Can I replace my roof after hail storm damage before claim is settled with my insurance company?

[RichInFlorida]

Reply to "fed up":

What state are you in, fed up?

>>> I still would not replace until this is resolved.

I really appreciate the advice.

>>> What neighbors have said and done has little bearing in how your situation is resolved.

This is an excellent point. I shared this information to emphasize on how severe the hail damage was to all roofs on my street, including mine. That the real issue for me is unethical insurance company just not wanting to pay my claim.

>>> I had a claim last year for damage and heard same story of insurance replacing neighbors roof. I insured both homes. Neighbor was paid for approx 1/4 of roof by company. Many people on my street lost shingles in a wind storm, some had entire roof replaced and are now paying thousands because they had claim denied but ok'd work.

The "some had entire roof replaced and are now paying thousands because they had claim denied but ok'd work." sentence resonates strongly with me and my situation.

>>> Were you going to replace your roof this year?

No. I was expecting to replace it in 5 to 10 years.

But now the shingles are severely damaged and the hurricanes are likely coming soon. I've lived in Florida for 20 years --- my home gets hit with a hurricane at least 1 time almost every year. Some years 3 or 4 of them. Yes, some years 0, but on average it is over 1 a year.

If a hurricane hits, even a weak one wind-wise, my roof now, the shingles are going easily and quickly be peeled off. Then much water will invade the house through the roof and ceiling all over the house.

>>> What is your deductible?

$ 2,500.

My claim for a new roof with the insurance company is over $16,000.

 

[fed up]

I live in Virginia, my parents lived in The Villages for 15 years. You sound like you are near theeast coast. The language I used in my first reply is definitely in your policy jacket, not in renewal documents. Insurance companies are now using many metrics to determine direction of storm, wind speed, which slope of the roof may have been affected by the given wind direction. They look at brittleness of existing shingles which is a measure of life left in roof. Florida sun certainly fries roof shingles. Do you have an agent? Has he/she made an attempt to intervene on your behalf?

 

[RichInFlorida]

>>> I live in Virginia, my parents lived in The Villages for 15 years.

As I am sure you know, your laws in Virginia will be different than in Florida where I own the house and where your parents lived for 15 years. Different in nuances and statutory requirements for when an entire roof is mandated to be replaced.

>>> You sound like you are near the east coast.

Yes, the house is probably 20 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.

>>> The language I used in my first reply is definitely in your policy jacket, not in renewal documents.

There are 65 pages in my FULL policy jacket ---- it is my entire policy. The word "'repair" does appear in it 66 times, for example.

While I will agree that the insurance company can make repairs to some policy holders' roofs if the damage is minimal enough after a hail storm, the policy's wording will be ignored by the courts if I sue because it is superseded by Florida statue mandating when an entire roof must be replaced when the amount of damage crosses thresholds defined in the Florida statutes. Florida attorneys, public adjusters, and other roof experts in Florida have stressed this to me.

>>> Insurance companies are now using many metrics to determine direction of storm, wind speed, which slope of the roof may have been affected by the given wind direction.

Yes, technology is greatly improved, and insurance companies are going to try to use it to hide behind whenever they can so as to deny valid claims.

>>> They look at brittleness of existing shingles which is a measure of life left in roof. Florida sun certainly fries roof shingles.

Yes, the sun fries roof shingles especially in states like Florida. But in my discussions with lawyers (and public adjusters and roofing companies) who want me to sign with them so they can sue my insurance company, the expected remaining life of the shingles does not matter in Florida.

>>> Do you have an agent? Has he/she made an attempt to intervene on your behalf?

I do have an agent. This person and the company they own have proven to be a major clown act to put it very politely. They are incompetent and uncaring. I was in the process of replacing them as my agent due to their clown act when the hail storm hit.

I have reached out to them in various ways after my claim was denied. But their service to me has been even more upsetting at times than the insurance company's denial and now the insurance company's non-communication with me.

RichInFlorida

 

[fed up]

Published adjusters are worrisome, be careful if you sign anything. Some outfits will take as much as 1/3 of any claim that gets approved or any award granted by courts. Best of luck, you have a difficult road ahead

 

[fed up]

That was supposed to be Public Adjusters, damn spell check on cell phone. Florida guidelines are IF more than 25% of roof is damaged AND if the roof is not set up as different slopes AND you have optional coverage on your policy, AND if the building codes have changed since the roof was last replaced.
I still say you have more than an uphill fight trying to prove that this one storm caused all of the damage vs damage which has occurred through a series of storms over the years. Most inspectors I have met over the years and through many claims are trying to give the policyholder a check. Yes, they do look for exclusions on a policy. Yes, they do look for ways to mitigate the loss. They do have a thorough understanding of policy language but I have known many who find a way to get something covered which is expressly excluded, such as a sump pump failing to remove water but they figured that the power was off in the neighborhood so they pass by that exclusion. An inspector who have defined 10 shingles as being damaged and an independent inspector finding an entire roof damaged is troublesome and you can ask the claims office to have someone meet you on property when your independent is there.
The additional coverage section of your policy is a section which would state something along the lines of "If the color or style cannot be matched then there is additional coverage to replace", you would pay a bit more in premium for this endorsement.

