Your Home. Documented. Protected. Defended.
A licensed Professional Engineer on your side — before disaster strikes. Vanguard Forensics creates the pre-loss engineering record that makes your insurance claim defensible.
Why Homeowners Start at a Disadvantage
Nearly half of Florida homeowner insurance claims are closed without payment. When damage strikes — a hurricane, a storm, a plumbing failure — your carrier sends its own engineers and adjusters. They'll often argue the damage was pre-existing, the result of wear and tear, or not a covered peril. By the time most homeowners bring in their own engineer, it's already too late: after the roofing, water mitigation, mold remediation, and other contractors have completed work to your home, after the carrier's expert has already weighed in, after a long denial process, and after you have hired an attorney.
The Evidence Most Homeowners Don't Have
The single most powerful factor in a legitimate claim is professional pre-loss documentation — a licensed engineer's assessment of your home's condition before damage occurs. It is what defeats the "pre-existing damage" argument, establishes causation, and shifts the burden back to the carrier.
Taking your own photos isn't enough. Carriers rarely dispute that damage exists — they dispute its cause, its scope, and whether it predated the loss. What changes the equation is a Professional Engineer who inspected, assessed, and documented your home, and can issue a signed and sealed engineering opinion the carrier cannot simply dismiss.
Your Engineer. On Your Side. From Day One.
Vanguard Forensics is a subscription-based home protection service that puts a licensed Professional Engineer on your side before damage ever occurs. Led by Nicholas Mata, P.E., CGC — a Florida-licensed Professional Engineer who has inspected homes across Florida following hurricanes, storms, and plumbing failures, and has provided expert testimony through deposition and trial on behalf of policyholders.
We inspect your home — roof, structure, envelope, interior, and attic — and maintain a professionally documented, timestamped record of its condition. When a loss occurs, that record becomes the foundation of a signed and sealed forensic engineering report carrying the credibility only a licensed PE can provide.
We are not adjusters. We are not roofers. We are not attorneys. We have no financial stake in the outcome of your claim. We are your licensed Professional Engineer — on your side, from day one.
How It Works
1. We Document. We inspect and photograph your home before any damage occurs — roof, exterior, interior, and attic — and store it all in a timestamped archive.
2. Damage Occurs. You call us. We document post-loss conditions while the evidence is fresh, before the carrier's team or other contractors arrive.
3. We Issue a PE Report. A signed and sealed forensic engineering report: a licensed PE's professional opinion on causation, backed by your pre-loss documentation.
4. We Stay With You. If your claim is disputed, we are already your expert of record — ready for reinspection, demand packages, depositions, and trial.
Service Packages
Foundation. Two annual roof inspections, exterior photo documentation, a timestamped digital archive, and one free 30-minute consultation per year.
Protection. Everything in Foundation, plus full room-by-room interior documentation, plumbing fixture documentation (visible components), attic inspection, and priority scheduling after named-storm events.
PE Engineering Report. A signed and sealed forensic engineering report by a Florida-licensed PE, with a professional causation opinion and your pre-loss documentation integrated — the engineering foundation your adjuster or attorney needs.
Concierge (hourly). Full owner's-representative service for complex claims: engineering oversight of contractors, mitigation firms, and adjusters; documentation of all work performed; coordination with your attorney; and expert witness testimony if your case goes to litigation.
Why Vanguard Forensics
Licensed Professional Engineer and Florida Certified General Contractor — we know how homes are built. Extensive forensic inspection experience across Florida following hurricanes, storms, and plumbing failures. Courtroom-tested, with expert witness experience through deposition and trial. Available statewide. No contingency fees and no conflicts of interest. The principal engineer prepares pre-loss documentation that defeats denial arguments.
For Attorneys & Litigation Support
Beyond homeowner protection, Vanguard provides independent forensic engineering for litigation — cause-and-origin determination for wind, plumbing, and other loss events, plus geotechnical forensics covering settlement, foundation movement, cracking, and slope instability. Our analysis is thorough, independent, and built to withstand cross-examination.
Ready to Protect Your Home?
Vanguard Forensics • A Division of Vanguard Engineering Consultants, LLC • FL PE No. 82381 • FL CGC No. 1541210 • info@vanguardec.com