House insurance - need advice

[Calgary14]

I had some hail damage to my house in early July and the insurance company just got back to me with the details of the claim.

The damage isn't as bad as the NE hail storms (I'm in the deep south) but there is a lot of siding damage, roof, eavestroughs etc.

The insurance company is offering a cash settlement and I could either use one of their preferred contractors, do the work myself or use a different contractor. The amount of the settlement is higher than I assumed it would be.

I have a contact with a roofing company that's done work in the past and they did a good job so I could use them, but that's not to say they would necessarily be the cheapest. The work by the preferred contractors is guaranteed, if I use a different contractor it is not guaranteed.

There are quite a few companies going door to door offering their services. One of them deals with insurance directly on behalf of the homeowner and they claimed they could get a substantially higher amount than the original settlement offer simply by looking for things that might have been missed in the original estimate. I'm not sure exactly how that works or if its a good idea.

I'm not sure what to do - take the settlement offer and use a different contractor, try to get a higher settlement amount (not sure how - negotiate?), or just use one of their preferred contractors. I've never had a substantial insurance claim so not sure what the best option is. Does anyone have experience with a hail insurance claim and if so any advice?

[stang]

I have no experience but to me anyways sounds like a preferred with a guarantee would be the way I would go.

[Superfraggle]

I'm in a similar situation. Big issue with the preferred contractor option they gave me is that they also said it would likely not happen until next spring/summer due to volume.

There should be no cost to getting an independent person to come take a look and give you a quote. I would go with a reputable one, rather than these door-to-door storm chasing vultures.

I had one recommended to me by a friend who I have had take an initial look and who have offered to look at the insurance company offer and help me identify anything insurance may have missed.

I haven't made a final decision and I don't really have any good advice for you aside from gather as much information as you can before you make a decision. It should be easier to evaluate and potentially counter the insurance company's cash offer if you have a second opinion.

[RW99]

I say use door knockers with caution. There is plenty of work in Calgary. so if they are not a known reputable place who can get their jobs through normal means, referrals, etc, and you don't know if they will be in business in a couple of years, is not worth the risk. Otherwise it's about your comfort level with this contractor. They may be more flexible on dates than the insurance one.

[undercoverbrother]

nm

[GrrlGoalie33]

Preferred is 100% the way to go imo.

My house sustained damage in the storm last year and it turned out that my previous roofing contractor is one of my insurance companies preferred vendors. They asked that I have the claim assigned to them and here's why:

If the assessor misses anything on their assessment, the preferred contractor will fight with your insurance company to increase the amount of the claim to fix the missed item. If you take the payout and you or your non-preferred contractor find the same issue, chances are slim to none that the added cost will be added to your claim.

After the claim was assigned to the contractor, it was a pretty painless process for us.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I had some hail damage to my house in early July and the insurance company just got back to me with the details of the claim.

The damage isn't as bad as the NE hail storms (I'm in the deep south) but there is a lot of siding damage, roof, eavestroughs etc.

The insurance company is offering a cash settlement and I could either use one of their preferred contractors, do the work myself or use a different contractor. The amount of the settlement is higher than I assumed it would be.

I have a contact with a roofing company that's done work in the past and they did a good job so I could use them, but that's not to say they would necessarily be the cheapest. The work by the preferred contractors is guaranteed, if I use a different contractor it is not guaranteed.

There are quite a few companies going door to door offering their services. One of them deals with insurance directly on behalf of the homeowner and they claimed they could get a substantially higher amount than the original settlement offer simply by looking for things that might have been missed in the original estimate. I'm not sure exactly how that works or if its a good idea.

I'm not sure what to do - take the settlement offer and use a different contractor, try to get a higher settlement amount (not sure how - negotiate?), or just use one of their preferred contractors. I've never had a substantial insurance claim so not sure what the best option is. Does anyone have experience with a hail insurance claim and if so any advice?

I had Hail damage from 2017, required a new roof, gutters, downspouts, window trim, gazebo, and shed. I took the cash payout found good quality contractors and ended up with about 4k in my pocket.

Run away from anyone who knocks on your door reputable companies dont need to do that and lots of the door knockers are drumming up business then either slow to execute or they hire a bunch of non skilled labour to meet the labour demand. I ran across one particularly shady contractor called Shield - they were high pressure, glossy brocure types, my neighbor ended up using them and it was a disaster.

If you are the least bit capable of managing a project, I would choose to manage it yourself - also get your own quotes and use that to negotiate with the insurance company.

I ended up using Roof-Right solutions for the roof and gutters, they did a great job.

[Calgary14]

^Thanks, lots to consider here.

Interesting comment that the non-preferred contractors would not be able to up the total if they tried, one of the companies that went door to door advertised thats exactly what they do - find more things to repair to bring the total up.

Part of the problem is that I can't see the roof myself because it's so high (2 storey) so I cant determine whether a new roof is needed, or just basic repairs, and any contractor I ask will of course suggest a new roof

I am planning to get multiple quotes it just sucks that some companies are 3-4 weeks to even come out for a quote because of all the other houses needing repairs as well

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

^Thanks, lots to consider here.

