Special Sections - Carmel Monthly Magazine

August 2019 Writer // Janelle Morrison Photography //Submitted Would you know what to do if your home or structure suffered weather-related damage? When was the last time you reviewed your insurance policy? Do you understand your policy well enough to know exactly what it covers and what it doesn’t? When the “improbable” happens and you need a credible and certified storm restoration expert to help guide you through the process, contact Home Value Renovation (HVR) to repair or rebuild your property to “better-than-prestorm” condition. Home Value Renovation specializes in weather-related restoration work: roof damage, window damage and siding damage. HVR’s extensive knowledge of property inspections, and end-to-end insurance claim management, make it a leader in the storm damage restoration industry. HVR is fully licensed, bonded and insured, and the company offers complimentary on-site property inspections and damage estimates. Home Value Renovation is a GAF Master Elite Roofing Contractor, a mark of distinction held by only a small number of roofing contractors in the state of Indiana. HVR is also an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. These designations are key to ensuring not only a professionally installed roof system, siding or windows, but they also play a large part in how the products are covered under warranty post-installation. Why Choosing Local and Experienced Restoration Contractors Matters Mike Redman, president and owner of HVR, is a local contractor with more than 20 years of storm damage and home remodeling experience. He is a trusted business owner and reputable contractor in his industry. Redman looks to educate homeowners before they are in dire need of his services and expertise. He said it really begins with educating homeowners about how to shop for property or homeowners insurance. “Educating people before they buy insurance is the ideal situation,” Redman said. “In a perfect world, we would start the conversation at the point where the homeowner is shopping for insurance. Typically, people just call the agent and company that they’ve been with the longest and get a quote for a homeowners policy to cover a major catastrophe and to satisfy a mortgage company’s requirement. Homeowners will ask for a $500 or $1,000 deductible policy quote but may not ask anything else—for instance, what, if any, exclusions are written in the policy regarding wind or hail damage? What most people don’t realize is that storm damage can come with exclusions and a 1% deductible, which is different than the $500 or $1,000 deductible that is stated in the policy.” Unless you have filed an insurance claim before, you may not be aware of how your insurance policy is working for or against you until disaster strikes. Redman added, “When something happens is when you have a true test of how good a policy or agent you have. Damage to a home from wind or hail can exceed $100,000 and is very costly. If the homeowner has a 1% deductible on wind or hail damage that exceeds $100,000, that can be a $10,000 deductible that the homeowner is not prepared to pay.” HVR deals with every insurance company on a daily basis every year and has extensive knowledge in how the companies work in regard to estimating and processing claims. HVR works with the insurance companies from the start of the restoration process all the way to completion to ensure that the homeowners don’t have to “fight” with their insurance company to get the repairs done correctly. “With our company, we provide free inspections to the homeowners, and we work with several agents who will call us and ask us to run out and check to see that a house or property actually has sufficient damage to file a claim so that the owner doesn’t have an unnecessary claim on file,” Redman shared. “Many times, people will file a claim because their neighbors have filed one. There are a lot of less-than-credible contractors out there who prey on areas that have marginal damage or none at all. They gamble on the fact that there are poor insurance companies and poor adjusters out there who won’t even physically get on the roof to see if there is damage but trust the contractors’ word that there is. That’s not the way we do business.” Redman explained that when the insurance adjuster goes out to a property, an HVR representative goes out at the same time. “We help the homeowner file the claim, and we get the adjuster’s contact information and the date and time that he/she is going to the house,” Redman said. “Then we send a rep to meet the adjuster there to agree on the scope of the work and determine all of the things that are damaged. The adjuster puts the relative information in a software program that determines the price, and that is the price that we have to do the work for. If we find additional damage while we are doing the work, we take pictures and update the insurance company on the additional damage that needs repaired.” Certified Versus Noncertified Storm Restoration Contractors HVR is based in Indianapolis, and Redman—a Fort Wayne native—lives in Zionsville. HVR