1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Home owners insurance and roof damage

Discussion in 'Questions and Answers' started by Fishweiser, Apr 21, 2011.

  1. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

    864
    347
    0
    Apr 24, 2009
    Last year, a big hail storm hit my neighborhood. Ever since, my neighbors all around me have been getting their insurance to pay for new roofs. I kinda put it off for awhile, and now Im like the only person with in a quarter mile radius without a new roof. So I finally contacted my Insurance company. They told me to have a roofer come inspect it, and then they would send an adjuster out. So I do as they asked and the roofer says there is hail damage. The adjuster comes out and dosent agree. He said there was some wind damage, but nothing beyond my $1000.00 deductable. Ive since had 2 others inspect and they see hail damage, so Ive sent state farm a statement from a roofer and requested they reevaluate my roof. I havent heard anything from them yet, but I will give it a couple of days. I havent had to deal with insurance companys very often, so Im half expecting them to play hard ball with me. Im just curious to see what experience others have had with this kind of thing and what I should expect..

    Also, State farm said they would write a check to the roofer. How hard would it be for me to get them to fill the check out to me? I have a $1000 deductable, so if I can try to negotiate with a roofer myself to try and recoup some of that, it would be great....
     
  2. jdang307

    jdang307 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    39,159
    21,798
    113
    Nov 29, 2007
    San Diego
    My fiance does exactly this. She's an adjuster but only deals with catastrophes travelling around the country, one of them being big hail storms and what not. State Farm is usually one of the better companies from what she says (easier paying compared to others ... her advice is to get Travelers if you can they're cheapest and their adjusters always pay easy). Your neighbors having hail damage isn't evidence you have hail damage but that there was a hail storm in the area. They know this storm and exact date of loss. Trust me.

    wind damage and hail damage are both covered, so that shouldn't matter, it's the amount of damage there is. He disagrees with the roofers. You are kind of stuck in a pickle. if his program is saying it's only a certain amount, that's all he will be authorized to pay. What they normally do in those situations is, pay you their amount, then you go and fix it, then you send them the bill. If that bill is higher than the amount paid to you, they will issue a supplemental payment to cover the difference (minus the deductible of course which was deducted the first time).

    You can absolutely request a re-inspection. Have a roofer there at the same time (preferably one you will hire and negotiate with after). I'm speaking from my fiance's experience here, call the adjusters supervisor and air your beef. Supervisors (at least hers) hate to deal with customers. So if they have to deal with your ish, he'll press the adjuster to get it resolved. It might not be resolved in your favor at first, but it will be. Tell them you want a new adjuster, and tell them to bring their own preferred roofer as well. Any discrepancies will get hashed out right there on the spot.

    From what I've seen, and my lady is at one of the stingiest companies, is that they will not play hardball with you, unless they actually believe they're right. You are their insured. It's not like a car accident where you're dealing with an adversarial insurance company. They owe you a duty of good faith. So stick in there, I'm sure the adjuster really believes you do not have that much damage, he's not trying to lowball you. They do not have "budgets" or max payouts per year or any of those metrics (if they did they'd be sued to the yin yang) so they're not trying to protect a pot or anything. They pay what they think they should pay, in this case he thinks he doesn't need to, so help him figure it out. Schedule a reinspect, demand a roofer from each side there, and get your check.

    Oh and I've never heard them sending the check directly to the vendor unless the work is already done. I'll talk to my lady in the AM on this, but I believe they mostly make the check out to the homeowner and lienholder (bank). I know this because she was cutting 10-20 thousand dollar checks to homes near wildfire areas due to smoke and ash damage (yes they pay that much) where the homeowners hire MollyMaid for $500 to clean their house.
     
    Fishweiser likes this.
  3. 2socks

    2socks Rebuilding Since 1973

    8,141
    2,103
    113
    Nov 27, 2008
    Atlanta
    Owning a roofing company I can tell you that the check is 99% of the time always made to you minus your deductible. The insurance companies always know when and where the storms have hit down to the street. This is huge business to us roofers and insurance companies know it. 75% of the time a good adjuster will low ball the estimate which we most of the time can negotiate on your behalf. No insurance company wants to pay out their profits so keep that in mind.

    The most important thing I am going to tell you is you should ask your roofer what the real deal is. If your roof is iffy you may want to consider not filing a claim. It will be fine for know but trust me when I tell you next year when you go to renew your premium will be higher. The amount will depend on several factors: location, zip code,age, number of policies with company, pay outs on your behalf, number of claims. You could see premiums of 40/50/60 % higher. calculate that out over a 10 year period and you get my point. Anyway.....good luck. Sate Farm is one of the best!!
     
    DeDolfan and Fishweiser like this.
  4. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

    864
    347
    0
    Apr 24, 2009
    Thanks guys, Im going to try and contact them today. Hopefully I can get something resolved soon. One thing Ive noticed is that in the last year or so, any time theres some wind, Ill find some shingles in the yard. I dont know if thats due to the hail storm or not, but its something that needs takling care of before the problems get much bigger!!
     
  5. jdang307

    jdang307 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    39,159
    21,798
    113
    Nov 29, 2007
    San Diego
    Speak of the devil, my fiance just got the call today, Abilene Texas tomorrow for recent hail storms. Again, her advice, request re-inspection, have your roofer there. Ask for a different adjuster, or raise hell with the supe.
     
  6. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

    864
    347
    0
    Apr 24, 2009
    So I called yesterday and spoke to my agent. She has it set up to where an adjuster is going to meet with my roofer and walk the roof. Im not sure if they plan on using a different adjuster or not. To be honest, I just assumed that they would use a different one. This gives me a good reason to call them again today. Yesterday when I called, I didnt get my concerns across to them. Seriously, if you look at all the new roofs around me, you could plainly see why I would feel neglected by State farm if they do nothing at all. The homes in my neighborhood are pretty tightly packed in, so theres not alot of distance from one home to another. If hail hit each and everyone of the houses and missed my house, it would be nothing short of a miracle given the broad area of new roofs. I know tornados do weird things, but not hail storms.... There are no trees to offer protection either, and all the homes were built at the same time by the same builders with the same materials, so Im sure I dont have some sort of super roof. Im also certain that all my neighbors dont have irresponsable, push over type home owners insurance companies either...all in all, Im just frustrated all ready. Because besides the roof, theres the deal where they want to pay the roofers directly, when every body elses insurance writes them a check and they then can shop around and recoup some of their deductable. ...Im almost afraid to push my insurance company too much to get them to send me a check because Im kinda made to feel like Im up to some kind of criminal activity or something. .....Ive heard alot of good about state farm, but so far....well,...you can see......
     
  7. jdang307

    jdang307 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    39,159
    21,798
    113
    Nov 29, 2007
    San Diego
    Ask them if they pay the roofer directly and the roofer absconds with the check or does a crappy job, will they reissue a new check. That'll shut them up.
     
    Fishweiser likes this.

Share This Page