I've never posted here, just lurk but saw this post and had to comment. I live in Central Florida and I too have People's Trust Ins.
I work construction for several "restoration companies" here in Florida doing repairs to people's homes after natural disasters, fires, floods, etc. The issue with People's Trust Ins is they OWN their own restoration company called Rapid Response Restoration. I know as I've tried to subcontract with them. Rapid Response will not hire subcontractors as where all other restoration companies do.
When I had damage to my own home and filed a claim thru People's Trust, they sent their adjuster, who over inflated my claim, which was approved by People's Trust. I explained what I do and was told I couldn't do my own repairs and I could not hire my own contractors as they have their own restoration company, i.e. Rapid Response.
They then sent ILLEGALS to my home to do the repairs. Fortunately I speak Spanish and was talking to the illegals doing my repairs. For the $20,000 inflated claim, they were paying the illegal crew of 3 men $1,200.00 to install 200 sq ft of floor, 150 Sq ft of drywall taped mudded and textured, 64 ln ft of 5.25 inch baseboard, repaint a 200 sq ft room, clean and haul debris. They did a horrible job and were force to come back 4 times and still couldn't get it right. They didn't know how to cope or 45 baseboards. The drywall repair looked like a child did it. No sanding, caulking or puttying the base and the floor was snap lock wood and they didn't mallet the planks so every piece was gapped. When they painted, they painted after the floor was installed and didn't use a drop cloth, so they got paint all over the floor and my ceiling. I ended up having to fix it all myself for free.
As a restoration contractor MIT certified in Fire, Water & Mold, no reputable or reasonable contractor would have accepted this job for this price. Secondly, for the $20,000 claim, minus the 1,800 materials and $1,200 labor, what happened to the remaining $17,000 ???? I didn't see a penny.
So I will tell you how restoration repairs work here in Florida and around the rest of the country. It's theft. Companies like Paul Davis Restoration is one of the biggest thieves of your insurance claim money. All these restoration companies give 'kickbacks' to your insurance adjuster to inflate your claim. They then force you to sign a contract that gives the restoration company 'power of attorney' over your claim and places your claim money in a 'trust acct' owned by the restoration company. This now prohibits you from speaking with your insurance company.
The restoration company then feeds off of your claim money to keep their business afloat. They literally rob Peter to pay Paul. I know as it takes weeks for me to get paid. By the time your claim money has dwindled down to less than 20% of your actual claim, only then do they start looking for someone willing to do the repairs. The only people willing to do the job for the pennies being offered are people who have little to no experience. Hence a lot of botched jobs. Don't forget, you're prohibited from speaking or complaining to your insurance company about anything.
So in the end, after the restoration company dragged out your claim and repairs to over 6 months to 1 year in many cases, after your repairs were botched, the restoration companies will then bully you into accepting the botched job or threaten you with out of pocket costs to repair the job properly. In the meantime, the illegal crew are nowhere to be found.
My advice to homeowners.....always lawyer up before or immediately after filing your claim with your insurance company. Insurance companies do not and cannot force a homeowner to use their repair companies or contractors. You DO have a lawful and legal right to hire your own or do the repairs yourself. And with an attorney on board, they will make sure you get every penny deserving from your claim.
STAY AWAY FROM THE RESTORATION COMPANIES....the absolute worst companies to avoid in Central Florida are OneRestore Inc., any Paul Davis Restoration (franchise), Rapid Response, ServPro (franchise), and Service Master (franchise).
Again, avoid the restoration companies, lawyer up and do your own research as there are numerous excellent contractors out here that can and are willing to repair your home. Ask for proof of their credentials, licenses and insurance. Ask for photos of jobs and repairs they have done previously. The only cost you should pay up front is about 20% which is always for cost of materials to get your job started, unless you purchase the materials yourself. Again, your attorney will assist you with this. And you do not pay until the job is complete and to your satisfaction. Many of us contractors DO place liens against the home, but we too have to have some protection, but when completed to your satisfaction and paid in full, the lien is always dropped.
I hope this helps :o)
They are scumbags and it's been going on for years here in Florida. Every governor we've ever had knows about this. Even our insurance commissioner knows and they do nothing because somewhere their pockets are being padded. They publically smear the small contractors to make us out as the crooks and thieves to force homeowners to go thru them. And over 50% of my jobs are all repairs to botched insurance jobs.