Coverage Questions for Wind Damaged Roof with RCV Insurance

[wigiwiz]

Hi all, I'm hoping someone here can help clear up what I'm not understanding. my roof is 2 layers of asphalt shingles over a layer of cedar shake. 3 in total. my shingles are roughly 15years old. Earlier this spring I found quite a lot of shingles laying around my yard after a very windy night. I do have a replacement cost homeowners insurance. So I called my insurance agent and they sent over a private adjuster the very next day. he went up on my roof and determined it was wind damage that couldn't be patched properly so he said the roof would have to be fully replaced. he took measurements, wrote everything down. I did get an estimate done prior to him stopping and I gave him a copy. So when I finally got his estimate he stated over the phone that they were not going to pay for the removal of the cedar shake shingles and that they were not going to pay for the new roof decking to nail the shingles to. Out of the two roofers I trust to do the job that I talked to had both stated that there would be no warranty on the new shingles if they were going to reroof over the wood shakes. They also stated that they would not even do the job he couldn't do it properly. The concern being that the new shingles would not lay down flat and end up blowing of again. Also the wood shakes will end up pulling up with the asphalt shingles and end up just being more tedious labor wise. I do have a $1000 deductible. so is it common to still end up paying out of pocket for the full replacement.
Thanks in advance

 

[djs]

Depends on your policy.

Let me start with most carriers won't touch a house to insure it if there is shingles on top of wood shake. It blows off whenever you have a windstorm (as you have found out).

Because of this, its easy to see the problem was mostly the aged condition of the roof and from what you stated, its likely you had hit an actual cash value of the roof for payment, rather than replacement coverage. This is where you have to dig into the policy language, specifically dealing with roofs, not the complete structure.

Now, before you complain to the insurance company, the roofer is correct, you don't want to lay asphalt shingle on top of wood shake. People do this when the wood shake is no longer viable and should be replaced, but they cheap out and just put shingles on top. So the wind blew some shingles off, probably didn't really damage the shake part (more than it already was). The insurance company needs to pay the damage caused by the wind, which is the shingles. The damage to the shake is done by age, which the insurance company isn't responsible for.

Dan