Emergency Tarping sent out by Allstate Clint Jenkins asked 1 month ago
Emergency Tarping sent out by Allstate

Hello,

We were hit by hurricane Helene and had roof damage and our fence knocked down. We filed a claim with Allstate online and there was a section asking if we needed emergency tarp service, with the threat of another tropical storm on the horizon we checked "yes" and they scheduled a company to come out. The company contacted us and we explicitly asked twice if we would be charged for the service and they said no, it would be charged to Allstate. There wasn’t any exchange of cost or estimate before they completed the work, they are now saying Allstate is not going to pay and it falls on us. The total is around $7,000 for a few tarps, seems a bit outrageous to me but who knows? They are threatening collections and a lien if we don’t pay. Do we have any ground to stand on?

Disclaimer, Allstate denied our claim due to it being under the "Named Storm Deductible" amount of $28,000, and the roof/fence cost would not surpass that

1 Answers
Answer for Emergency Tarping sent out by Allstate Alexis Ricci Staff answered 1 month ago
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Hi Clint:

Emergency services can be more costly, depending on the time dispatched, work performed, and severity/size of the work. If the carrier sent out the vendor, the carrier should provide you a detailed breakdown of the vendor’s charges. Ask for a copy so you can review the charges in detail, if you haven’t already.

Typically the carrier have a vetting process for invoicing, but it is only as good as the actual invoice is accurate. So you’ll want to review the invoice or have someone knowledgeable walk you through it. We have seen accounting errors and labor rate errors. Ultimately, if the work performed is correct and billed appropriately, then the invoice is reasonable and customary and it will be your responsibility.

You should reach out to the vendor to discuss the situation, if you haven’t already. Be proactive and explain that you are vetting the invoice because your claim is under your deductible and you’re paying out of pocket. Be sure to carbon copy the vendor on all communication to your carrier if you need to ask for documents.

You can also check out https://uphelp.org/recovery/state-by-state-help/georgia/ for more tips and resouces.