Roofing Scams – How To Spot Them And How To Avoid Them

Don’t fall prey to roofing scams…

Roofing Scams

Did you know that thousands of homeowners fall prey to roofing scams each and every year? Many roofing contractors have figured out how to make a lot of money with a variety of roofing scams – and at the homeowner’s expense.

It’s not only bogus unlicensed roofing “salesmen” pretending to be licensed contractors but also some of the *real* roofing companies who are licensed who are doing this. Some of these companies hire storm chasing salesmen and women to go out in droves to go door to door soliciting entire neighborhoods telling them that due to a recent storm there has been damage caused to their neighborhood and that if you sign up now, you can receive a discount or that they will wave your insurance deductible this one time since they will be in your neighborhood.

The fact of the matter is, waiving a homeowner’s deductible is illegal!

If these roofing scammers don’t offer the waive the deductible they often offer huge discounts or worse yet, they prey on senior citizens with scare tactics detailing all of the potential issues that could happen to their home if they don’t act now or that they will be losing out on a huge savings if they don’t fix their roof now without even properly inspecting the roof.

So how to you spot a roofing scam?

Here are some signs to watch out for. If you see any of these signs, let the flags go up and be cautious, then get several bids from reputable licensed roofing contractors who have been in business for at least five years, who have positive reviews and even ask for referrals from neighbors on sites like nextdoor.com and Facebook neighborhood groups.

Storm Chasers – This is the first sign. Keep in mind, that if anyone is contacting you first about your roof and telling you that you may have an issue due to a recent storm, they may simply be a sales person trying to canvas your neighborhood. It’s possible that a recent storm may have damaged your roof, but it’s best to get a a few licensed roofers to inspect your roof before you buy into a new roof or roof repair.
Roofing Low Price, Bait and Switch – This is a very common one. A roofing contractor will give you the lowest price which always looks enticing, but then once you are deep in it and your old roof is being peeled off of your home, they hit you with the “up-sale” and tell you that they’ve encountered more issues that they didn’t see before the roof started to come up or that they’ve been thinking and this would really be a great time to add more vents or there is dry rot that they missed that really should be replaced and the most popular… we just got a new roofing product that has a longer warranty that they less expensive one they quoted on and looks better and is a great deal if you take advantage of this offer.
Insurance Fraud Tactics – Here’s how this one works… the roofing contractor offers to submit two separate invoices, one which will be much lower for you the homeowner and another for the insurance company which will be much higher. This is highly illegal and could come back on you! Not to mention, do you really want to trust someone who is willing to cheat and steel?

Earthly Matters Roofing is a licensed and trustworthy roofing company. Together with it’s sister company Earthly Matters Painting, we have been a trusted roofing company in Cumming and Alpharetta for many years and are here to help you navigate through all of the unknowns of roofing repairs, roofing replacements or even new gutter replacement which will help with the over-all health of your home.

Give us a call for a roof inspection by a professional roofer/contractor and an honest quote: