Posted: 9/20/2008 1:55:51 PM EDT
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That bastard Ike has damaged my roof and fence, and I am wondering about how the insurance is going to work. My roof is original, and is 14 years old, but now needs replacing. It had several more years of life left, had never leaked, etc. Now is a terrible time to be replacing a roof as I know materials costs have skyrocketed due to the price of oil. I about had a heart attack when I just got the estimate from the roofing company, they are locals, not a fly-by-night company, and have done many roofs in my neighborhood. Is the Ins co going to tell me tough, it was old and needed replaced soon anyway, are they going to want to prorate it, or are they going to go ahead and pay the claim. Exact same with the fence. Your input is appreciated. |
A little advice from someone who got nailed by Hurricane Charley in Florida in 2004....GET A PUBLIC ADJUSTER to represent you to your insurance company. I lost my roof in the storm, and when the appraiser came out from Allstate, he offered me $35,000 for the damge. After the Public Adjuster got through with them, they ended up paying me almost $200K. Of course I had to pay the PA 10% of that, but that was alright by me. If it's just a roof, it may not be that big of a deal to go the insurance company alone, but if there was a lot of collateral damage, i HIGHLY recommend it. As far as roofs go, I had a 21K sq foot home/roof, and had been quoted $7,500.00 the year before as I was replacing the pool heater system that was on the roof, and got a for shit's-n'giggles bid. When I had to do it after the Hurricane, it cost me $12,000.00. 
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Alot of what will happen depends on your own policy. Years ago, every company sold the same policy. After the mold fiasco, each company was allowed to sell their own policy. That being said, here's generally what will happen: 1. Make any emergency repairs need to protect your house from further loss. Also take pictures and keep your receipts for materials purchased. Keep track of the time you spend making those repairs and cleaning up. 2. Turn in a claim to your insurance company. Keep in mind a ton of other policy holders are turning in claims at the same time. The company will probably contact you within 48 hours, but they may not be able to inspect for weeks. The companies typically take care of the worst off policy holders first. 3. At some point, the adjuster will come out to inspect your damage. They will probably write an estimate for the damage, subtract depreciation based on age and condition of the roof, subtract your deductible and issue you a payment. ***If you have replacement cost benefits, they will pay you the depreciation back after the roof is replaced**** 4. If you get estimates for repairs that are more than the estimate from the insurance company, send a copy to the insurance company BEFORE you make the permanent repairs. Then follow up with your adjuster about the differences in the estimates. 5. If your loss is over a certain dollar amount, the insurance company may put the mortgage company as a co-payee on your payment. This is in the policy as the mortgage company has an interest in making sure the house is repaired. Contact your mortgage company to find out what their procedures are to endorse the payment. Some simply have you go to a local branch and endorse it, others will put you through the wringer. That's all I can think of right now. FWIW, I don't consider myself an expert, but I was an adjuster for 10 years. The last time I counted, I had around 650 days on storm duty. I do still have an active TX adjuster's license. This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.  |
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Warspite, Thanks for the info, I do appreciate it. The adjuster already called me and is coming out on Tuesday. I also have one estimate for the roof already, hopefully one more will arrive before he does. I took pictures prior to, and already made the temp repairs to the roof and fence. Just today I found a bit of water damage inside, not good. ETA now after a thorough inspection found some damage to a ceiling under where the roof was damaged in one spot. Ceiling will have to be replaced. I pulled all the insulation up and hopefully it will dry out before it gets any worse. You can see the drywall sagging about an inch from the joyce now. DAMNIT. Thanks again. |
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We have lost interior ceilings, insulation and of course the whole roof needs replacement. The adjusters came out yesterday, but didn't offer any idea of what we would be receiving in terms of payment. They also didn't offer the names of any cleaning services to remove this debris, so we are wading through wet, soggy insulation wearing masks on our own. Not fun. Thanks to Alpine and HK940 for their invaluable assistance with my house. |