Adam Bensman explains how to handle homeowners who want to delay filing insurance claims until storm season ends. He recommends asking when they think it ends, warning them that insurance and contractor costs rise quarterly (7-20% increases since 2020), and noting that material delays can push repairs past the insurer's deadline, which ranges from six months to three years depending on the loss type.
Questions this video answers
May 19, 2022.
303-222-7133.
Approximately 7% to 20% (he states increases have been seen quarterly since 2020).
He cites a 12-month threshold from date of loss as an example and notes carrier windows can range from six months to three years depending on loss type and state.
Chapters
I want to wait until storm season ends. You hear this a lot, especially with homeowners in really competitive markets where it hails very frequently. If we get these hail storms earlier in the season, many homeowners are getting this resistance, or worse yet, they're literally being instructed by their insurance agent or the claims hotline to encourage folks, hey, why don't you wait till the end of storm season to file a claim or get things going? And this came up, thank you to a YouTube subscriber and a fan of the channel, Zach Lee. Zach, thank you for the comment because you inspired this video just from a few videos ago. The video, by the way, was the objection. I don't want to file a claim. And there's clearly some connection here. So in this video I'm going to be teaching you three different angles of attack to overcome this objection. When people just want to wait until the end of storm season. Before we get started, just want to say welcome back or welcome if you're new, I'm really glad to have you here. My name is Adam Bensman, the roof strategist. And everything I do here on the YouTube channel and on my podcast and in my all in one sales training and sales system, it's currently being used by thousands is designed for one reason and that is to help you and your team smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. So if you haven't already done it, hit that subscribe button and you'll be notified of every new video I create. Alright, now let's get into this. The first angle of attack from I want to wait for storm season to be over first. We're going to cover an obvious answer, but it's often overlooked. And in fact, in the comments there was quite a few responses to this objection that came up. I hadn't had anyone bring this up and that is simply asking the homeowner, when is storm season done? When is storm season over? Now, why do we just want to ask such a simple question? Well, here's why. For many of us, we want to use urgency, right? We want them to sign now, get this claim filed now. But we don't really know what kind of information we have because if someone says, storm season's over in four weeks, you know, and that's what they think, oh, I'm just going to wait. Well, in four weeks, that's an easier objection to overcome than if they say, hey, I want to wait until December, I want to wait eight more months. So when we ask the simple question, when is storm season over this is how we're going to want to first approach overcoming this. So we have all the facts at our disposal. All right? Now again, if they say, hey, you know, three weeks, it's in a month or two months, we can speak to that using the levels of urgency that I'm going to be bringing up here as points number two and three. So again, as a reminder, acknowledge them, reassure them that you're happy to help and then ask by over overcoming the objection, when does is the storm season over in their mind? Because by the way, not everyone knows the answer to this one then angle of attack number two is I want to ask, hey, did the insurance provider discuss with you who'd be responsible for any potential price increases that occur between now and then? Now this I've done another video which we're going to link to here in this card up top on how to use urgency to close more sales right now. Because the reality is we have been seeing more price increases than we have in the past. Usually it's one time to twice per year. We are getting them now since 2020 quarterly, that's four times a year and that those increases have been between 7 and 20%. So we have a 7 to 20% quarterly price increase. And again, factual information, many insurance companies are battling contractors on this because even though the scope said this, the roof got done four months later after a price increase that goes up. That is significant on the cost side. So when we supplement the right way, we are usually able to get the insurance carrier to take ownership and to pay for that. But the truth is it is often a battle. And if a homeowner is trying to play games and, you know, maybe keep the insurance company at arm's length and get an estimate from the contractor and they get one and this number changes because the price goes up, the homeowner is really not educated and equipped to navigate this situation. So our job is to illuminate what they don't know for fear of them saying, hey, well if I wait, there could be a 20% rate increase and that could fall on the homeowner if the insurance company plays games, whether the homeowner isn't represented appropriately or doesn't have a contractor on their side or if the homeowner just doesn't know, the wiser. So again, I just want to simply ask, hey, I understand you want to wait and I respect that. And may I ask, did your insurance company state who'd be responsible for any material increases that occur between now and then, which we've been Seeing over and over again because the rates today are different. We've been seeing quarterly rate increases 7 to 20% and I'd hate for your roof price to go up 20% in the next few months. And then all of a sudden the insurance carrier says, oh well, you should wait. And now all of a sudden waiting costs you an extra three, $4,000. We just don't want to see that happen. So again, that is your second angle of attack. Summarizing, first recap, when is it over so you have something to speak to because what they believe season is over versus what you know. And then did the insurance company share with you about the rate increase? Now the third angle of attack is material availability. And again, these are all just due to the current climate that we're experiencing with bottlenecks in our supply chain. So ask the homeowner, or. Excuse me, this one is not an ask, this is a statement. We're educating the homeowner. Listen, during these unprecedented times. God, I can't believe I just said that. I hate that everyone says it. Unprecedented, but it's true. These are unprecedented times where we are seeing material shortages, supply chain issues, manufacturers having their best years ever and not being able to keep up with demand. Another one of the largest manufacturers restricting their color availability for production to feed who they can. And this material availability becomes a very real issue. And here's where we tie this in. On an urgency standpoint, let's say the homeowner waits to file a claim till the end of storm season and they wait, say seven months from the date of loss. Well then the insurance company comes out, they get the scope. So we're now seven and a half months in. Well, what ends up happening is the material might be backordered. What if you can't get in queue for 3, 6 months? So now if there's any delay, you could be any delay over five months. And that homeowner is now beyond the 12 month threshold to get the claim filed, all the work done, the 12 month statute of limitations, which by the way, that is the date from when the data loss, the hail event to getting the work done and invoice the insurance carrier. And every company and every type of loss is different, by the way. They range from six months to three years depending on if it's hail, wind or hurricane or what state you're in. So if the homeowner drags their feet too long and then they wait to select the roof for thinking, we can just get it done. But then there's material availability issues. Now they're extended far beyond the 12 months they can't get the work done. All right, so there you have it. There are three really powerful angles of attack to approach the whole topic of hey, I just want to wait until storm season is over. And again, first we want to fact gather. When's the storm season over? Because if they say in a month, this material availability thing, getting them on the schedule, the price increase can just work to kind of nudge them over the edge if they believe it's way at the end seven, eight, nine months from now, depending on what time of year it is. Now we really need to lean into the education, the price increase so that doesn't fall upon them. And the material availability issue that paired with delay, delaying the claim, could put them beyond that threshold that even though they were trying to do right, they end up being beyond the time constraints of getting that claim filed and getting made whole. And therefore that full financial responsibility lands on the homeowner. So there you have it. And hey, did I miss any angles of attack that you might use? If so, drop them in the comments. There's been really rich discussions there. And again, thank you to Zach Lee for prompting this video so quick. We do take a look. I take a look at those. I respond to all the constructive comments that I possibly can and just want to thank you again for sharing your time with me here today. Now, just because your and my time is over, hang tight. I got two more things for you. Number one is if you are interested in my sales training and sales system that's being used by thousands as we speak. Complete system from knock to close for storm and retail packages available for an individual rep and being used by some of the top 100 companies in America. I'd love to chat with you and you can find a link in the video and podcast description. Or you can call our tech our office at 303-222-7133. That's 303-222-7133. And if you haven't done it yet, I want to get you a free copy of my pitch. Like a pro roofing sales training video library, you can click right here and download it. I'll send it to your inbox right away. And if you like this video and you want to just stick around and have some more, YouTube thinks you're really going to dig this one. We're.
