The Book on Restoration Collections

Book excerpt: "The Restoration Lawyer" Ed Cross has been collecting money for restorers across the United States since 1997, representing everything from small sole proprietorships to the biggest names in the restoration industry. He has recovered many tens of millions of dollars for restoration services, often avoiding litigation, and overcoming problems with adjuster lowballing, the inappropriate use of standardized prices, interference from third party consultants and bill reviewers, workmanship complaints from customers, and vigorous opposition from lawyers representing carriers and policyholders. The Book on Restoration Collections shares his battle-tested 10-step process to cutting through insurance red tape to accelerate and maximize receivables. STEP 1: Build a Powerful Restoration Contract STEP 2: Document the File to be Lucrative STEP 3: Be in the Loop for Every Communication with the Adjuster STEP 4: Defeat Attempts to Use Standardized Prices as Global Prices STEP 5: Neutralize Adjuster Excuses & Cut Through the Smokescreen STEP 6: Overcome Challenges from Third Party Consultants STEP 7: Keep Insurance Proceeds Away from Mortgage Companies STEP 8: Gradually Escalate Collection Efforts STEP 9: Properly Leverage Mechanic's Liens STEP 10: Decide If, When and Whom to Sue Ed Cross recommends that contractors seriously consider obtaining Assignments of Insurance Rights from their customers to allow direct billing to insurance. In the first book in this series, The Book on the Assignment of Benefits, he explains how Assignments work, how to present them to customers and insurers, and how to prosecute them. It includes Assignment of Insurance Rights forms and Notice of Assignment form letters for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This book picks up where the Assignments book left off, and includes downloadable demand letters in MS Word format for use when the restorer has an assignment and hits an impasse with the carrier.