 

[fed up]

The policy has no such wording. No wording about repairs or replacements at all. Or damaged portions or sections.

A Sample Florida policy has this wording on a standard homeowners policy:
H. Our Option
If we give you written notice within 30 days after we receive your signed, sworn proof of loss, we may repair or replace any part of the damaged property with material or property of like kind and quality.

 

[RichInFlorida]

Reply to: fed up

>>> That was supposed to be Public Adjusters, damn spell check on cell phone.

I really do NOT plan to use a Public Adjuster. I did TALK to one only because my roofer asked me to (strong pressure). The roofer of course wants to put up a roof, and was hoping his favorite PA would get my insurance company to pay my claim so they could put up the roof soon.

>>> Florida guidelines are IF more than 25% of roof is damaged AND if the roof is not set up as different slopes AND you have optional coverage on your policy, AND if the building codes have changed since the roof was last replaced.

I read and studied the Florida statues *a few months ago*. The lawyers and other professionals all said the statue applied to my roof... I met the criteria and the insurance company should be replacing my roof. I don't plan to find it and study it again.

I remember the "more than 25% of roof is damaged" part certainly. It is over 50% of my roof that is damaged.

>>> I still say you have more than an uphill fight trying to prove that this one storm caused all of the damage vs damage which has occurred through a series of storms over the years.

I do not agree. That severe hail storm resulted in a huge percentage of the roofs in my county being replaced after insurance claims were paid to homeowners. I've heard different roofers say over 50% of the roofs have been replaced after homeowners successfully received on their claims --- that they have never been so busy in all of their years of roofing.

>>> An inspector who have defined 10 shingles as being damaged and an independent inspector finding an entire roof damaged is troublesome and you can ask the claims office to have someone meet you on property when your independent is there.

Their inspector said only 5 shingles were damaged on my roof. I cannot ask the claims office anything unfortunately. They have NOT returned any of my phone calls or answered my emails for 2 months now.

Today, I complained to the state of Florida about this, and they said the insurance company is "violation of the communications statue" by failing to respond to my correspondence with them. Some of it was over 60 days ago. Heard nothing from them all this time. Over 2 months. About 5 different emails from me and 2 phone calls were not acknowledged or responded to, including those where I submitted additional evidence.

The state is going to contact them about this violation and request they respond to my previous messages, and request they re-inspect the roof using a different inspector based upon everything I shared with them. They said the re-inspection is up to the insurance company; the state cannot require that they do a re-inspection.

 

[fed up]

Who is the carrier? I might have contact information which can help

 

[RichInFlorida]

fed up,

I cannot post their name at this time, or anything that identifies me definitively or them, per the wise advice from the lawyers. As potentially some of what I have written here can be potentially be used against me in a lawsuit if we end up in a lawsuit.

 

[adjusterjack]

I mentioned that I was a retired claims adjuster. What I didn't mention was that Florida was in my territory for the final 7 years of my career.

Reply to Adjusterjack:

>>> Did you get up there and see for yourself?

Yes, I did. I saw tremendous damage to 1/2 my shingles. Looked like someone spend an entire day with a ball peen hammer on my roof smashing indentations and some holes into/through about 1/2 the shingles on the roof.

Given that description I would lean toward a 100% roof replacement. However I would still like to see the photos. You wrote that you took some. Please upload them. However if your inspector's report has better photos take your cell phone or digital camera, photograph the photos without any identifying information, transfer them to your computer and upload them here.

I really do NOT plan to use a Public Adjuster.

Thank God for that. Public Adjusters are rip-off artists. Your repair cost is $16,000. The PA gets 15% = $2560. That, and your $2500, puts you $5060 out of pocket on a $16,000 roof. Would you sign knowing that? Of course not. And the PA knows that. What does the PA do. He promises to get you enough money from the insurance company to pay his fee and leave you enough to replace your roof. How does he do this? He inflates your claim. And what do we call an inflated insurance claim? Yes, class, it's called FRAUD. Why Florida allows these rip-off artists to stay in business is beyond me.

That severe hail storm resulted in a huge percentage of the roofs in my county being replaced

As long as you can verify that the storm occurred while you had insurance with your company, and it appears that you can, you shouldn't have any trouble with the claim.

Today, I complained to the state of Florida about this

Good. The advantage of that is that the DFS writes to a corporate executive who gets antsy when he finds out his front line people are screwing a customer. Then it trickles down from executive to executive to manager to supervisor with everybody required to explain themselves and it eventually puts the claim rep in the hot seat.

I'm not going to address the rest of the discussion because most of it is irrelevant in determining whether your roof needs to be 100% replaced due to hail damage.

I'll be more than happy to provide additional help once I've seen the photos.