Roofing Estimates - Hail Damage

[Ducay]

Anyone deal with any good companies in regards to making a claim for hail damage to their roof? (Asphalt) Google yields about 10 bajillion companies.

I was up on my roof the other day and noticed there were some patches that looked damage; so I called my insurance company and they said they could either send an adjustor to look at it or I could get a contractor to come look at and assess for damage (which seems ridiculous given the natural bias).

Only issue is we've been in our house for 1.5 years and I have no clue exactly how old the roof is (doesn't look that old, no curling of shingles, etc), not sure if that will impact whether insurance will cover it or not.

Any experiences in the process?

[Ducay]

Gotten a couple PMs with suggestions, but anyone have any experiences making a hail claim for their home?

[GoinAllTheWay]

[QUOTE=Ducay;3033971] so I called my insurance company and they said they could either send an adjustor to look at it or I could get a contractor to come look at and assess for damage (which seems ridiculous given the natural bias).
QUOTE]

It's actually not that ridiculous. I understand exactly where you are coming from but roofing companies have so much work atm, they don't need to make work for themselves.

Should be pretty straightforward claim. If you feel you have damage to your roof due to hail, make the claim. You have one year from the acutal date of loss to report it so no huge rush.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Should be pretty straightforward claim. If you feel you have damage to your roof due to hail, make the claim.

Thats sorta my only concern, how is the insurance company going to know if the damage is from hail and not say, from old age, since I do not have proof of the roof's age?

I suppose these are questions for my insurance company, but I don't want to give them any extra ammo to deny my claim!

[DuffMan]

Years ago we noticed a bunch of people in our neighborhood getting their roofs redone. Asked one of the neighbors, and he said it was a hail damage claim. Call ins. and they came and said, yep, hail damage. New roof for $500. Thank you insurance.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Years ago we noticed a bunch of people in our neighborhood getting their roofs redone. Asked one of the neighbors, and he said it was a hail damage claim. Call ins. and they came and said, yep, hail damage. New roof for $500. Thank you insurance.

Thats actually what got me thinking about it, I'd say 30% of the houses on our street have gotten new roofs in the past months (which seems like higher than usual replacement rates).

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Thats actually what got me thinking about it, I'd say 30% of the houses on our street have gotten new roofs in the past months (which seems like higher than usual replacement rates).

If I were you I'd be asking if they have a preferred list of roofers and give them a call. $500 (or whatever your deductible is) and voila, new roof. I wouldn't even think twice about it. Make the call. It's what insurance is for.

[Finny61]

I talked with my insurance agent and had an adjuster check out my roof from that July storm. They came out with a roofing contractor and gave me a nice assessment of the shingles, soffits, eaves. Ended up my issue was only some cosmetic but I did get some granules coming down through the eavestrough. Perhaps if you are in a subdivision with various builders that the material used could be different? Different shingles with different warranties? Our roof was fine however I'd say about 30% of the properties in our area had new roofs done.

[GreenLantern]

I read this tittle Roofieng Etiquette.

As soon as I didn't see any posts by fotze or CaptainCrunch I knew I must have read it wrong..

[Displaced Flames fan]

Let the adjustor come out.

Let the adjustor give you a figure, then have a few reputable companies come and bid the job for you. You could put a little in your pocket.

Do not, under any circumstance, let the contractor look at your adjustors worksheet and do not tell them what they estimated the damage at. They will get every penny if you do.

I went through this last fall. Huge hail (record for the state EVER fell 3 blocks away) which put 6 holes through our roof....through the decking. It's not a fun process no matter how you go about it.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Finny61

I talked with my insurance agent and had an adjuster check out my roof from that July storm. They came out with a roofing contractor and gave me a nice assessment of the shingles, soffits, eaves. Ended up my issue was only some cosmetic but I did get some granules coming down through the eavestrough. Perhaps if you are in a subdivision with various builders that the material used could be different? Different shingles with different warranties? Our roof was fine however I'd say about 30% of the properties in our area had new roofs done.

Our neighbourhood is 30+ years old, so many homes are on their 2nd/3rd/4th roofs with varying ages; which makes it hard to date ours exactly.


And I called and made a claim last night; adjustor actually just called me back this AM as I was typing this post.

I guess they've still got a bunch of claims from the storm and they are just waiting for the weather to warm back up and apparently they'll be sending out crews to assess all the houses.

Guess now its just a waiting game, well, that and hoping they assess the damage as hail caused.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Thats sorta my only concern, how is the insurance company going to know if the damage is from hail and not say, from old age, since I do not have proof of the roof's age?

I suppose these are questions for my insurance company, but I don't want to give them any extra ammo to deny my claim!

I think you are worrying to much about it TBH. I understand your concern but insurers are pretty good about knowing the difference between hail damage and age. If your roof is getting old, you may be on the hook for a bit of the repairs but it's well documented there were serveral BAD hail storms in calgary last summer.

It's very unlikely your insurer would deny your claim. Even if your roof is old they will at least pay for some of it. Your not sure how old the roof is? What would you estimate it to be? You can only expect to get 20 yrs out of your average shingle in our climate.

**edit**

sorry, just saw your above post. If your community is around 30 yrs old, your roof should have been replaced at least once so far. how long have you owned the home for? Did you have it inspected prior to purchasing it?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

I think you are worrying to much about it TBH. I understand your concern but insurers are pretty good about knowing the difference between hail damage and age. If your roof is getting old, you may be on the hook for a bit of the repairs but it's well documented there were serveral BAD hail storms in calgary last summer.

It's very unlikely your insurer would deny your claim. Even if your roof is old they will at least pay for some of it. Your not sure how old the roof is? What would you estimate it to be? You can only expect to get 20 yrs out of your average shingle in our climate.

**edit**

sorry, just saw your above post. If your community is around 30 yrs old, your roof should have been replaced at least once so far. how long have you owned the home for? Did you have it inspected prior to purchasing it?

I suppose I could be overthinking it, but if there is some doubt in my mind about them denying my claim, insurers usually have twice the doubt.

The house is indeed likely on its 2nd/3rd roof (again, no proof of age). The roof was visually inspected as part of the home inspection, and the inspector noted no major damage in his report (I'll have to double check the report).

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Ducay

I suppose I could be overthinking it, but if there is some doubt in my mind about them denying my claim, insurers usually have twice the doubt.

The house is indeed likely on its 2nd/3rd roof (again, no proof of age). The roof was visually inspected as part of the home inspection, and the inspector noted no major damage in his report (I'll have to double check the report).

And that's all you can reasonably be expected to know. It's not like you can carbon date your roof prior to buying the house to know exactly how old it is. As long as it was in good shape when you bought it and haven't neglected it since, you have done your part to keep your house in shape, your insurer will too.