Posted: 5/8/2013 10:57:57 PM EDT
|
So we are looking at switching from State Farm to someone else before we move to TN at the end of this month.
Some of the companies tell us to make sure who we are getting quotes from offer replacement value for roofs, we are told 1. That we WILL have roof damage from hail and storms in Middle TN 2. Some companies offer cash value some offer replacement value.. Opinions? |
|
Many TN insurance companies changed the way they handle roof replacement and repairs. Last year TN Farm Bureau bumped up deductibles up to $1000 across the board and i believe they only replace damaged areas of roofing now. No more complete roof replacement. Friends have told me their insurance has done the same.
There was lots of hail damage over the last year or 2 and some shady roofing businesses. I know lots of people getting new roofs over the last year. Many didn't need it, but the roofing companies were pushing it hard. I know of whole neighborhoods that had new roofs put on. Roofing is a touchie subject for insurance companies around here. edit: We have Farm Bureau. The policy is fine and affordable. They seem to be hassle free, mostly. They have never hassled us about a claim. Always paid without issue. Overall good service, but they seem to be less than customer friendly. Nothing terrible. FB cut ties with a claim ASAP and sometimes they are hard to communicate with. It is impossible to get in touch with an agent after regular business hours. The last couple of years we had a burst pipe at home and a car accident during a weekend. We could not get in touch with a human until Monday. |
|
I've had State Farm for auto for years and never had any trouble with my claims. One hail storm and one accident from icy roads. My rates didn't even go up.
Keep in mind for gunowners, I haven't found an insurance company that will cover guns. Some will cover up to about $2000 and some offer additional rider coverage but it is limited too. It wouldn't be enough to cover my collection. I am looking to go to the NRA for gun coverage now. |
|
Quoted:
I've had State Farm for auto for years and never had any trouble with my claims. One hail storm and one accident from icy roads. My rates didn't even go up. Keep in mind for gunowners, I haven't found an insurance company that will cover guns. Some will cover up to about $2000 and some offer additional rider coverage but it is limited too. It wouldn't be enough to cover my collection. I am looking to go to the NRA for gun coverage now. I added to my free $2500 NRA insurance through armscare plus. wasn't too pricey. |
|
Quoted:
I notice you have a Tank. Have you talked to USAA? I don't know exactly how they handle roofs, but they have been a good company for us. Also if you want to insure guns, they have a VPP policy that is very affordable. Yes spoke with them... they were $1100.00 a year, State Farm was $711.00 a year, we went with State Farm, that;s who we use in the People Republic where we are at now... 30th we move down, can't wait to leave here... |
|
I was really hoping that a storm would politely peel my roof off so I could get a new one, but only minor damage. I called my insurance company. They said that, like someone posted above, companies are changing and will either not cover or replace then drop you. A few tabs, it's best to just pay out of pocket apparently.
I do get weekly junk flyers from roof contractors about hail damage replacements. That and those damnable TruGreen envelopes. |
|
There should not be a "no replacement" of the roof language. Repair vs. replacement is a built-in mechanism in insurance adjusting. If I get on your roof and you're missing three shingles from wind, you're getting three shingles out of me. If you've got so many missing shingles that the slope has to be done, you get a slope. If hail beat up on all slopes, you get a whole roof. What you may be talking is Replacement Cost Value (RCV) vs. Actual Cash Value (ACV). Your auto policy is ACV. If you total a 1999 Honda Accord, we're only going to pay you for a 1999 Honda Accord. But with RCV, if you get hailed on something fierce and the roof needs to be replaced, you get paid the ACV up front and then you submit the invoice to receive the remainder up to the full replacement cost (RCV). So... 10 year old roof gets totaled: Replacement cost: $8000 (RCV) Less Depreciation: - $4000 (DEP) = $4000 (ACV) Less Deductible - $1000 (DED) = $3000 (Your settlement) Now, let's say you get the roof done for $7500. You send in the bill. I owe you: Cost Incurred: $7500 (New RCV) Less prior payment: -$3000 (Original payment above) Less Deductible: -$1000 (DED) = $3500 (Recoverable Depreciation payment) Your total payments, in the end, will be $6500, which is your incurred cost of replacement ($7500) less deductible ($1000). Note that each payment has the math redone with new numbers, so don't confuse it with the deductible being taken twice. And, for the love of Christ, don't send a bill into insurance that is MORE than the insurance estimate. If your estimates are higher, flesh that shit out before the work gets done. As for your original issue: Basic (cheap!) insurance policies only cover ACV value. So if your 10 year old roof gets trashed, you're only getting paid for a 10 year old roof... and that's it. Always have Replacement Cost Value in your policy. Most homeowners policies, even with RCV on the building, may still only be ACV on the contents. Get it endorsed to have RCV on contents, too. It has nothing to do with WHETHER something gets replaced... that is a completely different matter in regard to whether it is repairable. The RCV vs. ACV debate is about how much you'll get paid in the end if something gets totaled. Also keep in mind that antique or collectible value is rarely taken into account. I've got 16th century weapons... they're likely insured for the replacement value of a replica until I get a formal endorsement listing their appraised value. Same goes for many firearms. |
