Stephanie Jaynes
Marketing Director Stephanie Jaynes simplifies complex insurance and legal concepts to help home inspectors protect their livelihood and avoid unnecessary risk. Her articles have appeared in publications like the ASHI Reporter, CREIA Inspector Magazine, and the InspectorPro Blog. She’s been a guest on NACHI TV, Spectora Spotlight, The ASHI Online Learning Center, The Successful Home Inspector Podcast, Today’s Home Inspector, and the Home Inspection Authority Podcast. Stephanie received her Bachelor of Arts from Mills College with a major in creative writing and a minor in journalism. She has also earned her Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation from The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys trying new recipes and taking walks with her husband and sons.
Whether you’re just now entering the home inspection industry or have been an inspector for years, establishing and maintaining your own business is no small feat. One of the most common questions we receive from new or growing inspection companies is what type of business entity they should create. In this article, we hope to…
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Your Inspection Scope Merriam-Webster defines the term scope as an “intention” or “object,” meaning “the goal or end of an effort or activity.” One objective of your pre-inspection agreement is to define the scope, or purpose, of your inspection. According to Matthew Steger of WIN Home Inspection in Pennsylvania, including the scope in your agreement…
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Part 2: The Inspectors’ Perspective In Part 1 of the series, we examined how the two nationally recognized Standards of Practice (SoPs), written by the American Society of Home Inspectors’ (ASHI) and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors’ (InterNACHI), address the reverse jam test of garage doors. Both SoPs state that home inspectors are…
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Part 1: The Standards’ Perspective During a routine inspection, one of our insureds tested the reverse jam function of a property’s automatic garage door. The door failed the test due to a pre-existing defect, which the inspector wrote up in his inspection report. Shortly after the inspection, the property’s seller called the inspector. The seller…
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In California court case Moreno v. Sanchez, the home buyers sued their home inspector for breach of contract, negligence and negligent misrepresentation. The buyers had discovered dust and asbestos, an inoperable drain, defective windows and wall cracking. They believed that the inspector should be responsible for the damage. The inspector’s primary defense: his home inspection…
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An inspection client alleged that their home inspector failed to uncover major roof, plumbing, and sump pump issues. She demanded that the inspector refund the inspection and give her instructions to file a $20,000 claim against his insurance provider, us. Upon investigation, our claims team determined that the claimant’s allegation was among the 80 percent…
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The following is a real home inspection insurance claim from our insurance claim archives. To protect the insured’s identity, all identifiable characteristics—including names, associations, and locations—have been omitted or removed. “You have been sued. You may employ an attorney. If you or your attorney do not file a written answer with the clerk who issued…
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Could or have one of the following scenarios happened to you? The owner of the home inspection company that you work for dies unexpectedly. When he retires, the owner sells his home inspection business to you, his employee. To get into the business, you buy the name of a prominent home inspection company in your…
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The following is a real general liability insurance claim from our insurance claim archives. In order to protect the insured’s identity, all identifiable characteristics—including names, associations, and locations—have been omitted or removed. While performing a routine inspection, a home inspector stumbled upon a common problem: Some of the seller’s belongings were inhibiting him from performing…
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For inspection clients and home inspectors alike, home inspection reports are worth their weight in gold. Many inspection clients—often home buyers—rely on the home inspection results in their reports to make important purchasing decisions. “[The inspection report is] basically a giant list of everything that is wrong with your (potential) home,” explained Kristin Wong in…
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The following is a real home inspection insurance claim from our archives. To protect the insured’s identity, all identifiable characteristics—including names, associations, and locations—have been omitted or removed. The Complaint Three months after an inspection of a short-sale property that had suffered from some previous flooding, home inspector Jeremy Pierce received a series of heated…
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When shopping home inspection insurance, you have a lot of factors to consider. Are the insurer’s policies claims-made or occurrence? What exclusions and endorsements does the policy include? And does the provider offer any perks like pre-claims assistance or a diminishing deductible? (You can read more on the key characteristics to consider when shopping insurance…
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