With the heavy monsoons we had in the valley last year, insurance companies have been very busy writing claims for roofs compromised by the storms either from hail damage or wind damage. In some areas here in the valley, especially pockets in Glendale and Sun City, the insurance companies even deemed these areas “Catastrophic Loss Areas” and sent teams from all over the country to handle the large amount of claims. With that being said, homeowners think that if they don’t have a bunch of shingles blown of their roof and laying in everyone’s yards, they don’t have damage… However, this is not the case. Regarding roofing, insurance claims generally breakdown into two major forms:
 Wind Damage: Wind damage is normally much easier for a homeowner to see because you have shingles that have raised, curled, folded over or blown off as a result of large wind gusts. Sometimes a gust can be so large that it will actually fluff the shingles on your roof similar to that of when you put a sheet on a bed. See samples of Wind Damage.
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 Hail Damage: Hail damage in Arizona is generally very hard to see from the ground because our hail is just not as big as what you may see back east. But, we definitely get hail storms, and we get some big ones! Hail damage on a shingle is first shown by divots, craters, or holes in the actual shingle. They may be hard to see, so sometimes you have to feel for them. Secondly, a hail storm can break down a shingle by hitting it so much that it removes a large amount of granules off the shingles and often times you can see the large granular deposit in your gutters or on the cracks of the concrete on your driveway or patio. Either way, hail actually accelerates the expected life of the shingle and decreases the protection on your roof. Other tell-tale signs of hail damage on your roof are shown by damage to the coil on your air conditioning unit, or dings on your “whirlybird vents”. It is very hard to ding the steel vents, but it can happen… the damage occurs much more often on the aluminum style vents.
See samples of hail damage.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:
It’s important to know that if you think your roof has been compromised as a result of a wind or hail storm you call us BEFORE you call your insurance company. Our representatives know what to look for and the last thing we want you to do is call and report a claim when you don’t actually have damage. Everyone loves their insurance agent, but many people do not know that the insurance agent and the claims representatives are very different people and have different interests at mind. This is why we come out, at no charge to help walk you through the claims process and work on YOUR side instead of on the insurance company’s side. It is quite common that the homeowner signs a contingency with our company so that we know they are committed to the process and actually wanting to do their roof. The insurance company frowns on those who actually take the money and don’t complete the repairs as you are doing a disservice to yourself. If this in fact occurs, the next time you have a claim on your home, you may have a much harder time getting those repairs covered ESPECIALLY if it’s a roof claim. It is important to know the good, the bad and the ugly of filing a claim to have your roof covered by your insurance company:
- The Good: Our company has been very successful in getting the majority of the roofs covered for the homeowner aka “The Insured”, and in nearly all cases the only cost for them was their deductible. What this means is you can get a partial or full replacement for $250.00, $500.00, $1,000.00 or whatever your applicable deductible happens to be. Keep in mind you have been paying for this in your premiums year after year. Regardless of whether your roof is brand new, or 20 years old, the insurance company pays replacement value as long as there is direct physical damage to the roof caused by the storm. Our representatives are trained to look for storm damage on your roof even if that’s not the reason you called our company and if we are able to, we want to do your roof for the least amount of out-of-pocket cost to you.
- The Bad: While most insurance companies do not raise your rates for reporting a claim from an act of god, there is always a chance they will do so. We also can not guarantee we will get anything for your claim, or everything covered because each insurance company is different and each adjuster for that company varies as well. Our company will not raise the cost of you roof so that the homeowner can benefit from the excess cash left over… this is insurance fraud.
- The Ugly: It has been our experience that insurance companies do not like that we are doing this because it creates more work for their adjusters and costs them more money. While we also recommend you to get 3 estimates for any work you complete on your home, you will find that sometimes they demand it and push you as far away from our company as possible. You by law have the right once your claim is paid to hire any company you wish to hire. Expect the insurance company to say bad things about us and sometimes flat out tell you that their roofer will do it for the amount on this claim and we will be considerably more. Keep in mind we will fight for you and we are there on your behalf… sometimes the fight can get “ugly”.
You can feel confident that if we think there is damage on your roof, there most likely is and we will fight for you as much as possible. We feel that it is unethical to run around asking people to file claims on their roof if they are not actually there and we will not do it. We also feel that the insurance company has a duty to their insured to cover their roof as outlined in their policy, if the coverage exists. It’s a similar process when you go to the car wash and you have a ding your window and they offer to fix it while billing your insurance company.
How Is My Claim Paid?
The final thing you need to know about your claim is how it gets paid. For simplicity reasons, let’s assume you have a deductible of $500 and we will use an estimated cost of replacement for your roof of $10,000 on a roof that has an expected life of 10 years.
- If you know your roof is 5 years old, or 50% gone, then the insurance company will depreciate your roof 50% or $5,000, and send you a check for $5,000 minus your $500 deductible with an actual cash value “ACV” of $4,500. Your question is “How do I get a $10,000 roof with only $4500?”
- The other $5000 is called “Recoverable Depreciation”. What you do with the $4500 is hire a roofing company and put the $4500 down with a deposit and give them a copy of your claim with all the contact information for the adjuster. At the time the roof is complete, a roofing company will issue an invoice to you and/or your insurance company for the remaining balance not to exceed the $5000 in recoverable depreciation. At that time, your insurance company will issue a check that is sometimes in the form of a two party check between you and your mortgage company or you and your roofing company.
- If necessary, the amount of the deductible will actually come out of your pocket as the insurance company deducted that amount from the first check.
- Another Example: Now assume the same costs as above on a roof that is 9 years old. The insurance company will say your roof is 90% gone and send you a check of $1,000 minus the $500 deductible. The same principle applies as you take your $500 ACV check and put it as a deposit and at the completion of the job, the extra $9000 in recoverable depreciation will be dispersed by the insurance company.
We have provided a Microsoft Excel download on our page that will allow you to enter these figures in to see how much you can expect your claim to be and how much the payout will be if you wish to proceed.
Does that sound like a lot of work? It can be… but that’s why we do it for you. The hardest thing you have to do is call your insurance company and we will work with them. Most insurance companies have been great and easy to deal with and want to see the homeowner get a new roof, but the damage has to actually exist. It is our job to make sure they don’t over look anything and measure the roof right and fight for you if and when the time comes. We know times are tough right now, but we also know that your roof is one of the most important parts of your home. Feel free to browse the pictures or use the downloads we have provided you on this page and contact us as soon as you can so that we can come out and see if you have storm damage on your roof.
Please Note: We are not hail or wind damage experts. Everything we have stated above are based on our experience in working with insurance companies in the past. |
