Roofing is not for snowflakes,
says LC Nussbeck, founder of MadSky.
Nussbeck should know. As a man who has spent his entire career in the roofing industry, he’s seen firsthand what it takes to become successful in such a cutthroat trade.
That’s partially why Nussbeck created MadSky, a managed repair program whose software serves as a way to connect homeowners with quality contractors.
For those who don’t know what a managed repair program is, the concept is simple:
MadSky hires vetted and certified contractors, and then feeds them jobs based off the demands of their customers.
Naturally, MadSky has received plenty of pushback for their system, with some likening it to major corporations like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, two entities whose reputations have taken a blow over the last few years.
Nussbeck says the pushback related to MadSky, a company he has since sold off, is unwarranted, citing a lack of historical evidence within the roofing community that explains why their insurance claims aren’t as smooth as those in say the auto or medical fields.
“There is no doubt the roofing industry is quite sloppy and unorganized,”
Nussbeck admits,
“but what medical and auto have that roofing doesn’t is data.”
That’s part of what Nussbeck says MadSky will eventually do, is compile enough data to more properly serve not only homeowners, but also the roofing companies operating under the MadSky umbrella.
But for now, this will leave insurance companies and contractors embroiled in constant conflict, something that according to Nussbeck will be hard to change because of the current disconnect between the two parties.
“We [contractors] are so used to fighting with insurance companies,”
Nussbeck says, noting how he’s seen the most contention come from storm chasers who are typically less agreeable than local companies who have a better feel for their respective markets.
“At MadSky, we tried to partner with the local companies that had pride in what they did,”
adds Nussbeck.
Nussbeck then goes on to say that in all his years in the roofing industry, he’s found that insurance companies are not as greedy and manipulative as many contractors perceive them to be.
“I can promise you the insurance companies, in all my dealings with them, they want to do the right thing for the homeowner,”
Nussbeck shares.
“They try really hard to, and sometimes they make mistakes, like all of us do, and most of them own it very quickly, but this is a complex world we live in.”
It should be noted that for many insurance companies, roofs in particular end up becoming their biggest expenditure. To deal with this reality, insurance companies spend a lot of money creating the necessary departments to deal with all their claims.
“They have quite an infrastructure to support what they stand behind when they sell a policy, and if you’ve ever hired, trained, and tried to motivate thousands of people, you know it’s very difficult to get everyone on the same page,”
Nussbeck says, offering this as reason for why there are so many discrepancies among different insurance companies and field adjusters.
Still, this doesn’t explain the claims made by many industry stalwarts, including Roofing Insights’ own Alena Wilson, that insurance companies routinely short their initial estimates by 25-30%.
Nussbeck reveals that when he was a contractor, he too felt victimized by insurance companies who he felt were not fulfilling their responsibilities.
“As a storm contractor, I felt like there were good and bad actors on the insurance side,”
he says, but now, after years working in different sectors of the roofing industry, Nussbeck’s stance has changed, so much so that he now challenges the notion that insurance companies actively try to screw over their clients.
“What I can tell you is that [train of thought] is very wrong. As a contractor, I’ve never seen an insurance estimate on a roof that I agreed with. Every single one of them can be improved. I have 150,000 roofs under my belt. That means I probably estimated 500,000 roofs, and although every single estimate can be improved on, what I’ve seen develop in the last 10-15 years is the greed by the contractors, not the insurance companies.”
Continues Nussbeck:
“My experience partnering with them [insurance companies], is it [allegations of shorting claims] couldn’t be more untrue. They want to pay. They want to do the right thing. I think contractors can’t appreciate that because of all the friction they feel in the field, but I can tell you, I worked with a lot of insurance executives, and thousands of desk and field adjusters, and I’ve never seen one of them try to take advantage of a policy holder.”
Want to hear more from LC Nussbeck?
Click on the video above, and don’t forget to reserve your ticket at the Roofing Process Conference this December 3-4 in Orlando, Florida!
This event will sell out, so sign up today to ensure you don’t miss LC Nussbeck, Matt Risinger, or any of our other distinguished keynote speakers!
