doing it and the very serious consequences of allowing a contractor to do it. So if you don't mind, do you mind if I explain this to you and I'll show you an example based on your $2,000 deductible? And they say yes. Now let's play along. So, Mr. Homeowner, I'm going to use just some very simple math because I'm pretty bad at math. But I want to show you how this works. So let's say that the insurance comes out and we meet with the adjuster, we hop up on your roof and we do our assessment. Key word, guys. Assessment, not estimate. I am assessing the damage. There's XV to this, XV to that. Now, the insurance company is going to plug all of this. Assessment. Assessment, okay, keyword into xactimate, the third party estimating software. It's updated by month, by zip code, to reflect fluctuations in material and labor costs. So again, fair market value. I actually don't touch the price. All I'm concerned about is what's on your roof and getting it Restored that we are installing things to the like kind and quality and up to the code of not only the local building code, but up to the manufacturer specification. So we know that for installing these shingles, we're doing it the way that the manufacturer says we should. So all I do is I go up there. It is very objective. We measure things, we document it, we submit it through this fancy software with all these fancy codes that are confusing, and it goes to the insurance company and they spit it out. And that's what comes up with this number. So the number isn't an estimate. An estimate's like, yeah, I could build your house. You know, you're looking at like 200 and 250 square feet, depending on finishes. That's an estimate. But an assessment is line by line by line. We're going to do this, we're going to do that. This fee to this, this fee to that. So that's how we come up to this total amount. So you, Mr. Homeowner, are going to owe just your deductible, which is 2,000. Okay? So I'm just going to write here, that's your deductible. So that leaves the insurance company paying for $18,000. All right? Now, many homeowners think, oh, well, if I can find someone who could do it for 18,000, I wouldn't have to pay my deductible, right? Well, this is how people think, but it doesn't work like that. So when a contractor tells you that they can eat this deductible by doing it for 18,000 or less, here's what happens. And by the way, if you get an estimate and send this to the insurance company, they will just pay the 18,000. You still owe your deductible. So they're only going to pay 2000. So watch how this works. 18,000 is what the insurance company will pay, but they don't pay the full 18 upfront. They pay a portion up front, which is what's called the actual cash value, what the roof is worth today. Use roof price. Okay, so just for simple math, let's just say they paid $9,000. Okay? So I'm just going to write here as their first check. So what happens, Mr. Homeowner, is we get this first check, we collect our deposit and your deductible, and then we go ahead and do the roof. Then we go to your insurance company, we invoice them and say, we have done the roof and it was $20,000. So what do they do when they're done? They submit another check for $9,000. That's the second check. So first checks paid, second checks paid, you pay your deductible. All that math adds up to $20,000. You're all done. So, Mr. Homeowner, this is what happens when a contractor says they can eat your deductible. What they do is they say, hey, I can do your roof for 18,000. And you think, great, deductibles waived. And you might be thinking, it's kind of like a car claim. You get a check, you shop around, you do your thing. But it doesn't work like that with property damage claims on your home. So what a roofer will do is they'll get the roof done. I'm going to use a grave extreme. Let's just say it's $17,000, okay? So you've got. This is the legal way to do it. And again, all those invoices go back to the insurance to let them know that you did it for that 20,000. So in this example, you get that 9,000 bucks right from the insurance. And then this contractor is like, hey, I can do your roof for 17,000. So what do they do? They're collecting 17 from you, okay? And you're thinking, I'm going to walk away with $1000 profit and I don't have to pay my deductible. So what the insurance, what the roofer is doing is he's collecting 17 from you, but then he goes back to his insurance company and he says, we did the roof for $20,000. Why? Because that's the only way they're going to release this second check that you're seeing here. If they see that you did it for 17,000, they're only going to pay. What would that be? 6,000. Because they. You need to pay your deductible. I'm horrible with math on the fly, but my point is, someone correct me on the math. It's like I'm missing a link in my brain. My point is, you. You would owe that 2,000 because that's your contractual agreement with you and the insurance company. So if they invoice for 17,000, then the insurance says, oh, well, that final check that's left, we're only going to give you the 6,000 because you still owe your deductible. So what they do is they lie to the insurance company, which puts you as a willing participant of insurance fraud. Why? Because they're providing false. They're lying to the insurance company, saying they did it for 20,000, then turning to you and collecting it for 17,000, which can put you and I in jail. And Mr. Homeowner, I do not want to be your cellmate. And frankly, I am not willing to go to prison to earn your business. And the last thing, Mr. Homeowner, is most contractors are duping homeowners by doing this, which again puts you as a willing participant in insurance fraud, even though you didn't know it was going on. Now, I'm sure you wouldn't want to participate in insurance fraud, now would you? That's when I pause and they say, whoa. Because most people don't explain this process. What I want to do, and I'm going to break this down and then show you some real world examples, is that this $2,000 deductible is a contractual agreement between them and the insurance company. So we have nothing to do with it. Then I want to show them if Your claim is 2,000 to $1 or 200,000, it doesn't change. Okay, Then I want to explain how the breakdown of funds work and that if the insurance company sees this estimate for 17, they do it for less. So when we explain. Hey. That the contractor is going to be lying to your insurance company and if they didn't tell you this, they are putting