Chasing the clouds away: Weather Warranty aims to cure storm-delayed rental issues

Project delays due to heavy rain and other factors are constant thorns for equipment-renting contractors, but Weather Warranty works to automatically extend equipment rentals until the work is done

Torrential rain. Heavy snow. Natrual disasters. Inclement weather can cause dangerous working conditions on job sites and derail project timelines, especially if contractors have rented heavy equipment, but Weather Warranty is looking to solve the impact storms have on construction.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, there were 520 natural catastrophes per year between 1989 and 2018, until in 2019 there were 820 total, a 60 percent increase from that three-decade average.

Those storms cause delays for construction, and those delays cost money: Weather Warranty said in a release that weather-related delays cost the U.S. construction industry approximately $4 billion a year.

When weather delays a project, contractors have to scramble to either extend their equipment rentals or find other options after they return their original rental – and if a storm affected more than one project, the demand for rental equipment in an area can skyrocket as contractors compete for the same machines.

Founded in 2020, which was a record year for tropical storms hitting the U.S., Weather Warranty provides a weather protection add-on for equipment rental customers in the form of an automatic extension of their rental agreement when severe weather causes unexpected delays.

The company said it can also secure store credit for contractors to rent again when the weather clears.

“If project-delaying weather events are a contractor’s greatest enemy, then the rental dealer who can provide them with what they need, when they need it and in a way that does not blow up their budget becomes the contractor’s biggest ally,” said Rick Wilmot, cofounder and product lead at Weather Warranty.

The company said its service works like travel insurance when booking a flight. When contractors request Weather Warranty on an equipment rental and a storm delays their project, the rental gets extended automatically.

Because Weather Warranty pays the full cost of the extension, contractors don’t need to worry about the potential cost of a normal rental extension.

Contractors and equipment dealers can both benefit from a service such as Weather Warranty’s, as the company pays dealers to provide additional days with the equipment if a jobsite experiences extreme rain, wind or cold temperatures, which means there’s no charge to the rental company.

The company said that every machine and every rental is eligible for Weather Warranty, with no exclusions.