Fci Serves Insurance Adjusters & Restoration Contractors With Innovative Floor Restoration Program

FIRST Operation Analyzes Damaged Fiber Samples On-Site and Brings Samples to Insureds’ Doors

ATLANTA, GEORGIA (Monday, January 01, 2001) - Floor Coverings International (FCI), the oldest and largest mobile floor covering retailer in the country, is the first company to develop a flooring restoration program to meet the specific needs of adjusters and restoration contractors. The program, known as FIRST (Floor Installation and Replacement Services Team), is a certified program which trains FCI franchise owners to properly evaluate and replace damaged floors in response to increasing numbers of insurance claims.

Key to the program’s success is FCI’s exclusive CarpetMatch Mobile Lab, which can evaluate damaged fiber samples on site and determine a like kind and quality match for replacement within minutes. Without this valuable on-site tool, adjusters usually must send fiber samples to an outside lab, which is often located out of state and cannot return final results for nearly two weeks.

In addition, since FCI franchisees operate via mobile flooring van showrooms, the retailer is able to bring more than 3,000 floor covering styles and colors to an insured’s door to provide unprecedented convenience during a time when insureds are already stressed and inconvenienced. The mobile showroom, along with the on-site analysis, further results in a faster closure of claims ¾ a very welcomed benefit for both adjusters and insureds. In addition, as one of the top 20 flooring retailers in the country (according to Floor Covering Weekly), FCI is able to offer insurance adjusters and restoration contractors highly competitive prices resulting from the combined buying power of its 100+ domestic franchise operations.

“We purposely designed our unique program to simultaneously meet the needs of adjusters, restoration contractors and insureds,” noted Tom Gandee, president of FCI. “When disasters, such as fire or a flood, hit, homeowners are understandably frantic. They want their home and their lives restored as quickly as possible. At the same time, adjusters with sometimes overwhelming case loads are looking to close their claims files quickly and without hassle. With FIRST, we believe we can equally please all audiences.”

FCI franchise owners certified to participate in the FIRST program are on-call to respond to the insured within one hour of the first phone call (during regular business hours) to set an inspection and evaluation appointment. At the same time that the analysis is done and an evaluation report is generated, FCI’s mobile flooring van showroom is at the insured’s residence to offer selections that represent like kind and quality matches.

“I think one of the biggest concerns of insurance companies, in addition to satisfying customers, is the credibility of the evaluation report,” added Gandee. “Because our FIRST program was specifically designed for the insurance industry, our franchisees are more likely to provide credible evaluations as a means to secure repeat business from the agent, adjuster or restoration contractor. Our people receive special training and certification to ensure their ability to properly identify damaged materials and recommend a comparable replacement.”

For more information about FCI’s innovative FIRST program or to locate the nearest FCI franchise, call 1-800-DIAL-FCI or visit www.floorcoveringsintl.com.

For More Infromation Please contact:
Eileen Petridis or Michael Anderson
Robert Falls & Co. Public Relations
Phone: (216) 696-0229

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