More Lessons from the Courthouse...

As I said, I felt like it was going to be a busy season as it relates to property damage claims and here we go again.

This lesson relates to your online presence because it can and will be used against you. If you recall, we recently had a case involving oxidation in which the customer filed suit against the contractor.

During the course of the trial, the contractor's website was called in to question. The customer's attorney questioned the use of certain verbiage, pictures and claims of experience. Here are a few suggestions to consider....

Pictures - recently we have seen a large number of "before" and "after" pictures that are compromising. The "after" results, to a trained eye, show damage that wasn't present in the "before" picture and would be a huge bonus to a customer making a claim against your business. And while the initial results might look great for a picture, the "dry" results may show another result. We have also seen a large number of "standing on the roof" pictures. While many are outstanding pictures with excellent results, if you aren't using appropriate safety gear, etc., this can be used against you. If you are in Court, your reputation, quality of work, safety, caliber of your employees, are ALL being questioned. And that means your reputation will feel like it has had a colonoscopy. Worse...it feels like the day BEFORE the colonoscopy. And if you've had one, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Website and Advertising - if you are insured, then use those words. If you aren't, then DON'T. If you are in Court and your website and brochures clearly state "insured" and you aren't, then you have just lost ALL credibility.  

Licensing - same goes as insurance. While there is no officially recognized "license" for pressure washing, some local municipalities may require certain licensing to operate a business in the area. If you don't have it, don't say you do.

We had another site visit today for another potential insurance claim. Customer claims contractor "lightened" the color of the vinyl siding because he used "bleach and could smell it for days". The contractor has documented "before" and "after" pictures but the customer wants new siding.

Be safe out there. Protect your assets.  Have a great weekend!

And if you missed our first Lessons from the Courthouse, you can read it here.

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