you as a willing participant in insurance fraud. Do you see? After seeing this, now breaking the role play, the difference between this is illegal versus fraud. I need to prove that it's fraud. Show them what's happening. If the homeowner doesn't see this, then they're like, eh, whatever. My insurance company, they're big corporations, they make a bunch of money, they don't care. But when you break this down and you show the deceit, you show the lying, you show the false information, it changes everything. I went through this straight out of the gate with a homeowner. We run a sales appointment last week, Round Rock, Texas. We have a set appointment. And when I show up with Alex, the rep I was with, there's a yard sign already in front. Now I told Alex, I am not I do not walk signs. I do not walk on other people's property. Okay? This was a set lead. So the first thing I do is I ask. I say, hey, Mr. Homeowner, I couldn't help but notice you already had a yard sign in front from another roofing company. What inspired you to set up this appointment? You know what he says? He says, you know what? I'm still figuring it out. I just wanted to see if anyone might be able to help because I have an expensive Deductible. So perfect. Right out of the gate, we knew what was going on. We sit him down in the backyard. We say, hey, listen, I just want you to know you can choose anyone you want for the project. Here's why I went through this. I grabbed a piece of paper, I wrote everything down for him at his table so he could watch it. I explained it all, and guess what? Issue resolved. He saw it, he got it. And then we explained the legal ways to help with the deductible by using those ACV payments of things that he didn't want done. So now for some proof. I'm going to clear this for a minute and I want to show you some proof from a couple of scopes to back these claims. Number one, this is from State Farm. I have redacted all private information. These. I thank you for the community and for clients who sent me these things to use. Number one, if you select a contractor whose estimate is the same or lower than our estimate based on the same scope of damage, by the way, scope of damage means the assessment we will pay based upon their estimate, meaning if you find one lower, they pay less. You pay your deductible in writing. All right. Pretty simple. Next, this is where it gets real good. This is from nationwide. This is on the back page. So you've got their cover page. And then on the back of this nationwide scope, at the very bottom, I'm going to read this language. It is unlawful to knowingly provide false, incomplete or misleading facts or information to an insurance company for the purpose of defrauding or attempting to defraud the company, which is telling the insurance company you did it for 20 when you really did it for 17. Okay. Penalties may include imprisonment. I paused on that one. Let that linger. Fines, denial of insurance, and civil damages. And then it continues. They are cracking down on this stuff, guys. Insurance companies are hurting. They're paying out so much in claims. And when people don't play by the rules, it makes everybody look bad and it can put you in jail. And frankly, I have heard through the grapevine that states like Texas who are, have made legislative changes where paying that law. Excuse me, paying the deductible is state law. Places like Florida with SB 76 and 305 rolling out, they are cracking down. Colorado passed a bill making it a state law to pay your deductible. Why? To level the playing field, to make sure that homeowners get made whole. Because we all know that you can't just whack $3,000 of profit out of a job and expect to be able to do the same quality of work. It simply doesn't that way. So it is important Key Takeaways for this Video when you explain to a homeowner what we want to do is break down all those barriers straight out of the gate so we can tackle that objection and win the business. Key point number one remember Mr. Homeowner, you can choose anyone you want. Why? Then we explain point 2 what is your deductible? That is a contractual agreement between you and the insurance company. It has nothing to do with me. Whether Your claim is $2001 or $200,000, your deductible stays the same. Number three explain showing the numbers of how a claim is paid, how the contractors are invoicing the insurance company with a false amount and lying to them, which makes them a willing participant in insurance fraud. And then close with and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be willing to participate in insurance fraud now would you? And no one's going to say whatever and if they say I don't care then just walk away. They're not your customer, okay? If they're willing to do it, you and I both know you're not. So just be done. It's okay to not have them be our customer. Point number four Use the information from the insurance companies from State, from nationwide that if they find someone who's going to do it less. If an insurance company says get three estimates and you show them a cheaper one or you go with a cheaper one, that saves them money. Not you because you owe your deductible no matter what. Just like a medical claim, you owe your copay or whatever it is. Alright, so I hope this video, this plan of attack can help you explain the scary truth about participating in insurance fraud, about your homeowners getting duped in being an unknown participant in insurance fraud. To help you tackle that objection, level the playing field and win business so you can serve customers who share the same values and integrity as you do. Listen, just because our time here is about to wrap up doesn't mean our time needs to. In this playlist, I want to give you a ton of other objections and how I overcome them. So click here and if you're brand new here, I welcome you to download a free copy of my pitch Like a Pro Roofing Sales Training Video library and the last thing just to close if you're interested in my closing process that is included with my complete closing strategy along with the roofing sales success formula where you'll get it all, and all of that is available in the video descriptions below. You'll see why and how I tackle this objection straight out of the gate and how you can do the same to win more deals and not get thrown off by that deductible objection. So click here for the Objection library and here for my pitch Like a Pro Roofing Sales Training Video Library 100% free sent to your inbox. We'll see you soon.
