Before/After

Restoration is the process of bringing something back to its previous undamaged condition or better.

While insurance companies settle claims with monetary payments, professional restoration firms provide the services which actually return damaged homes, businesses and personal property to active use. Without this translation of dollars into services, insurance settlements would have no relevance. Professional restorers save millions of dollars in insurance costs every month of the year, and their repair estimates provide a basis for the settlement of untold numbers of residential and commercial claims. It is no exaggeration to state that professional restoration of damaged property plays an essential role in the insurance process.

However, professional damage restoration is performed in a manner distinctly different from other commercial activities. Instead of the customary relationship between a contractor and a client, an insurance adjuster is interposed. Mention of the insurance adjuster's role is absent from the insurance policy, nor has it been formulated in any general industry standard. Similarly, there exist no guidelines governing the three-way relationship of the restorer, insurance company and claimant. Existing commercial practice requires that the restorer contract with the property owners and be responsible to them for the proper performance of the work, despite the fact that the specifications and price may have been determined in cooperation with an insurance adjuster.