Illinois Radio Network
By Scot Bertram
The Better Business Bureau is telling Illinois residents to be alert for potential repair scams in the wake of severe storms in the state.
“The BBB has seen as time and time again, these storm chasers, the bad ones, will be coming out of the woodwork, just like clockwork,” said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. “They target consumers and try to capitalize on the unfortunate plight of some of the victims.”
The organization says that while not all storm chasers are scammers, a number of them may lack the proper licensing or offer quick fixes and inferior repairs.
“Any disaster or calamity, whatever it may be, the scammers will be relentless and ruthless,” Bernas said. “They’ll take advantage of the situation. Somebody has a hole in a roof or somebody has a tree knocked down. They need immediate service. So they don’t do any research on them and that’s the worst thing to do.”
He says many storm-chasing contractors travel around the region following the damage and he’s had first-hand experience with the tactics.
“I saw the vultures, as I call them, come out within a few days,” Bernas said. “I had at least 50 or 60 solicitations in my mailbox. Everybody can do something better. Everybody can get me more money from my insurance company. Everybody can get me a new roof.”
The organization says to be especially careful of door-to-door contractors that might come knocking.
“They’ll say, ‘Let me go on your roof and check,’” Bernas said. “Then they do damage on your roof. And then they say, “Look, you got damage. Call your insurance company.’ You have to know the contractors coming to you, make sure they have a track record.”
Bernas advises that there are ways to protect yourself and your home.
“If they’re licensed, call the licensing body,” Bernas said. “And if they say they have insurance, call the insurance company. These storm chasers are fake companies. They stole that roofing license number from somebody else.”
He recommends doing research on companies and collecting more than one estimate for any work. He says if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
“They just kind of make all these promises to start the job,” Bernas said. “Then they say, ‘If you pay me cash, I’ll make the deal a little cheaper.’ You never pay anybody cash because there’s no way of tracing it. And there’s no way proof that you did business with the company.”
You can find more information or report a scam at BBB.org.