“lifetime quality roofing” is suing me for not getting the work with them
long story short - i signed a service agreement with lifetime quality roofing so they could start an insurance claim. i decided not to continue with them because they gave me an inaccurate quote. it was not what they offered me to move on with the project. it was going to cost more. they never purchased any building material or began any work of any kind. furthermore, nobody ever contacted me to start the project. The roof was in bad condition so I needed to find a company that I felt comfortable doing the work with and that followed through on their quote. i spoke with a manager at lifetime quality roofing, letting them know I wasn’t comfortable working with them as they couldn’t deliver what was promised. Nothing happened after this conversation. But, now I just received a letter with a bill of $3400 for backing out of the service agreement. what can I do about this? anyone have a similar experience?
" i signed a service agreement"
You signed a contract, i believe they have you by the short hairs. I would reach out to them and try to settle it.
Most decent lawyers give free consultations. Setup an appointment, bring your paperwork, tell your story and see what they say. Most likely will cost you more than $3,400 to resolve it through an attorney but listening is free. If they have a legal contract and you signed it then you should’ve read the fine print before doing so. Failing to read fine print often costs big money unfortunately…
after i signed it we got the claim docs 10 days later and they said i have to pay extra money for the ice and shield, as it not show on the claim that im covered by ice and shield cover (builder code) and prior the docs he said that i covered 100%. so as im waiting for the agent respond (back and forth) and time not on my side ,and the roof is in was in very bad shape. i had to move on and find someone to fix it asap.
p.s- the LQR didn’t do any work on the house .
any thoughts?
there is any way out of this? i don’t have the money to pay
There may be a way out, maybe not. You really need to speak to a lawyer to know for sure.
The $3400 cancellation fee is legal. They are billing you for their time to inspect the roof, write a proposal, talk to insurance, etc.
If the contract says you will have no out of pocket costs except your deductible and now they are billing extra, that may be enough to void the contract. Depends how it is written.
How much work did they do? Did they just do a quick look at your roof and have you sign the contract? Or did they do a detailed inspection, tarp your roof, write up a proposal for insurance, negotiate with insurance?
Hi and thank you responding ,
they did do a quick look on the roof i sign the agreement for them to call the insurance company , after 10 days or so he met with the insurance appraiser and thats it .
the problem was when he called me after he got the docs form the insurance and tell me that i need to pay extra for the ice and shield cover ( in that point i lost his trust and he also took his time to start the work as it was about 2 weeks of back and forth with emails and calls )
what do you think?
p.s- i didn’t know that one phone call and to check out a roof that as they say a “free inspection” will cost me that much!!! i guess im in the wrong business
Can you post the contract?
Dealing with insurance can take a lot of work. The adjuster may miss things, argue about what should be covered, only want to replace half the roof, etc. A good roofer can argue/negotiate with the insurance to make sure everything is covered. This can sometimes double (or more) what the insurance pays out. The cancellation fee is to protect the roofer in the event they spend all that time getting your roof properly covered, and then you decide to go with someone else cheaper and pocket the extra money. Also, if you cancel last minute and materials were already ordered and the schedule set up.
From what you described, LQR hasn’t done much work. You should talk to the manager again and explain the situation and your reasons for cancelling. If they don’t have much invested in the job, they are unlikely to pursue the bill. Especially if the contract has issues like the additional fees.
i will see how can i put on it here tomorrow.
i guess i will try to talk to them again as they didn’t talk to me for 3 month now.
thank you sir for you time and thoughts about it.
Regardless what anyone on here says about your situation you need to speak to an attorney licensed in your state. Nothing else matters. Send the paperwork to an attorney, tell them what you did and ask what your options are. Pretty simple.
Contact Attorney. Not all contract provisions are enforceable in every state.
Also sending you a bill is not the same as suing you. If they are suing it would be in small claims where you can go before a judge and explain everything and they will rule one way or another. If everything you said is accurate, then you will likely not have to pay or pay very little.
If your local building code requires anything additional which was not part of the roof which was damaged, such as ice and water shield, the insurance is required to pay it. The roofer should have been going back to insurance to get that paid for, not coming to you. You have a reasonable claim that they breached the contract first by not providing the service you agreed to.
That is why you need a lawyer though. A couple hundred bucks and a lawyer can write a nasty gram telling them to shove it and they will probably stop pursuing you.
Read the very last paragraph. That covers, as I understand it, your situation. I’d say you signed it and need to do your part. However, I stick by my previous advise. Call an attorney talk to them and see what they can offer. Good luck.
Hi roy. I live in Columbus, OH, and I’m in the same situation with lifetime quality. Can you post an update here? I would appreciate if you can contact me at john.baker.39823 at gmail so that I can get some advice from you. Thanks
Most service contracts have reasonable performance expectations built in otherwise they risk running into perpetuity with no work ever being completed. If they intend to bind you to a contract, then a contract for specified work should be detailed including the entire scope, the price, and a reasonable start date. If you do not have this, it then appears to be more of an agency agreement. If so, they should then produce proof of hard costs associated with their efforts and offer a reasonable summary of what those are so you can assess the validity of the charges incurred. If they cannot produce that, then what are you being bound to? I would demand they produce them within a reasonable amount of time and consider a pre-emptive to countersuit for non-performance if they have not done a thing. This is scam selling and was used quite regularly in our region till it stopped.
Sometimes the best way to deal with a bully is with a bigger bully.
I’ll have to agree on the scam selling.
The OP was from about 8 months ago, so there’s a chance he isn’t returning for followup comments, but I have some questions and concerns.
- Was this a door-to-door solicitation?
- If so, did the roofer provide the state and federally required Notice of Cancellation in the body of the contract, including the two copies of the Notice of Cancellation forms?
- What was the exact timeline of all the events, especially for the OP’s refusal to enter into a formal building contract?
- Did the OP receive any payments from his insurance carrier?
- Did the roofer provide the OP with a separate building contract or change order to cover the additional work?
- Is the roofer billing the OP for failure to pay on the “service agreement” and never provided a “building contract” that the roofer mentions throughout the agreement?
As background, in Arizona a “service agreement,” a “work authorization,” or a “proposal” does not become a contract without meeting all of the elements required by state statute – one of those being a stated price must be part of the contract. A “price to be determined after consulting with the insurance company” does not constitute a stated price, and thus the service agreement cannot be a legal contract.
This roofer appears to recognize that by starting with a service agreement that gets converted into a contract once the final price is arrived at. Having said that, there is no binding obligation (in Arizona anyway) if the homeowner does not agree to the final price. He merely exercises his right to decline to sign the contract.
I asked about the timeline and whether the OP received any payments from his insurance carrier because the roofer apparently gives the homeowner 30 days to sign a formal building contract.
The importance of asking if this was a door-to-door solicitation call and asking if the lawful Notice of Cancellation forms were provided, is that federal law and every state’s statute provides for a right to cancel. The homeowner has three business days to cancel if the lawful Notice of Cancellation was provided, and a Continuing Right to Cancel for an indefinite time if the proper notices were not provided.
There’s more, but I’ll wait to see if the OP is still checking on his post here. In any event, I’m interested in hearing how this finally played out.