
Who Is Joe Ferry?
Joseph Ferry was born on September 19, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, emerged into a world of promise and possibility as the youngest among seven sons of Dennis and Margaret McCarney Ferry, immigrants from Ireland. Joe’s heritage as a first-generation Irish-American endowed him with a dual citizenship of both Ireland and America. His formative years unfolded within the vibrant streets of Philadelphia, where he navigated his early education through the parochial school system. It was during this time that the seeds of his future endeavors were sown, laying the groundwork for a remarkable journey ahead.
Upon graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1988, Joe embarked on a new chapter of his life, one that would see him don various roles and carve out a path uniquely his own. His journey led him to the United States Army, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery Branch in 1969. Serving in the Republic of Korea as a Company Commander at the tender age of 22, Joe displayed both leadership and valor. His subsequent posting at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as a member of the Commanding General’s staff, further honed his skills and broadened his horizons.
Transitioning from military service in 1971, Joe ventured into the dynamic world of the insurance industry. However, it was his pursuit of legal education at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law that would shape the trajectory of his professional career. Graduating in 1986, Joe embarked on a new vocation as a trial lawyer, a role that he has since embraced with unwavering dedication and distinction.
The serendipitous encounter with Nick Gromicko marked a pivotal moment in Joe’s journey, catalyzing a partnership that would redefine the landscape of the home inspection industry. When Nick sought representation in a lawsuit filed against the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), Joe rose to the occasion. Emerging victoriously, Joe not only secured a resounding triumph but also assumed the role of NACHI’s General Counsel, a position that would solidify his influence within the growing organization. In the early days of InterNACHI, its office was wherever Nick Gromicko happened to be. One of Joe’s fondest memories was when he met Nick for lunch in a Chinese Restaurant in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. When Nick’s telephone rang, he answered, the call, taking the information down on a paper napkin, was a home inspector interested in joining InterNACHI.
As the nascent InterNACHI began to take shape, Joe’s unwavering commitment and expertise became invaluable assets in navigating the challenges that lay ahead. Joe’s presence and counsel became synonymous with the ethos of InterNACHI. His deep-seated understanding of the intricacies of the home inspection industry positioned him as a trusted advisor, sought after by inspectors facing legal challenges and disputes.
The genesis of the ClaimIntercept™ membership program marked a watershed moment in Joe’s career, heralding a new era of proactive legal protection for home inspectors. Through this innovative initiative, inspectors could avail themselves of Joe’s expertise and guidance, mitigating potential liabilities and safeguarding their professional interests. Joe’s relentless pursuit of excellence and unwavering advocacy for the home inspection community propelled him to the forefront of the industry, earning him widespread acclaim and recognition. For more than 20 years, the ClaimInterceptä program has helped thousands of home inspectors across the United States, Canada, and Australia.
The evolution of Joe’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of passion, perseverance, and purpose. From humble beginnings in the streets of Philadelphia to the corridors of legal expertise, Joe’s indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment have left an indelible imprint on the fabric of the home inspection industry. As he continues to chart new frontiers and inspire future generations, Joe remains a beacon of integrity, resilience, and unwavering dedication to his craft.

No Country for Old Inspectors
There is nothing like a road trip for restoring your faith in the future of this country and reminding you that, despite our manifold problems, the present is pretty awesome, too.
As I write this, I am sitting at the departure gate for my flight home to Philadelphia after having spent a few extra days in Pittsburgh following the presentation of the Law and Disorder Seminar for home inspectors at the PRO-ASHI Pittsburgh Chapter’s Spring Meeting.
The inspectors who came to this seminar were all seasoned veterans and virtually all of them have had one or more bad experience with an unreasonable client, a cowardly insurance company, an unprofessional real estate agent, or a vindictive seller that had caused them considerable agita and cost them lots of money. In other words, this was a sampling with a margin error of zero.
This, of course, is not exactly terra incognita to me. I am accustomed to inspectors being shocked, shocked that their insurance company would pay a bogus claim or would immediately offer their deductible to the complaining former client or would assign them an attorney “who didn’t seem to know anything about home inspections” and who would churn the file, running up legal fees for years, before eventually caving in and settling the case for “nuisance value.”
And I am completely inured to the astonished reaction from veteran inspectors who are hearing for the very first time in their inspection careers that there is no longer any reason for them to stand for this nonsense. That there is a new sheriff in town! That their days of routinely refunding inspection fees are over!
While my message is a breath of fresh air, it is also a trifle overwhelming because it is such a disconnect from the fairy tales that they are accustomed to hearing from insurance company lawyers who infest industry conferences. And that is because the interests of those lawyers are diametrically opposed to the interests of the inspector.
