Buyer Guide
After every major NE nor’easter or hurricane, out-of-state contractors descend on the impacted communities. Some are legitimate. Most are not. Here’s how to tell which is which.
Contractors who travel from disaster to disaster, working out of magnetic-sign trucks, hiring local day-labor crews, completing jobs fast, collecting insurance proceeds, and leaving town before warranty claims start. The business model relies on never being around for the consequences.
Legitimate NE roofers do not door-knock storm-damaged neighborhoods. We get calls from homeowners who decided to call us. Storm chasers door-knock — sometimes hours after the storm, sometimes the next morning. If a contractor knocks on your door uninvited after a storm: 95% chance they’re a storm chaser.
Look at the truck. Magnetic logo, out-of-state plates, no permanent local address: that’s a storm chaser. Real NE contractors have local trucks, local addresses, and local plates. The exception is the rare legitimate national franchise — and those have permanent local offices with verifiable addresses.
Storm chasers commonly ask homeowners to sign an Assignment of Benefits contract, which transfers insurance claim proceeds directly to the contractor. This is how they get paid before walking away. Legitimate contractors work on standard contracts where you receive the insurance proceeds and pay them directly. NEVER SIGN AN AOB.
‘We have crews here NOW, you need to sign TODAY’ — that’s storm chasing. Legitimate contractors can typically respond within 24-72 hours for emergency tarp, then schedule the permanent repair on a normal timeline (2-6 weeks). Speed is not always good; storm chasers exploit your panic.
Search the company name in your state’s contractor license database. Check Google Maps for the listed business address — is it a real shop or a UPS box? Ask for 5-year-old references (storm chasers don’t have them). Take 24 hours before signing anything; storm chasers’ offers expire to force action, legitimate offers don’t.
Get your damage tarped (emergency response from any reputable contractor is fine). Get 2-3 written quotes from contractors with verifiable local addresses and 5+ years of operating history. Don’t sign anything in the first 48 hours unless it’s an emergency tarp. File your insurance claim before signing any repair contract.
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Photo-documented assessment. Itemized quote. We’ll tell you if repair makes more sense than replacement.