services customers in Indianapolis and the surrounding cities. HVR offers all GAF products and is highly experienced at working on roofs of various types, including asphalt shingle roofs, metal roofs and flat roofs. Redman shared his knowledge of why its critical to work with contractors who are not only local but also are certified through the nation’s top manufacturers. “People will tell me that they ‘know a guy’ or have a family member who’s a roofing contractor,” Redman said. “I ask them if he is a certified contractor, meaning does the manufacture back his work and train him on the product? If they say ‘no,’ that’s a big drawback because if you don’t use a certified contractor and he installs the shingles incorrectly or something happens and they need to be replaced, is your contractor going to pay for new shingles, accessories and the labor out of his pocket?” Redman explained that the manufacturer’s warranty for a dimensional shingle is 30 years, but it is just a warranty against a manufacturer’s defect. If there is a defect discovered after installation, the manufacturer will offer a certificate to cover the cost of purchasing the replacement shingles. However, this does not cover the cost of the labor to tear off the defective shingles, dispose of them, purchase and install the new underlayment and all of the accessories to install a brand-new roof. “We are backed by GAF, a 108-year-old business,” Redman emphasized. “We are in the top 3% of roofing contractors nationwide, and what that means for our customers is that we offer them a no-nonsense 50-year warranty that is transferable to the next homeowner. If at any time over the 50 years a shingle is deemed defective by the manufacturer, GAF would pay us today’s rates to replace the whole roof, tear if off, dispose and haul it away, pay for the new underlayment and accessories. If I sold my company, went out of business or anything happens with my company and the homeowner needed a new roof or service, he/she would call GAF with the warranty registration number they were assigned after the initial installation and GAF will send out another master elite contractor to service or replace the roof at no cost to the homeowner.” No Down Payments or Upfront Fees HVR never takes deposits on any storm restoration project before the work starts. When asked why, Redman explained, “The only thing we want before we start a job is the scope of work from the adjuster showing exactly what we're doing and how much they are paying. We always order the material, and have it delivered before we collect a dime from the homeowner. Typically, we are 100% completed with the job before we get paid, and it can take up to 90 days to get paid for the job, so there is no fear from the homeowners because we take all that off the table. It is one of the reasons why our customers are very comfortable doing business with Home Value Renovation. We have tons of reviews online and thousands of happy customers that include the president of the Better Business Bureau.” “We make it simple, and at the end of the job, we send the final invoice that matches their scope of work to the insurance company,” Redman said. “Some people want to try to ‘eat’ their deductible and get the work done for less money than the scope details and keep the remaining balance of the money. Most people have replacement cost coverage, meaning that the insurance company will pay to replace something at its full value less the deductible, so there is no way to get around the system. We have to send the final invoice showing what we have charged the homeowner, and if we change those numbers to show a charge for something that we really didn’t purchase for the job to ‘help’ the homeowner with their deductible, that’s where insurance fraud kicks in. So, we try to educate the customers on why they can’t get out of paying their deductibles.” People who have experienced weather-related damage to their property and have been advised to obtain multiple quotes from their insurance agent are wasting their time and effort during an already taxing time in their lives. Redman explained why. “The insurance is going to pay what it takes to get things replaced, regardless,” Redman said. “The ‘obtaining bids’ should be about interviewing the restoration companies to figure out which one you want to use and what product they are going to put on. It is not about how much it costs—that is irrelevant. It’s going to cost the homeowner their deductible and that’s it.” Home Value Renovation takes the load off their customers by handling the most stressful elements of a home restoration process. The vast referrals from satisfied customers from Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Zionsville and throughout Indiana affirms the level of professionalism, quality and commitment HVR provides each of its customers. To schedule a free inspection or to learn more about Home Value Renovations’ specialized storm damage services and roofing, windows, siding and gutter services, visit the website at gethomevaluerestoration.com.

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