Interesting comment that the non-preferred contractors would not be able to up the total if they tried, one of the companies that went door to door advertised thats exactly what they do - find more things to repair to bring the total up.

Part of the problem is that I can't see the roof myself because it's so high (2 storey) so I cant determine whether a new roof is needed, or just basic repairs, and any contractor I ask will of course suggest a new roof

I am planning to get multiple quotes it just sucks that some companies are 3-4 weeks to even come out for a quote because of all the other houses needing repairs as well

I think the point behind the upping the total comment is that insurance is paying you out cash, not dealing with your contractor. So if you have your contractor out to inspect prior to accepting the buyout, you can for sure use what they find to negotiate a higher buyout. But if you accept the offer and then find something later, you are likely out of luck, whereas that's not the case when the insurance company is committing to do the repairs using their preferred contractor instead of buying you out.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[RW99]

It is all about proving the damage. If your roofer replaces the roof and charges for drip edge, and it wasn't in the estimate, you have to prove to the insurance it was there before the storm. So before your roofer starts, compare estimates. You can go back to insurance, but most likely before repairs so they can see the error. You have two years, including supplements.

[Amethyst]

Do not use the door-to-door guys!! They are often not properly set up and even if they do the work, they tend to hire people without proper experience. The good contractors do not need to go door to door.

Hiring the insurance company's contractor is easiest. However, if you know of (or can get recommendations from people you trust) some good companies, getting the payout isn't hard. I've done it twice now, as I live in the northeast hail zone. For the first one, I had to go back and ask for more money after the settlement, when my contractor realized the siding colour couldn't be matched. No issues getting more money from my insurance company. Just needed the contractor to do up an estimate, explaining the issue.

In both cases, I hired my own company as I have "family" who has an exterior company.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

^Thanks, lots to consider here.

Interesting comment that the non-preferred contractors would not be able to up the total if they tried, one of the companies that went door to door advertised thats exactly what they do - find more things to repair to bring the total up.

Part of the problem is that I can't see the roof myself because it's so high (2 storey) so I cant determine whether a new roof is needed, or just basic repairs, and any contractor I ask will of course suggest a new roof

I am planning to get multiple quotes it just sucks that some companies are 3-4 weeks to even come out for a quote because of all the other houses needing repairs as well

In my case, the contractor said they would negotiate with the insurance company for anything that needed to be added, which did happen. There was enough money left after the contractor finished the scheduled repairs that it paid for about 80% of the cost to side my previously un-sided wood structure shed.

I guess it all comes down to how involved you want to be over leaving it up to the contractor

[EVERLAST]

Always preferred!!!
The contractor they refer DOES have the ability to have the original quote increased.

Material costs right now are constantly changing, as are labor rates etc etc.

Also....when you have to shell out a large deductible just to have the work done the work better be good, be covered and guaranteed.

In my experience I've been called out to inspect this work and when done Improperly it's my job to report it so that home Insurance keeps that company accountable obviously.

[Lil Pedro]

Going thru this process right now as my home sustained damage in the hail storm on July 2nd.

The home beside us was getting their roof inspected and the neighbour said they say damage on our house too. I had the company that was inspecting my neighbours come over and check our house. Everything felt off; every little knick or crack they said that insurance needs to cover. They even took pictures of our fence, BBQ, lawn furniture etc. It just seemed weird.

Anyways, I've made a claim thru insurance and one of their preferred companies (Paul Davis) is set to inspect our house next week. Would love to hear from anyone on their experience with this or with Paul Davis.

Thanks in advance!

[Calgary14]

For my house I am in the process of getting quotes from local companies that are reputable but not the preferreds the insurance suggested. They all seem reasonable so far and all in the same range.

I would go with the preferred that did the original estimate, but later found out they use lower grade materials and the shingles they use are substandard with nothing but negative reviews (likely what the builder used when the house was built) so I'm a bit hesitant

[Calgary14]

the good news is virtually all companies have the capacity/materials to do a new roof in about a month, bad news is there is a weird backlog for siding (covid?) so new siding is 3-4 months out

[MacDaddy77]

Such a wide range on adjusters. Neighbor across the street with less damage than our ms was quote $40,000ish damage. New full wrap of siding and roof. They’re with intact and they depreciate shingles after 5 years

Neighbor right beside them were only quoted $21,000. Out of all them our house has way more damage. Depends on if our siding can be matched I guess.

We had our appraisal done yesterday but don’t know the results

We have damage to over 75% of roof so guessing full roof replacement

[Calgary14]

Are houses that upgrade to hail resistant shingles this year eligible for the city rebate? The city has only mentioned year 1 which covers last years storms but no mention of this year

[MacDaddy77]

from my understanding no, city rebate for 2021 damage isn't until January 2022.

I've heard of 3 insurance companies offered $2500 towards class 4 shingles though and can submit claim in January.

[Calgary14]

Update on my end, the adjuster needs to come back and make sure there is nothing missed as they think they might have missed a couple small items on the original estimate.

Insurance company said they dont offer incentives for hail resistant shingles (or upgraded siding) because the client could just switch insurance companies on renewal the following year and the insurance co would have then spent money for nothing (from their perspective).

All that said, I would still consider the hail resistant shingles because of the city rebate