Homeowner loses $10K in insurance to former Omaha roofer

Homeowner loses $10K in insurance to former Omaha roofer

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A house needs new shingles and skylight, but owner Jason Krontz says the pre-paid roofing company has gone dark.

“I’d just like to get some answers from someone. I just can’t,” he said. “Everything I’ve tried to get ahold of them has ended in a dead end.”

As 6 News reported, Xcel Roofing and Love Our Roofs closed in April. But Krontz hired them months before that, and the job never got started.

After they agreed to this contract, Jason says the Xcel Roofing representative told him when he gets his nearly $10,000 insurance check, just sign it over to Xcel, even though the job was about six months out.

“Email from Xcel that check was deposited,” Krontz said.

Krontz has asked his home insurance provider parent company, Liberty Mutual, whether that’s a good idea. And the emailed response states, in part, “I always recommend doing whatever you are comfortable with.”

“It’s upsetting because I asked the insurance company. ‘Hey, is this normal? Should I do this?’ and I didn’t get a ‘No, you shouldn’t,’ so I went through.”

The deputy director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance responded to 6 News by phone.

“You can file a complaint with us,” Martin Swanson said, “but, unless it’s fraud, and you sign those rights away, there’s not much we can do.”

A private mediator working with a bank told 6 News that Xcel has no money to refund Krontz’s $10,000 insurance check that he now regrets signing over to the roofing company.

“If no one does the work, and they go out of business, you just lose it,” Krontz said.

6 News contacted Liberty Mutual, which said it couldn’t comment on clients’ claims. Xcel Roofing operated in several states, and the financial mediator hopes to recover some money where bonds were required. But two suppliers have sued for $1.2 million owed by the roofing company.

The state Department of Insurance has advice for homeowners making repairs after the storm — a “post-loss assignment.”

A post loss assignment of a claim “is a contract signed by a homeowner, after a covered loss, granting a contractor all rights and duties of the claim under the insurance policy. Once signed, the contractor owns and controls the claim without any input from the insured.” Once a homeowner signs the assignment, the department said, the contractor “owns all rights and duties to the claim” and has ramifications for the property owner.

Tips from the department:

• A homeowner is NOT required to sign such an assignment.
• Before signing an assignment, consult an attorney.
• Know what you’re agreeing to.
• Many insurance policies ban assignment of a claim.
• Do your homework before hiring a contractor.

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