A Logistical Difference

The majority of residential inspection companies assign new work requests to independent contractors that hire themselves out to work for a variety of organizations. Once the work request is received, these contractors become responsible for contacting the insured, scheduling the appointment, conducting the appraisal, and completing the report in conjunction with a multitude of other administrative duties. This cumbersome process can impede the appraiser’s ability to dedicate adequate time to the inspection process and can cause some of the following issues to occur:

• Numerous instances of phone-tag
• Creating the need to accept return calls at inopportune times such as during the course of an appraisal or while driving in the car when scheduling calendars and information pertaining to the specific work order are not at hand
• Return calls going unanswered
• Contacting the insured at inappropriate times such as dinner time, evenings, holidays and weekends
• A greater potential for miscommunication
• A greater potential for the insured to encounter a bad experience
• A frustrated agent
• An unprofessional impression of the company

Prestige provides a professional approach and solution to this common industry problem…A Centralized Scheduling Department.

• All appointments are set by a professional scheduler
• Our schedulers are hand-selected for their proficient communication skills and positive telephone techniques and manners
• The insured’s initial contact is with a cordial and professional Prestige Scheduling Team-Member
• Prestige schedulers are proficient at garnering the trust and confidence of the insured, answering questions about the appraisal and preparing the insured for the appraisal process
• Prestige schedulers are available to answer incoming calls to field subsequent questions from insureds and to handle other related issues that develop such as rescheduling appointments
• The insured can call our convenient 1-800 number
• Prestige Inspectors can focus wholly on the appraisal process…period!

Because our scheduling department’s central goal is to “WOW” the insured, and its main production focus is setting appointments, we are able to outperform our competitors by presenting a consistent, professional image, providing a better experience for the insured, allowing our inspectors to concentrate on appraisals, and thereby, improving the overall quality of the work product and turnaround time.

A Practical Difference

One of the most common disputes in this industry results when the insured and/or agent believes that the replacement cost may be too high. Because this dispute is so common, it can cause less confident appraisers to place the home at the lower end of the value range, thereby, leaving legitimate premium dollars on the table along with the exposure resulting from inadequate ITV. We have found that the majority of these disputes can be eliminated if the appraiser is able to discuss the potential increase with the insured before leaving the house. In most cases, an experienced appraiser can determine if a structure is significantly under-insured prior to completing the on-site inspection. In these situations, an appraiser skilled in this technique can typically help the insured to understand the factors contributing to the potential increase by discussing the home’s unique features, materials, construction techniques, local building costs, and comparables. This process is bolstered by a courtesy follow-up call to the agent.

A Philosophical Difference

In many young organizations that demonstrate initial success, the principals too often move away from the all important field positions to a more “hands-off” management role that tends to focus more on strategic and administrative issues and less on the vital details of the day-to-day operations. At Prestige, the principals believe they must remain active in their field roles in order to stay current with work techniques and issues, help our team members to excel, and demonstrate by example the passion necessary to produce high quality appraisals and provide superior service. We strongly feel that when you stop spending time with your people, doing the work they do, you loose touch…and when you loose touch, you loose direction!

A Personnel Difference

There is a prevailing sense among major insurance carriers that independent contractors (fee companies) provide a substandard product. It’s unfortunate, but the practices of many independent inspection companies have negatively impacted the general reputation of this profession. While conducting interviews with appraisers from some of these companies, we met with people who were hired without experience, given an initial training course, and then left alone without direction or face-to-face managerial contact for up to two-years. This type of mismanagement creates and fosters the reputation that well-managed companies like Prestige work to overcome.

At Prestige, our appraisers are on par with the experienced in-house appraisers employed by the major carriers. We only hire fully experienced appraisers and each senior team member has responsibilities for less senior team members. Everyone’s work product, even the owner's, is reviewed and commented on by another team member. Our commitment to the professional development and life quality issues of our team members affords us the confidence to hold them up as some of the best in the industry. Our people are the real difference!

A Guaranteed Difference

If there are ever any issues with a Prestige report, a principal will be available at no additional cost to the carrier, to work with the insured and/or agent at the underwriter’s direction, to justify the report findings and follow the process through to a satisfactory resolution.