If you were to consider working any type of labor job after a disaster. I would only work for money or tangible items paid every week or ½ up front.

Having done flood clean up work I can make a good guess that it will go like this. The customer wants it done now and is not concerned about paying you. They expect the insurance company to pay for it so they say to do it all and do it now. If the insurance company approve of your work at all they probably will not pay for up to a year. Many times they will not pay at all because you did not work through them first. The customers will not pay you because they paid for coverage and it’s the insurance companies job to pay. After all why have coverage if not to have stuff like this paid for? They are sure it’s owed to them. But you are the one that gets the shaft.

You just worked your rear end off for free.

Having been down this road more then once, I don’t do any flood or insurance work at all any more.

I like to get paid for the work I do, not to sound cold to the problems others are having. But we all need money to live and I did not cause the problem.

PS a singed document saying they have to pay if the insurance company doesn’t pay is almost worthless, and it will many times cost more to have lawyers and the courts give you a favorable judgment then it’s worth. Even with this, payment can be very slow to come to never getting to you at all. It’s not the thing for a small company or just a guy with a truck and some tools to get into.




Mold removal is an area that is filled with so many problems and legal issues you would not believe all of them. Run away from this work very fast!!!


I’ve seen mold removal that had to be done (legally) with haz—mat suits. You don’t just go in with a sponge or a scraper and pick it up and throw it in a garbage bag.