Q: I'm a contractor. If a client enters into contract with me, does a 3rd party have any say over our contracted agreement?
I am asking because I often encounter the problem of a third party "review" company trying to step in. I work in restoration and these companies always try to cut the bill no matter what or how we charge. Do I have legal recourse to tell them that my contract is between the homeowner and I, and get the third party to go away?
A:
No. If you enter into a contract to perform a specific service for the homeowner at an agreed-upon fixed price, the third party has no say over your contracted agreement.
Where the "rubber meets the mat" is that most restoration contracts do not set an agreed-upon fixed price for a specific service. Without an agreement as to a specific price, a restoration company can charge the reasonable, customary and usual fee in the locality for the service. Third party "review" companies generally have a pretty solid database of what the reasonable, customary and usual fee in the locality for each item of service is. That's literally their forte. So, in a dispute, such companies are usually able to quickly produce detailed, persuasive evidence to support their contention of what a reasonable, customary and usual fee is. In my experience, restoration companies usually are ill-suited to challenging such evidence and often resort to "this is what we have always charged" as controverting evidence.
Ultimately, the fact-finder in such a case would have to determine whose evidence to believe.
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