In May and July, two intense hail storms hammered Rutland, causing millions in damages to homes and cars. Repairs are ongoing and insurance money has flooded the region.
Inside the service department at Shearer Honda in Rutland, the mad rush of dent repair has slowed. But sales Manager Kevin Bowie expects the work will continue into 2015. And all those dings, he says, pushed many in Rutland to buy new cars. “Our bottom line is up over 40 percent over last year and competitors of ours in nearby areas are either flat or down slightly in many cases so I feel like we have benefited tremendously,” says Bowie.
With tens of millions of dollars in insurance money pouring into Rutland County, it’s not surprising that many traveling dent and roof repair crews have flocked to the area.
Rutland City Treasurer Wendy Wilton says local hotels and restaurants have benefited from that, as has the city. “The revenues for rooms, meals and entertainment tax is quite a bit larger than we would expect from this time of year," she says.
She says the city typically takes in about $40,000 a month from the rooms and meals tax. But for July and August, Wilton says they brought in $115,000.
Elizabeth Stahura, finance manager at LaValley Building Supply, agrees that’s good news for the city. But she says some of those repair crews may not have the best interests of their customers at heart. She says they’ve had complaints from several homeowners who felt swindled by traveling roof repair specialists. “They tell someone with a sense of urgency that, 'We’ll go up and look at your roof, that it’ll just take a couple of minutes.' And then they come down and instill a sense of fear that the whole roof will collapse or it needs to be replaced and therefore, 'Let us fix it and let us get you out of danger.'”
Stahura says the workers typically ask for cash and in several instances, charged homeowners for double the amount of shingles needed and then pocketed the difference.
She encourages anyone still worried about home hail damage to contact the local chamber of commerce or building supply store for reputable contractors.
