LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 A roofing guy who's trying to drum up business knocked on our door last week and told dh that our roof has obvious hail and wind damage; and he could work with our homeowner's insurance company to possibly get them to pay for a new roof. Some questions dh asked: We don't know exactly when the damage occurred so will that be a problem? (No, wind and hail damage is common in our area and it sometimes doesn't show up until 6 months later.) It's a 20-year roof and the house is 20 years old. Sounds like normal wear and tear. Wouldn't it be unethical to submit a claim? (The adjustor has all that information and he will be up on the roof inspecting it with the roofer. The facts are out in the open, no-one's hiding anything, and the adjuster may or may not approve the claim.) Our house is small, so we're probably only talking about $4-5K. At first, we thought we wouldn't want to submit that small of a claim because it's not worth our premiums going up. However, the more dh thinks about it, the more he thinks it's a good idea. Our house is at the age where a lot of things need updated; we've already done windows and siding, replaced the fridge and dishwasher, and updated one bathroom and the half bath. We also had to replace our riding mower this year. Our master bathroom could stand updating, and the stove needs replaced. Our kitchen has vinyl flooring that is worn out and I'd love to have new kitchen cabinets, although we really haven't even gotten to the point of discussing a time frame for those things. So dh is thinking that it would be really nice to use a contractor rather than doing the roof himself and have it paid for by the insurance company if they'll approve it. He asked me to ask on the boards whether any of you have had a roof replaced under those circumstances and if so, did your premiums go up? If so, a lot or a little, and for how long? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Do you know anything about this roofing guy who knocked on your door? Has he worked in your area before? References? Is he licensed/insured? Did you notice any problem with your roof prior to a stranger knocking at your door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Do you know anything about this roofing guy who knocked on your door? Has he worked in your area before? References? Is he licensed/insured? Did you notice any problem with your roof prior to a stranger knocking at your door? :iagree: In this economy, there are many scam artists going door to door trying to drum up "business" when it's all false. We've had news reports around here warning us to check with the BBB, contact the "said company" for further info, and to check as many references as possible. Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylk in tx Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 how long are the shingles currently on the roof rated for? if the roof is only supposed to last 20 years and it's been 20 years, i doubt insurance would pay any toward the claim. if the roof should last 30 years, they might prorate the claim but i doubt they'd pay all of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 (edited) It's a 20-year roof and the house is 20 years old. Sounds like normal wear and tear. Wouldn't it be unethical to submit a claim? (The adjustor has all that information and he will be up on the roof inspecting it with the roofer. The facts are out in the open, no-one's hiding anything, and the adjuster may or may not approve the claim.) Aside from the pp's valid points about the guy drumming up business, this is the no-go for me. Yes, based on the age of your roof, I would not personally feel right about submitting a claim. Edited July 4, 2010 by Alte Veste Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I work for a large insurance company and I'm not sure we'd paid a claim like this. First of all, they're going to try to figure out if the wear on your roof is from normal wear and tear or not and trust me, they do inspections all day long and will be able to tell in a second how long the roof has been damaged. Remember, insurance companies don't want to pay out so they are going to do their best not to. I would investigate this guy. Google him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I would never hire a random guy who knocked on my door for that sort of work. It is almost always a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Most insurance companies require that you pinpoint the exact hailstorm that caused the damage and contact them within a year of that storm. They will actually verify with weather records and other reports to make sure that you truly had hail then. They may require that you use a roofer that meets their criteria, not just a "guy with a truck." And sorry, but I'd personally never let someone like that on my property longer than it takes to tell them that I'm not interested. Lessons learned the hard way, I'm afraid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 (edited) We'd check the guy out and get references for sure, and probably even call someone else altogether. We've had at least 1-2 hail storms in the past year, since they are quite common in the summer here. We know it might be a long shot getting the insurance company to pay. But the point of my post was to ask whether anyone has filed a claim for storm damage and the effect on insurance premiums. ETA: I got the guy's business card from dh and looked it up online and on the NC Secretary of State website. It's a national company, although I'm guessing that the local offices are probably franchises. Edited July 4, 2010 by LizzyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 Did you notice any problem with your roof prior to a stranger knocking at your door? Yes, we've had storm damage several times and my dh has patched the roof in several places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emubird Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 (edited) We had a big hail storm here a few years back. I was shocked, but the insurance company was perfectly happy to pay for a whole new roof. Our insurance rates did go up BUT we were told that they would have gone up anyway. There were so many roofs damaged in our area in that storm that the insurance company decided we're in a high risk area. Why we weren't high risk before is beyond me. However, if we hadn't had the roof replaced by the insurance company we'd still be paying the higher premiums because a lot of our neighbors had their roofs replaced after that storm. We just wouldn't have a new roof like they all do. However, while we were getting the roof done, the roofers told us we could probably make a case for getting our "damaged" gutters replaced. We seriously doubted the gutters were damaged -- because no one had cleaned the junk out of them yet that year. Also, we had had the insurance guy up on the roof doing the inspection and he hadn't said a thing about gutters. But the roofers kept insisting. In fact, one day they just about pulled the gutters down, claiming that if the gutters weren't there anymore, the insurance company wouldn't be able to prove that they weren't damaged and therefore they'd pay for new gutters. So I called the insurance company and asked them specifically about the gutters. They sent another guy out, who did another inspection, and found no damage -- and told me what I figured was probably the case, that the insurance company was not going to pay for new gutters on the say-so of some roofer, particularly if the evidence was destroyed. Our insurance company was pretty good about sending someone out to check this stuff, so I'd guess you wouldn't lose anything by asking them about it. You could specifically ask them if your rates will go up if they pay this claim. However, it's not like it's an auto accident where you are at fault. If you are at fault then you suddenly become a bad risk and that's why the rates tend to go up. But even if they do find hail damage and agree to pay for fixing the roof, I really wouldn't go with the roofer who showed up at your door without being asked. If he was a decent roofer, he probably wouldn't be out trying to drum up business like that. BTW - we never saw any obvious damage on the roof ourselves. The insurance guy did take some pictures and show them to us, but it looked like pretty minimal damage. I think I'm remembering something about him saying that the little pock marks he found might develop into bigger problems, but I could be misremembering that. Edited July 4, 2010 by emubird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I would not do this since I have read articles about how home owners who make relatively small claims may have their insurance jacked up or not be renewed with their policies. The articles I read said that one should really only make claims for the really big, big stuff so as not to risk being un-insurable. I know someone who had a boiler fire and submitted a legitimate claim that was paid. A couple of years later they tried to get renter's insurance since they did not own a house anymore and they were un-insurable:001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 We had a big hail storm here a few years back. I was shocked, but the insurance company was perfectly happy to pay for a whole new roof. Our insurance rates did go up BUT we were told that they would have gone up anyway. There were so many roofs damaged in our area in that storm that the insurance company decided we're in a high risk area. Why we weren't high risk before is beyond me. However, if we hadn't had the roof replaced by the insurance company we'd still be paying the higher premiums because a lot of our neighbors had their roofs replaced after that storm. We just wouldn't have a new roof like they all do. However, while we were getting the roof done, the roofers told us we could probably make a case for getting our "damaged" gutters replaced. We seriously doubted the gutters were damaged -- because no one had cleaned the junk out of them yet that year. Also, we had had the insurance guy up on the roof doing the inspection and he hadn't said a thing about gutters. But the roofers kept insisting. In fact, one day they just about pulled the gutters down, claiming that if the gutters weren't there anymore, the insurance company wouldn't be able to prove that they weren't damaged and therefore they'd pay for new gutters. So I called the insurance company and asked them specifically about the gutters. They sent another guy out, who did another inspection, and found no damage -- and told me what I figured was probably the case, that the insurance company was not going to pay for new gutters on the say-so of some roofer, particularly if the evidence was destroyed. Our insurance company was pretty good about sending someone out to check this stuff, so I'd guess you wouldn't lose anything by asking them about it. You could specifically ask them if your rates will go up if they pay this claim. However, it's not like it's an auto accident where you are at fault. If you are at fault then you suddenly become a bad risk and that's why the rates tend to go up. But even if they do find hail damage and agree to pay for fixing the roof, I really wouldn't go with the roofer who showed up at your door without being asked. If he was a decent roofer, he probably wouldn't be out trying to drum up business like that. BTW - we never saw any obvious damage on the roof ourselves. The insurance guy did take some pictures and show them to us, but it looked like pretty minimal damage. I think I'm remembering something about him saying that the little pock marks he found might develop into bigger problems, but I could be misremembering that. Thanks - this is very helpful. As for decent roofers being busy - the construction industry is in the tank in this area. Construction has been a boom industry in this area for the past 30 years, but the past two years have been brutal. Some of my firm's clients are excellent homebuilders - among the best in the area - but they are hanging on by a thread. These days, you can't judge anyone's skills by how much work they have, imo. Dh's comment was that he admires the guy for being out and busting his butt to find work. His card says he is licensed and insured, but of course, we always check references and verify workers' comp coverage before we hire any contractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 I would not do this since I have read articles about how home owners who make relatively small claims may have their insurance jacked up or not be renewed with their policies. The articles I read said that one should really only make claims for the really big, big stuff so as not to risk being un-insurable. I know someone who had a boiler fire and submitted a legitimate claim that was paid. A couple of years later they tried to get renter's insurance since they did not own a house anymore and they were un-insurable:001_huh:. That kind of crap is maddening!!! What is the point of paying insurance premiums if you can get insurance after filing a claim!!! That's the sort of thing we're concerned about though, which is why dh wanted to me to ask if anyone here has personal experience that is similar. We had all kinds of weird claims on our insurance when we had Erie Insurance, and they never reaised our rates. But currently our homeowner's insurance is with a different company, and I don't know whether they're as easy to deal with since we've never filed a claim with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 You could check Dave Ramsay or Clark Howard sites for info. Or you could ask your insurance agent if there will be implications to making this claim if you have a comfort level with them. I know for myself that I do not trust insurance companies in general at all since they will find a way not to pay or drop you in a hurry or raise up your rates IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 You could check Dave Ramsay or Clark Howard sites for info. Or you could ask your insurance agent if there will be implications to making this claim if you have a comfort level with them. I know for myself that I do not trust insurance companies in general at all since they will find a way not to pay or drop you in a hurry or raise up your rates IMHO. Dh will probably call our agent on Tuesday to get her opinion. She's been pretty good with letting us know what to expect if we have a particular claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 We had our roof replaced after a bad hail storm a couple of years ago, and it was a 20 year roof that had been on the house for 15 years. The ins. paid for the whole roof minus the deductible. Our rates did not go up, but we are with a big company and hail storms like that don't happen here often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Our roof was replaced in September due to hail damage and our insurance paid for it and our rates didn't increase. :001_smile: We noticed that lots of people in our neighborhood were getting new roofs. We finally asked one of them what was going on and they mentioned the huge hail storm we had in April. Funny thing is, we actually took pictures of the hail that was falling because it was so big. We called our insurance company, they sent out an adjuster within a couple of days, we had huge damage (that we didn't even know about), and had a new roof within two weeks. I personally was surprised that things went so smoothly. Our roof was 15 years old and Ithought that the insurance company would just have said it was wear and tear. We have had numerous bad hail storms over the course of the 15 years we have been in our home so who knows which one really did the damage :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I would never hire a random guy who knocked on my door for that sort of work. It is almost always a scam. I agree. If you have an doubts about your rook now, find a reputable roofer or two and get their opinions/estimates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Most insurance companies require that you pinpoint the exact hailstorm that caused the damage and contact them within a year of that storm. They will actually verify with weather records and other reports to make sure that you truly had hail then. They may require that you use a roofer that meets their criteria, not just a "guy with a truck." And sorry, but I'd personally never let someone like that on my property longer than it takes to tell them that I'm not interested. Lessons learned the hard way, I'm afraid... :iagree: Also, we have had roof replaced with an insurance claim due to hail... and our premiums did not go up. (The whole neighborhood did, actually... it was golf ball to baseball sized hail... scary stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamom3 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 sounds like a scam to me. Why would a roofer be riding and tell you that he could go through your insurance company...red flag to me! Anyone else around have hail damage? Do you have any problems with your roof now? Also, if you have to many claims your insurance could cancel you..I had a friend that had a tree fall..they filed a claim. A storm came through a few months later and quite a few homes in the subdivision had hail damage..including theirs. They filed another claim and their insurance company canceled them and they had to go with another company and pay twice the amount they were prior to the claims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 (edited) sounds like a scam to me. Why would a roofer be riding and tell you that he could go through your insurance company...red flag to me! Anyone else around have hail damage? Do you have any problems with your roof now? Also, if you have to many claims your insurance could cancel you..I had a friend that had a tree fall..they filed a claim. A storm came through a few months later and quite a few homes in the subdivision had hail damage..including theirs. They filed another claim and their insurance company canceled them and they had to go with another company and pay twice the amount they were prior to the claims. Based on the company's website - and they're a national company - this is their "niche." What this guy is doing is consistent with the company's website. But we absolutely plan to check him out further if we decide to move forward. Our roof does have storm damage. Dh knew about it before this guy came around, and he has spot-fixed it to prevent leaks, etc. It just never occurred to us that insurance might pay to replace the roof. We've been with this particular company six years and never filed a claim, so hopefully that would work in our favor if we decide to file a claim. Edited July 4, 2010 by LizzyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 :iagree: Also, we have had roof replaced with an insurance claim due to hail... and our premiums did not go up. (The whole neighborhood did, actually... it was golf ball to baseball sized hail... scary stuff). Thank you. That does sound scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 Our roof was replaced in September due to hail damage and our insurance paid for it and our rates didn't increase. :001_smile: We noticed that lots of people in our neighborhood were getting new roofs. We finally asked one of them what was going on and they mentioned the huge hail storm we had in April. Funny thing is, we actually took pictures of the hail that was falling because it was so big. We called our insurance company, they sent out an adjuster within a couple of days, we had huge damage (that we didn't even know about), and had a new roof within two weeks. I personally was surprised that things went so smoothly. Our roof was 15 years old and Ithought that the insurance company would just have said it was wear and tear. We have had numerous bad hail storms over the course of the 15 years we have been in our home so who knows which one really did the damage :confused: Thank you for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 We had our roof replaced after a bad hail storm a couple of years ago, and it was a 20 year roof that had been on the house for 15 years. The ins. paid for the whole roof minus the deductible. Our rates did not go up, but we are with a big company and hail storms like that don't happen here often. Thank you for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 I agree. If you have an doubts about your rook now, find a reputable roofer or two and get their opinions/estimates. Okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 sounds like a scam to me. Why would a roofer be riding and tell you that he could go through your insurance company...red flag to me! Anyone else around have hail damage? Do you have any problems with your roof now? Also, if you have to many claims your insurance could cancel you..I had a friend that had a tree fall..they filed a claim. A storm came through a few months later and quite a few homes in the subdivision had hail damage..including theirs. They filed another claim and their insurance company canceled them and they had to go with another company and pay twice the amount they were prior to the claims. I can tell you why he is riding around looking for hail-damaged rooves - he needs the work. He knows that people aren't replacing their rooves unless necesary, but that insurance companies *will* pay to replace a roof. He probably just wants to feed his family just like anyone else. I am from that area and my father is still in the construction business (as an inspector now) in that area. He tells me how *bad* things are for the people who used to make a somewhat decent living doing work like that. Plumbers who are now making $12 an hour. Roofers who can't get work. Laborers who make $8 an hour *if* they can find work (10 years ago those same laborers were making $10-12.) Someone who isn't going to get paid until the work is done is not "scamming." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 ...to ask a roofer. -Are you licensed and insured? -Do you have an office I can visit? -Will you provide references? -How long have you been in business? -Are you a BBB member? -Did hail storms put you in business? Thought your DH might like these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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