The inspector wants the claim to die aborning. That is the absolute last thing that an insurance company lawyer wants to see for reasons that should be surpassingly obvious.
My interests, one cannot fail to apprehend, are perfectly aligned with the home inspector’s. We both want the claim to go away. And pronto!
And that is exactly what has happened in 97% of the over 3000 claims that inspectors have asked me to respond to in the last twenty years.
Is E & O Insurance a Waste of Money?
Home Inspectors frequently ask me if having E & O Insurance is “worth it.” The unspoken subtext of the question, of course, is “Hey, if I never have a claim, haven’t I wasted my money?”
I guess that the answer would be “Yes,” if you felt the same way about any other line of insurance. If you never have an auto accident, never have a health issue, never have a house fire, never lose time from work due to sickness, have you wasted the money you spent on auto, health, homeowners and disability insurance?
The problem that I think that home inspectors have with legacy E & O insurers is that they don’t really trust them to do the right thing. And with some considerable justification.
I’m currently representing an Arizona inspector in a multi-party claim: the seller, a seventy-something woman, the real estate broker, a very successful entrepreneur and the inspector. The claimants are a real estate lawyer and his wife.
The lawyer-claimant wrote the Mother of All Demand Letters, a real megillah, fourteen pages, that sought $150,000 in damages. My response, according to counsel for the other defendants, “really infuriated him.”
Well, good, I thought. My fastball has not lost any of its velocity.
By and by, the seller’s attorney contacted me to ascertain my level of interest in participating in settlement discussions. He and the real estate broker’s attorney had some authority to settle – not much, mind you because the case against them was nearly as thin. They were in the $17,000 area. I was in the $500 range.
I participated in the settlement discussions via telephone. The Arizona lawyers were very impressive professionally and, though their clients had scarcely more exposure than mine, were nevertheless realistic about the cost to their clients should the case not settle.
The claimants were at $150,000 prior to the conference and, after the cold shower they got from the defendants, came down to a still absurd $85,000.
The other defendants subsequently came up to $30,000 and the inspector’s insurance company, having pulled me for a pinch-hitter magnanimously offered $5,000, coincidentally the very amount of its insured’s deductible.
So, this is what you are up against as an inspector: Regardless of your lack of culpability, Brand X insurers will routinely offer up your deductible to appease unmeritorious claimants.
This unmeritorious case, if tried, will likely result in a defense verdict. Of course, defense costs will vastly exceed $35,000. So, the last time I spoke to counsel for the other defendants, they were inching upward toward $45,000.
If my client did not have E & O Insurance, it would cost him many thousands of dollars to defend this meritless case. Even with his insurer selling him out, though, he is still better off with the insurance.

Inspection Agreements: Is There Anything They Can’t Do?
When home inspectors contact me to squash a claim, there are three documents that I always ask for:
- All correspondence with the claimant;
- The Inspection Report; and
- The Inspector’s Inspection Agreement.
These documents essentially constitute the “claim file” and invariably provide a torrent of reasons why the claim will fail.
After having successfully dispatched over 3,000 home inspection claims since 2006, I never expect a claim to have any merit and my expectations are never dashed. Of course, claimants and their attorneys, by and large, do not regard the mere fact that a claim has no legitimate predicate as any obstacle to making it. Indeed, their most frequently and fervently expressed desire is that the inspector “turn [the claim] over to your insurance company.”
And who can blame them? After all, most insurance companies operating in the home inspector professional liability field do not regard the mere fact that a claim has no legitimate predicate as any obstacle to throwing money at it. As long as the amount does not exceed the insured’s deductible, that is.
Those two well-established modi operandi of claimants and insurers constitute incontrovertible evidence for many inspectors that having professional liability insurance merely “puts a target on your back.” If only not having professional liability insurance removed the target from your back, what a wonderful world this would be!
Fortunately, there’s me. No home inspection claimant is going to get money thrown at them while I continue to draw breath.
Recently, a home inspector in Florida who has a multi-inspector firm contacted me to respond to two claims. Both claims were ridiculous on their face, but this inspector had armed himself with a strong Inspection Agreement that, inter alia, barred claims that are brought more than one year from the date of the inspection.
So, in addition to telling the claimants’ attorneys that the inspector had not been negligent, I could also state that, even had he been, the claim was untimely.
The inspector was not even aware that he had had this provision in his agreement.
Do you know what’s in yours?For more Information on Joe’s ClaimInterceptä Program, The Inspection Agreement Audit(TM) or to have him speak at your next event, please visit joeferry.com