The bright side of storm damage

The bright side of storm damage

I own Weaver & Weaver Con- struction Co. and I feel like your article (Residents urged to be on lookout for scammers, May 14) was on point to a degree, but it also deters homeowners from rightfully making a claim against their insurance company.

These storms are a good thing for our community. Our local residents getting a new roof and/or siding is a thing of value for our community. It adds value to our residents’ homes, it cleans up our communities, and adds overall a better appearance to an already downgraded state. Ohio is ranked lowest on several fronts. Lowest job rates, highest crime, etc. I don’t understand why we would want to deter any improvements upon Ohio and our local communities.

We do go door to door to make our neighbors aware of what is rightfully theirs, and then nothing comes out of their pockets immediately. They may experience a rise in their rates as a customer of an insurance company in the long run. But if basic math is calculated, it would takes decades to pay off a new roof and siding to your home. How is this a bad thing at all? We finance bedroom sets, and TVs, and miscellaneous items for our home and pay them off over years. Why not upgrade the home where you live?

As for the executive director of the Home Builders Association, Joshua Aikens, he is absolutely correct in saying that these “Storm Chasers” come in from out of town and make a career of scamming money from homeowners.

Last year they took a ton of money out of our area. Millions and millions of dollars. But that’s up to the homeowner to decide if that’s what they want to do. If a contractor has an agreement that states they get 25 percent of the repair money regardless if they do the job, that should be an immediate red flag.

My advice to the homeowners is to keep the business local. Keep our tax dollars in our counties and ask neighbors or friends that have already taken advantage of these storms if they liked their contractor.

Jillian Weaver, Warren