home inspection agreement

Only 1% of All Home Inspection Claims Have Merit

Only 1% of Home Inspection Claims Have MeritA home inspector who serves on his state’s licensing board told me that 6% of the licensed inspectors in that state had claims brought against them and that 90% (yes, 90%) of those claims had merit.

Those numbers were completely at odds with my experience where less than 1% of home inspection claims have merit, so it made me wonder if the insurers on those claims were doing any investigation whatsoever or perhaps they just don’t know what constitutes a meritorious claim.

Let me tell them (and you) in this week’s ClaimsAcademy video blog. This is a valuable piece of home inspector training.
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Insurance Companies Want Home Inspection Claims to Live

Insurance Companies Want Home Inspection Claim to LiveHome inspectors are EASY targets. It’s a sad fact that many home inspectors are victims of meritless claims while receiving little assistance of those they thought could be counted on: their insurance company.

Many home inspectors are SHOCKED that their insurance company would settle a meritless claim or offer up their deductible to the complaining client. These inspectors also work with attorneys who rack up legal fees before settling the claim for nuisance value.

Why is this the case? I talk about working with professionals who align with your values and beliefs in this week’s video blog.
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New Negotiation Rules for Home Inspectors!

New Negotiation Rules for Home InspectorsCan anyone alter a contract even if they aren’t the company that drew it up? Absolutely.

What if a client and/or his attorney wants to remove the arbitration clause or statute of limitation clause from your home inspector pre-inspection agreement? Is this worthwhile to you and can you use the omission of these clauses to your advantage?

Joe Ferry answers these pressing questions in this week’s ClaimsAcademy video blog below. (more…)

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3 Ways a Home Inspector Can Eliminate Anxiety and Sleepless Nights

Ways to Reduce Anxiety and Sleepless NightsAs a professional home inspector who cares about your craft, the anxiety center in your brain likely never turns off. It causes you to sit up or pace the halls at 2 a.m. unable to sleep and left wondering if you missed a leaky pipe or something else critical during a home inspection the preceding day.

A client, who is all too interested in whether you are insured, is likely to trigger this anxiety center. And this client isn’t an anomaly, but rather the type A client you see and hear from time and time again.

How can you reduce this anxiety and work without worry? Follow a few simple cardinal rules I outline in this week’s ClaimsAcademy video blog.

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E&O Insurance Is Even For The Mistake-Proof Home Inspector

E&O Insurance for the Mistake-ProofHome inspectors often ask me, “Should I have professional liability insurance?”

Conceptually speaking, anyone who offers professional services for a fee has potential liability exposure of unknown magnitude. The genius of insurance, however, is that it converts an uncertain, potentially devastating loss into a known, small cost for which you can budget.

With that said, many inspectors still inquire about E&O insurance’s relevancy and necessity in the profession. I detail the pros of having E&O insurance as part of your liability protection in this week’s video blog.
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Make Sure Your Clients Read the Inspection Report

Read Home Inspection ReportA home inspector’s friend was recently buying a home and had a home inspection completed. However, he never read the inspection report!

When he took ownership of the home, he discovered a huge crack in the kitchen’s granite countertop, a defect that was never disclosed on the seller’s disclosure, BUT was detailed in the unread home inspection report.

What recourse, if any, does the new homeowner have? I detail what happens next as well as the importance of reading a home inspection report in this week’s video blog.
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Don’t Just Rate It, State It in Home Inspection Report!

Don't Just Rate It, State It in Home Inspection ReportWhat home inspection report methodology works best – narratives or checklists? Many home inspectors have varying views on this issue, but I provide a logical assessment in support of one of these methods from a legal perspective.

What method keeps your business safe? What method is more likely to safeguard you from reckless clients and their meritless claims? I analyze each method and their pros and cons in this week’s ClaimsAcademy video blog below.
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Charge More When Client’s Attorney Amends Your Agreement

Charging More for Client's Attorney Removing ClausesShould you allow a prospect’s attorney to line out the requirement in your inspection agreement about binding arbitration or the one that claims must be filed within one year of the home inspection?

Both clauses have value to home inspectors. In this week’s video blog, I discuss the value of these clauses, BUT also detail how you can use the attorney’s/prospect’s desires to omit these clauses as a valuable tool to charge more for the inspection.
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My Subrogation Secret Sauce

Subrogation Cases Against Home InspectorsInsurance companies will sometimes pay a claim to a homeowner and THEN try to recover the financial losses from the home inspector through a process called subrogation.

In subrogation, one party succeeds to the rights of another either by law or by contract. In this process, the home inspection insurance company blames the home inspector for the issue at fault EVEN if the homeowner does NOT blame the home inspector.

There are a growing number of subrogation cases that involve a home inspector’s professional liability. However, these claims CAN be squashed, as they are just as meritless as many other home inspection claims.

I describe how to protect yourself and fight back against subrogation claims in this week’s video blog.
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Underbussing is Now a Reality TV Show!

HGTV Show Underbusses Home InspectorsThere is a current television show whose host maligns home inspectors for not discovering defects he was only able to discover through using a sledgehammer and other intrusive means.

Home inspectors were immediately taken aback by the show’s message, and rightfully so. Several asked me to watch a few episodes to gauge how the show would play in the meritless claim game.

After watching a few episodes, and switching between disbelief and comedic release at the host’s house destruction, I came to a firm conclusion.
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