insurance inspections

[Markus Keller]

Has anyone heard of / dealt with Castle Inspection services, division of Overland? They claim to be a national insurance insp outfit.
They have an ad up here looking for ins insp. Sounds like a possible side revenue. However, their site says they pay $10-15 per res insp and $20-25 per comm insp. It states basically take pictures, measurements and a few forms to fill out. Sounds simple enough but at those prices you'd be working for free.
With gas, paper, pen, electricity to write/email, there's no money in it.
I guess it's no surprise they are looking for inspector's
Anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks, Markus

[Nick Ostrowski]

Those fees don't even pay for gas.

[John Arnold]

I would inspect my neighbor's house by glancing out the kitchen window while making a sandwich for $15. Maybe I should give them a call.

[Ron Bibler]

But would inspect it for $ 15.00 and a sandwich? :D

Most insurance work is like that. you need to get the work from the owner or a law firm.

[Brian Cooper]

I do similar work for $20 per house here in Columbia. I only send photos. I don't measure.

I made $400 on it in two weeks last month, and i have $500 worth of invoices ready for this month. It's worth it to me!

[David Banks]

I do similar work for $20 per house here in Columbia. I only send photos. I don't measure.

I made $400 on it in two weeks last month, and i have $500 worth of invoices ready for this month. It's worth it to me!

What else do you have to do besides pics?

[Alton Darty]

I have done a few of these for an outfit called Advanced Field Services. Pic to verify address, pic of front of structure, pic of rear, note any hazards (include pic of hazard) or conditional problems. Thats it, takes about 15 minutes from start to finish at the most. Upload the pics to their website + simple report which takes maybe five minutes. You can hold a report request for up to two weeks, so I wait and group them together by general vicinity. Did 4 of these last week in less than an hour, including driving time, and I was already in the area doing one of my jobs so it wasn't to bad.
Alton

[Brian Cooper]

What else do you have to do besides pics?

E-mail the pics to the agent. That's it. Nothing else.

[Philip Canter]

I work for Castle and they keep me busy. They are good to work with and pay is on-time. The per inspection seems low, but when you can do 10 to 15 in a day, it adds up. No crawl spaces, attics, or real estate agents! Sometimes you may have to speak with an insurance agent. You just can't tell the "real" home inspectors that you do these.:D It's alright money if you want to lower yourself.:p

Phil Canter

[Markus Keller]

Thanks for the input to all. I think I'll pursue it a little more and then make a decision. The pricing is dirt cheap but it may be good filler work in between other things. If I can use my motorcycle to do them then it is more appealing cost wise. As with all work it may lead to other referrals.
Thanks, Markus

[Jimmy Breazeale]

My personal advice, unless you live in a major metro area, is to stay way from the low-value insurance stuff. Insurance work in any case only makes economic sense if it is based on volume. A scattered 15 bucks here and there is a waste of your time. Contact higher value companys such as US-Reports or Collateral Specialists. Be advised that in all cases, insurance services work is a whole lot of sugar for a dime, but it can pay your bills in these tough times as long as you have a 10-30 day turnaround and can schedule a number of jobs in a contiguous area.