A number of restoration contractors, roofers and public adjusters have been complaining about insurance company directives requiring use of used roof vents and common roof labor to replace roof vents and roof caps. I noted this in yesterday’s post Back to Work in 2014! Claims Decisions Already Ripping Policyholders Off!

Roof vents play an important role in structures. They remove gases from structures for various reasons. An important vent is the one that involves gas and this is why this post is so important.

Gas vents have caps that are extraordinarily important and have to work properly to avoid the possibility of harm to occupants. Many insurers are not allowing or paying for HVAC contractors, plumbers or other specialists to work on these vents when repairing or replacing roofs. Most common roof laborers simply do not have the training to repair or replace these vents. Insurers, trying to avoid Overhead and Profit payments to general contractors or just being cheap, are creating a second catastrophe to their customers by not fully paying for the full cost to properly fix these vents.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning. It claims the lives of hundreds of people every year and makes thousands more ill. Many household items including gas- and oil-burning furnaces produce this gas. Roof vents are often the avenue for escape of this poison. If the vents, and especially the vent caps, are not properly repaired following a hail storm or wind damage repair claim, the improper repair can literally kill people.

A post by the Arkansas Realtors Association describes the issue:

"I was surprised to learn that in fixing the damage caused to Arkansas roofs by this year’s storms, Arkansans repairing the damage may be creating a potentially deadly problem.

According to a recent FEMA news release toxic carbon monoxide, or CO, an odorless, colorless gas, may be trapped in a home by damaged venting systems, endangering the people and animals that live there, warn officials from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Each year more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning, while thousands visit emergency rooms and more than 4,000 are hospitalized due to CO-related illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The chances of exposure increase in a home that has been storm damaged or one in which repairs were not made correctly, say recovery experts from ADEM and FEMA. (emphasis added)

FEMA noted the same issue in http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2011/06/22/storm-damage-and-roof-repair-can-create-hidden-danger.

When it comes to roof repair and replacement, insurers should not jeopardize their customer safety by being cheap.

And, a Positive Thought for The Day:

"Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change, like your fingerprints. It’s something you weren’t born with and must take responsibility for forming."
 
Jim Rohn