|
Quoted: I was really hoping that a storm would politely peel my roof off so I could get a new one, but only minor damage. I called my insurance company. They said that, like someone posted above, companies are changing and will either not cover or replace then drop you. A few tabs, it's best to just pay out of pocket apparently. I do get weekly junk flyers from roof contractors about hail damage replacements. That and those damnable TruGreen envelopes. Some companies are getting stingy with the repairs. They'll count the hits on a slope and say, "Well, you need 50 shingles. Here's money for 50 singles." When times were good, they'd say, "50 goddamn shingles! Better do the whole slope!" It's not a change in policy, it's an unwritten notice to adjusters to tighten the hell up and stop buying everything. |
|
The antique value definitely isn't taken into account on classic cars. But you can often have an "agreed value" policy with an appraisal.
Excellent points made above on replacement values. You have to cover all your bases because insurance companies are there to make money. Keep that in mind. It is a FOR PROFIT business. They don't make money by being nice and replacing everything new. |
| I have had quite a few dealings with State Farm this year. I had an accident with my truck. A tornado trashed my house, totaled my wife's car, and damaged my truck along with assorted damage inside the home. Then my wife got hit in our other car last week. State Farm has treated us well. We got a new roof. Definitely get the replacement coverage and the insurance on cars to pay them off if totaled. Those things saved us. They have been helpful and always answer the phone promptly. Hopefully, I won't be having any more dealings with them for awhile. My Grandparents had Farm Bureau for 30 years. They had three claims in three years and got cancelled. YMMV. |
|
Quoted:
Many TN insurance companies changed the way they handle roof replacement and repairs. Last year TN Farm Bureau bumped up deductibles up to $1000 across the board and i believe they only replace damaged areas of roofing now. No more complete roof replacement. Friends have told me their insurance has done the same. There was lots of hail damage over the last year or 2 and some shady roofing businesses. I know lots of people getting new roofs over the last year. Many didn't need it, but the roofing companies were pushing it hard. I know of whole neighborhoods that had new roofs put on. Roofing is a touchie subject for insurance companies around here. edit: We have Farm Bureau. The policy is fine and affordable. They seem to be hassle free, mostly. They have never hassled us about a claim. Always paid without issue. Overall good service, but they seem to be less than customer friendly. Nothing terrible. FB cut ties with a claim ASAP and sometimes they are hard to communicate with. It is impossible to get in touch with an agent after regular business hours. The last couple of years we had a burst pipe at home and a car accident during a weekend. We could not get in touch with a human until Monday. They may be fine and affordable until you have a big claim then all bets are off. I HAD homeowners insurance through TN Farm Bureau up through '07 when a hailstorm damaged the roof of our house. We live in a subdivision and every house around us received new roofs from their insurance companies, and TN Farm Bureau REFUSED to pay for a replacement roof or even a portion of one. Instead, they claimed the damage was from people walking on our roof (laughable when you see the pitch of the roof; even their adjusters were complaining about the steepness of it). I even presented them with photos of the hailstorm and meteorlogical data showing the track of the storm, and they ignored that data and instead pointed to a dent on a gutter on the OPPOSITE side of the house and said that was the direction in which the storm came from. Our agent refused to support us or even return our calls; The only thing we could get from him, "That's not in my ballpark anymore, good luck. When my parents called their agent about the issue, he never returned my mother's call, not even to say, "Sorry, but I cannot help you." I elevated the issue up to a V.P. who cared less about me taking my policies (at the time, I had auto, home and life through them) to another insurance company as well as my promise to steer my family and friends from them as well. James P.S. The real funny part of it was whle this all was going on, my wife received a birthday card from our agent  I guess it was his attempt to say I'm sorry for screwing you over, but Happy Birthday! Seriously, neither of us received a card of any time from them before that.
