Can a roofing company charge me more money for the cost of the roof 2.5 years after they were paid and job completed?

Question

I had my roof done (in Florida) 2.5 years ago. I paid my deductible and they were paid by my insurance company just after that.

Now, just 2 months ago, again 2.5 years later, I get a call from them that they made another claim for my roof and the insurance company sent me a check for about $3000 plus. I am not sure I got said check, because I moved out of state, but I don't want to go back to my insurance company and ask them to send them or me any more money when they were paid in full 2.5 years ago and they didn't even let me know they were trying to submit another claim on my roof.

They have also threatened to file a judgement against me for the 3K. This sounds really sketchy and I don't want them to have that money. What should I do?

Answer 1

This could be a scam. This could be unrelated to the original project. It could be a continuation of the original series of events. Or at least that is what they want you to think. There is also a chance it is legitimate. Or a misunderstanding.

The place to start is the insurance company. Don't use any contact info provided by the roofer to contact the insurance company, get the info from your old documents or your own research. Gather all the documentation you have from that previous repair, and see if there has been any new claims. It is possible that the roofer has mixed up your contact information with the new owner.

If this isn't resolved you should contact the state government. Insurance regulations are a state concern, and they may be able to get information from the insurance company that you can't. The state government also handles business and contractor licenses and may be interested in this type of scam if it is one.

Answer 2

It sounds really fishy to me. I recommend looking up the company's contact information using Google and ask them about it. They may have no idea this is happening because whoever contacted you is a scammer.

There are quite a few things wrong here. I recently dealt with insurance to fix some damage to my house, so this is fresh in my mind.

Repairs that involve an insurance company usually work one of two ways:

1. You make the claim to the insurance company, the insurance company sends you the money, and you pay the contractor to make the repairs

2. You make the claim to the insurance company, and the insurance company directly arranges with the contractor to make the repairs and pays the contractor directly

It never happens where the contractor makes any kind of claim to the insurance company and the insurance company sends the check to you.

After the damages are repaired and that's confirmed by either you or an inspection by the insurance company, nobody is going to be able to make further claims. That case is closed.

So that's one thing that sounds completely off.

The next thing is that the communication should really be in written form. They need to document why they suddenly need extra money and if they ever go to court over it, they need proof that they attempted to collect the money from you. That involves physical written notices (not emails or anything like that) and proof that they were delivered. So phone calls are also suspicious.

Finally, no court will ever uphold some contractor coming after you for money long after the repairs were complete and the invoice was paid. There presumably was some kind of itemized invoice when the repairs were made and that was paid.

So the whole thing smells of scam: the original company probably didn't even contact you. It sounds to me like either someone shady bought the company or (what's more likely) they got a hold of the company's records, perhaps from malware on the company's computers.

My guess is that they are asking you to submit payment in manner that would make it possible for anonymous scammers to receive it.

Answer 3

I found this article which seems very relevant:

The scam works like this: Contractors knock on doors offering to inspect homeowners’ roofs for storm damage. They say they can help get a roof replacement covered by insurance, and they persuade the homeowners to sign away their rights to file the claims themselves. The contractors then file fraudulent damage claims, and when the insurance companies balk, the contractors sue. The insurance companies usually settle the disputed claims for many times more than the original claim. Most of that money goes to the contractors’ lawyers in the form of a “contingency fee multiplier.” Some lawyers file hundreds of such lawsuits a year.

Proceed with caution.