In early May, Weston Farnes, a contractor with Arizona-based True-Built Construction, was ordered to stop acting as an insurance adjuster without a license.
The order, issued by the Arizona Department of Insurance (ADOI), came after one of Farnes’ clients signed an authorization allowing Farnes to represent the homeowner in negotiations with the homeowner’s insurer.
Though a contractor’s expertise is commonly used to determine the specifics of damages, contractors do not have the ability to negotiate the settlement of an insurance claim on behalf of the property owner without an adjuster’s license.
A hail storm that hit the Phoenix valley in Oct. 2010 generated more than 100,000 homeowners insurance claims in just one day. This large number is said to have cause an influx in out-of-state building contractors, those unfamiliar with the ADOI requirements, because of the large amount of work that would need to be completed.
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