|
|
Quoted: Quoted: Many TN insurance companies changed the way they handle roof replacement and repairs. Last year TN Farm Bureau bumped up deductibles up to $1000 across the board and i believe they only replace damaged areas of roofing now. No more complete roof replacement. Friends have told me their insurance has done the same. There was lots of hail damage over the last year or 2 and some shady roofing businesses. I know lots of people getting new roofs over the last year. Many didn't need it, but the roofing companies were pushing it hard. I know of whole neighborhoods that had new roofs put on. Roofing is a touchie subject for insurance companies around here. edit: We have Farm Bureau. The policy is fine and affordable. They seem to be hassle free, mostly. They have never hassled us about a claim. Always paid without issue. Overall good service, but they seem to be less than customer friendly. Nothing terrible. FB cut ties with a claim ASAP and sometimes they are hard to communicate with. It is impossible to get in touch with an agent after regular business hours. The last couple of years we had a burst pipe at home and a car accident during a weekend. We could not get in touch with a human until Monday. They may be fine and affordable until you have a big claim then all bets are off. I HAD homeowners insurance through TN Farm Bureau up through '07 when a hailstorm damaged the roof of our house. We live in a subdivision and every house around us received new roofs from their insurance companies, and TN Farm Bureau REFUSED to pay for a replacement roof or even a portion of one. Instead, they claimed the damage was from people walking on our roof (laughable when you see the pitch of the roof; even their adjusters were complaining about the steepness of it). I even presented them with photos of the hailstorm and meteorlogical data showing the track of the storm, and they ignored that data and instead pointed to a dent on a gutter on the OPPOSITE side of the house and said that was the direction in which the storm came from. Our agent refused to support us or even return our calls; The only thing we could get from him, "That's not in my ballpark anymore, good luck. When my parents called their agent about the issue, he never returned my mother's call, not even to say, "Sorry, but I cannot help you." I elevated the issue up to a V.P. who cared less about me taking my policies (at the time, I had auto, home and life through them) to another insurance company as well as my promise to steer my family and friends from them as well. James P.S. The real funny part of it was whle this all was going on, my wife received a birthday card from our agent I guess it was his attempt to say I'm sorry for screwing you over, but Happy Birthday! Seriously, neither of us received a card of any time from them before that.Post some close up pics of your shingles. Also, gutters on eaves tend to show denting on the opposite side of the direction of the hail. Downspouts show dents in the direction it's coming from. If they pointed to the opposite side of the house from where you see hail on the roof or windows, they aren't crazy. You can also forget about the shingles if the soft metals aren't showing dents. If the roof vents aren't dinged up, I'm not taking shingle marks too seriously. Furthermore, neighbors could be getting roofs paid for for other reasons. There are certain kinds of shingles that I'll buy a whole roof for if ONE shingle is damaged. If it were up to me, I'd drop every single policy that had those damn shingles. |
|
Sorry, I deleted the photos long ago when cleaning up my computer. Suffice to say, I was at home the time and remember which way the hail was falling. We showed photos of the hail piled in front of the house, and I showed TFB the data on the storm track. They ignored that data and continued to insist that the storm came from the opposite direction - the back of the house. Their evidence was due one or two dents along the back of the gutter, including one that was on the underside of the gutter.
The neighbors all were getting new roofs due to the hail storm. We lived on a cul-de-sac. When the houses on either side of you and across the street all get new roofs when their insurance companies admit a hail storm damaged their roofs and your insurance company steadfastly refuses to admit that there was any damage to hail, you tend to expect your insurance company to hold up their end of the deal. However, there were only two houses in the subdivision that had TFB, which were the only houses that did not get new roofs. I'm sure that the loss of couple of policies versus paying the cost of the repairs certainly entered into the equation. And yes, I took my policies elsewhere. In addition, my parents swapped insurance companies. My sister and her husband also dropped their policies with TFB. We all made sure to tell them why we were dropping their insurance company. And, I have no problem in telling others my issues with TFB. To be fair, up until that point I had no problems with TFB. They stepped up to bat when our new car got involved with a minor fender bender with an ambulance company, which ended up being treated the same as a uninusred motorist accident when the ambulance company refused to pay. We also were not the type of people to file claims for anything, prefering to use the insurance for real problems (such as storm damage to a roof). James |
|
