Tyler Families Surveying Damage After Thunderstorm

The Lynn family is one of many who suffered damage from Tuesday afternoon’s thunderstorm in Tyler. More specifically, a tree is now on top of their house. They immediately made a call to their insurance company who gave them some tips on using a reputable repair business.

Tyler Lynn was in his house when the tree hit. “I was in my room, which is right there where the tree’s kind of falling on, and all of a sudden I saw a flash of lightning and I heard a big crunch. Next thing I know, I come out and see that there’s a big tree laying on our house.”

After the shock wore off, he called his insurance company, who walked him through the next steps on finding a trustworthy repair company. “The insurance agent, when I talked to her yesterday, after we were done talking, she said to always make sure to ask for to see insurance papers because she said there’s a lot of unscrupulous people out there that come out of the woodwork after a storm, and that’s one thing I should look for.”

Roland Browne owns local company Stonewater Roofing. He said that if homeowners find themselves in this situation, they need to protect themselves. “You want to definitely use a reputable company, like Stonewater Roofing. You want to use someone that’s insured. In our case we’re insured up to $3 million. A lot of these guys, they don’t have any insurance, they don’t have any worker’s comp.”

Browne said that its also important to document everything for your insurance company. “I think one of the mistakes people make when this happens is they’ll go ahead and call a company out, take the tree off, and they will not have any photos of that prior to,” he added. “Your insurance company wants to see photos of the damage prior to you taking it off.”

You can always check with the Better Business Bureau if you’re unsure about a business or person that has approached you and offered services. Lynn said that his insurance agent also encouraged him to check with multiple companies for quotes on the repair.

A version of this article originally appeared on East Texas Matters.

How To Spot Door-To-Door Roofing Scammers

Springtime weather may be beautiful, but the severe storms we see during this time of year also means door-to-door scam artists are out and about, most acting like contractors.

About 8,000 complaints are reported each year to the Better Business Bureau about the roofing industry alone. It’s the number one scam during the spring. Lots of scam artists pose as roofing contractors, knocking on your door, promising to fix the damage from the last storm for a cheap price.

Some legitimate contractors also go door-to-door, but how can you tell if someone’s lying?

Mechele Mills with the Better Business Bureau of Tyler said, “If they have an unmarked vehicle, that’s something to be watchful for. Also, if it’s really hard to identify what company they’re with.”

Mills said that another red flag is if the person at your door doesn’t have a business card, or won’t give you contact information.

“You also want to check out their reputation, check out their track record,” Mills suggested.

Pay attention to how they’re asking you to pay for the roofing service. “If they ask for money up front, if they ask for cash, be cautious with that.”

Lots of times, these scammers will take your money, and won’t come back.

Mills said, “The safest way to pay is to use a credit card, because you’ll have 60 days to dispute that transaction.”

The most important thing is your safety. If someone knocks on your door, you don’t have to answer it.

The City of Tyler has an ordinance in place saying that solicitors cannot come to your door before 10:00 a.m. or after dark. They also can’t come to your door at all if you have a no soliciting sign — something to keep in mind if you want to avoid these scammers altogether.

The BBB also says to look out for door-to-door scam artists posing as other types of contractors, like asphalt workers.

For more scam information, or to check out a specific business, head to the BBB of Tyler’s website.

A version of this article originally appeared on KYTX’s website.