We want you to be assured that the Joe Ferry team will be here for you and your business, to answer questions, handle meritless claims and address any concerns you may have, regardless of the uncertain and evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19.
With mandatory stay-at-home orders in effect worldwide, the chances of your clients finding an item to file a claim on are significantly increased. Which means inspectors all over the world need our protection now more than ever. We have already been experiencing a high volume of complaints in the first 2 weeks of this pandemic and expect it to continue until we flatten the curve.
We encourage you to protect yourself, your family and your business to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Stay healthy and please feel free to reach out to our office if you have any questions or concerns.
Bellow you will find resources from our affiliate partners and associations in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic:
COVID-19 Online Safety Guidelines Course by InterNACHI
If you’re wondering what you should or shouldn’t be doing while performing your inspections during this pandemic, check out this free course by InterNACHI. It’s available to all inspectors whether you’re a member or not.
This course is designed to provide best practices for inspection protocols and procedures, along with recommendations to help home inspectors keep themselves and their clients safe and healthy. The course is also available to all real estate agents in the U.S. and Canada, too.
Can I still inspect? Should I still inspect? What could happen if I do inspect?
Unfortunately the situation we’re currently in changes day by day. Most State’s in the United States have Executive Orders out that only allow essential businesses to operate during these times. The fact of the matter is, most States consider Home Inspectors an essential business.
Nathan Thornberry with Inspector Services Group has put together a forum for Inspectors to keep up on daily updates with the COVID-19 virus and common questions home inspectors ask in regards to the virus.
We recommend reviewing the information on this forum if you are concerned if you can operate in a specific state or want to ask a fellow inspector a question about what they’re doing during this pandemic.
What if I can’t find my State’s response to the COVID-19 virus?
The American Society of Home Inspectors has put together a list of every State in the United States of America and every Province/Territory in Canada that will direct you to your specific location’s website.
If you’re an ASHI member and want to follow up with their response to the COVID-19 virus, you can visit their page here.
Can someone try to sue me for contaminating their house? Will my insurance cover it?
The simple answer is, Yes. There has yet to be any reported cases of something so ridiculous. But given the day of age we currently live in, you shouldn’t take any risks.
Along with having ClaimIntercept you may want to consider using a release form for the time being.
InterNACHI has created a great FREE Occupant Release form template for inspectors to use.
Please keep in mind that your E&O insurance policies WILL NOT cover a home inspector getting a client or someone else in the home sick. If you’re going to still inspect, you should either put in your pre-inspection agreement that you are not responsible if someone in the household gets sick from the COVID-19 virus or use a Occupant Virus Release.
What should I do if I perform commercial property inspections?
The CCPIA has put together a guideline for commercial property inspectors to utilize during the pandemic.
What happens if I receive a meritless claim or demand from my client?
We have already handled an abundance amount of claims that have came in over the last 2 weeks since the start of this pandemic. We believe that with the extra time your clients will have over the next few weeks stuck inside, there will be many occurrences of either something going wrong in their home and they don’t have the funds currently to repair the issue or they will be utilizing this time to do renovations on their home and come across an issue that they believe the inspector should have called out in their report.
The Joe Ferry team will still be operating around the clock to provide you with the protection you need to squash these meritless claims.
If you haven’t already, you can sign up for the ClaimIntercept program and start your coverage now.