Quoted: Sorry, I deleted the photos long ago when cleaning up my computer. Suffice to say, I was at home the time and remember which way the hail was falling. We showed photos of the hail piled in front of the house, and I showed TFB the data on the storm track. They ignored that data and continued to insist that the storm came from the opposite direction - the back of the house. Their evidence was due one or two dents along the back of the gutter, including one that was on the underside of the gutter. The neighbors all were getting new roofs due to the hail storm. We lived on a cul-de-sac. When the houses on either side of you and across the street all get new roofs when their insurance companies admit a hail storm damaged their roofs and your insurance company steadfastly refuses to admit that there was any damage to hail, you tend to expect your insurance company to hold up their end of the deal. However, there were only two houses in the subdivision that had TFB, which were the only houses that did not get new roofs. I'm sure that the loss of couple of policies versus paying the cost of the repairs certainly entered into the equation. And yes, I took my policies elsewhere. In addition, my parents swapped insurance companies. My sister and her husband also dropped their policies with TFB. We all made sure to tell them why we were dropping their insurance company. And, I have no problem in telling others my issues with TFB. To be fair, up until that point I had no problems with TFB. They stepped up to bat when our new car got involved with a minor fender bender with an ambulance company, which ended up being treated the same as a uninusred motorist accident when the ambulance company refused to pay. We also were not the type of people to file claims for anything, prefering to use the insurance for real problems (such as storm damage to a roof). James There's other factors that go into things. Some shingles behave very differently depending on age, style, and manufacturer. When I'm on hail duty, I roll my eyes at the "My neighbor got a new roof, why can't I?" Your neighbor's roof was practically falling off before the hail even touched it. Now that we found out she's a crazy cat lady, we're going to pay for the roof as obligated and then drop her policy because she never should have been insured to begin with. Meanwhile, the neighbor across the street has brand new Impact Resistant Laminates and bitches because crazy cat lady's 30 year old three-tabs got replaced. There's a lot of things that go into the decision to buy a roof, and if you have local contractors that know (not "think" or "believe") that there is hail damage, they will work with the insurance company for you. Also, if the gutters were dented, those should have been replaced. Dent in the bottom of the rear gutter would indicate possible hail coming toward the front of the house. I'd have focused on the front side gutters/screens for more evidence. |
|
Quoted:
There's other factors that go into things. Some shingles behave very differently depending on age, style, and manufacturer. When I'm on hail duty, I roll my eyes at the "My neighbor got a new roof, why can't I?" Your neighbor's roof was practically falling off before the hail even touched it. Now that we found out she's a crazy cat lady, we're going to pay for the roof as obligated and then drop her policy because she never should have been insured to begin with. Meanwhile, the neighbor across the street has brand new Impact Resistant Laminates and bitches because crazy cat lady's 30 year old three-tabs got replaced. There's a lot of things that go into the decision to buy a roof, and if you have local contractors that know (not "think" or "believe") that there is hail damage, they will work with the insurance company for you. Also, if the gutters were dented, those should have been replaced. Dent in the bottom of the rear gutter would indicate possible hail coming toward the front of the house. I'd have focused on the front side gutters/screens for more evidence. As far as I was concerned, TFB had their minds made up that they were not going pay on this claim. It all boiled down to numbers; I'm an engineer and understand things such as that. Sometimes, you have to look at the acceptable loss. Do we pay X Dollars for the new roofs or lose Y Dollars over their threat to move their policies? This all happened during the same time that there was a lot of hail damage from other storms in the 'Boro area. Sometimes, you just have to accept the risk of losing customers. In our case, all the houses were built around the same time, and all of the house exhibited signs of hail damage on the same side as the front of our house. I looked at photos of hail damage and damage from people walking on the roof, and the damage appeared to be more like hail damage. The contractors that we used to replace the roofing had worked with TFB before in the past concerning hail damage and could not believe that TFB was unwilling to admit that the damage to our roof was hail damage. There was never any offers to only pay for a portion of the roofing repairs. Their first adjuster didn't even climb on the roof. He stood from the ground (my wife said he wasn't there for more than 5 minutes), and said it was damage from foot traffic. We had had the house for 4 years at that point and can assure you that no one had been walking on our roof. My wife and I canvased the neighborhood talking to others; that's how we found out that there were only two houses (including ours) that their insurance companies refused to admit there was hail damage, and both had TFB. James |
|
Quoted:
He didn't even get on the roof? Nevermind. You should have sued. Yes, I just confirmed it with my wife who was at home during the inspection. He did not get on the roof; he basically looked at the roof from the ground level, said it was not hail damage, and left. It just went downhill from there. Each time I presented more evidence, they would ignore it and reply that their adjuster said it was damage from foot traffic and he knows more than I do. We considered taking them to court over the matter, but I was tired of fighting them after months of arguing. Besides, there was no way of knowing that we would have won. Or, as a song goes, "You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em." It was just time to move on with my life. James |