Myths and Facts about Hail Damage Insurance Claims
72NOTE TO READERS
This article conveys the most common misconceptions home owners have about their property claims arising from hail damage. I am the author of this content and it's been on the front page of my companies web site for over two years. I recently did a Google search for my title and found several competitors who swiped the content.
Myths about Hail Damage
Myth: I looked at my roof and didn't see any problems, or my roofer inspectioned it and there are no problems.
Fact: Roofing systems must be physically inspected by some one who has training and experiance to determine if there is actual hail damage. Insurance companies send their adjusters too special training so they can properly identify hail damage to property, unfortunately there is not much ongoing training for the roofing or home inspection industries.
Myth: I'm not missing any shingles so I must not have damage.
Fact: Missing shingles are related to wind damage claims and can happen during a hail storm if the winds are high enough. However hail damage is insidious in nature and may not physically cause leakage for years after a hail storm.
Myth: I only have 1 year to file my insurance claim.
Fact: Many insurance companies do have a one year time limit and some even less, however due to the nature of hail damage they may pay claims past the deadline. This usually happens if a hail storm is widespread geographically.
Myth: My roof is new so it's covered by the manufacturer's warranty, home builder, or contractor.
Fact: Manufacturer's specifically name hail as an exclusion to their product warranty, so do home builders and roofing contractors. Newer roofs can actually be more susceptible to hail damage versus older roofs due to the time it takes a new roof to cure from exposure to the elements.
Myth: I was told my roof has minimal or very little damage and therefor I don't need to file a claim.
Fact: If your roof has any damage what-so-ever you have a valid insurance claim and should file with your insurance company. Damage might not cause your roof to leak for years. This is why it's important to have a qualified person inspect your roof.
Myth: My insurance company will cancel my policy if I file a claim.
Fact: Most states prohibit insurance companies from cancelling policies for filing claims arising from severe weather related events. Check with your state however and your policy language as well.
Myth: If I don't file my claim, my insurance company won't raise my rates.
Fact: After a disaster, insurance companies may raise every one's rates. By not filing your claim, your personal rate increase is paying for every one else's damage except yours.
How to Detirmine Hail Damage to Your Home's Roof
I recently wrote an article on Helium about this topic so please read it to learn more.
Hail Damage!!!
CommentsLoading...
There are a lot of great points here,
but I'm not sure I agree with real-time search being discarded.
I agree that it's not verey relevant,
but isn't the point of it to show what people are currently saying about a topic,
I had a hail storm about a year ago and have had 5 or more roof leaks and called the insurance company and have nothing but problems (travelers)!!!!!!!!!!
Good info, no matter what form it is written in. In fact, I personally prefer this format vs essay.
Hayes, great article on the myths vs facts of roof hail damage.
Side Note: If you suspect plagiarism of your content, check out copyscape.com. It's a service that we use, but are NOT affiliated with, to see if and who is copying content and republishing it without authorization.
Cheers
whats your opinion on letting the contractor you`ve been working with know how much money your getting from your insurance company for the claim, should i feel obligated in telling them?
Carl,
We just had Travelers come inspect our roof today for hail damage and they turned us down too. The adjuster said our damage is "due to weathering" and the "lack of turbine vents" so the roof can breathe properly. Our roof is 15 years old and has 2 layers already, but the adjuster would not work with us to get our roof fixed.
By the way, I can't tell with a 704 area code where you are...but we live in Missouri and just had a huge hail storm the 18th of Sept. Travelers just won't budge...
Companies in my area are asking homeowners if they can inspect their siding and roof after the May, 2010 hail storm. Yes, nearly a year late, but many people seem to be filing claims and replacing siding and roof.
This article helps me with understand roof damage. So far, I’ve only allowed one company to look for damage and was told and shown that there is damage to the siding. The inspector would not go on the roof, as he said then the insurance adjuster might claim that did the damage. This inspector says his company files the claim for me and then meets the insurance adjust at the property to show him the damage and go on the roof with him.
One part I still do not understand completely is whether or not to have the repair company file the claim. I think I will do that, because I would not be as good explaining the damage, as would the company inspector.
Also, I do not have enough information from the repair company about their contract, references and license/insurance.
I would like someone to do the work, however, since it seems to be need, if I can afford the cost.
georgew6
Let the company man go to bat for you but do not sign anything from them. They are expert at using the system to get money from the Insurance Co's. Make sure to get 3 other bids and check their bbb rating. The co man will tell you that they eat the deductible it is bs the insurance company will take it out of the check they issue and hold back some so that you will get the job done. Depending on where you live and size of home will determine how much they pay out oh and age of roof. I have a 2100 sqf home in north Texas and they covered the cost of a new roof. 10500 in hand 2700 in reserve. Thats with getting Duration 30 yr shingles wind 130/10 yr algae . Hope this helps
To comment on the GeorgeW6' Questions, it is important to receive information from the contractor to do the repair work, such as valid business license, references of work done in the past, and a construction process to repair your damage. Often times they want you to give them permission to work with your insurance company and adjuster to help alleviate the damage as soon as possible. These types of contractors are specialists in storm chasing and structural/ cosmetic repair. They know how to work with the insurance companies to maximize the most repair possible and to ensure that only the proper work is executed under contract. The documents they will have you sign are Subject-To agreements. The contract is valid subject-to the insurance company providing funds to fix your home. These types of contractors work hard to obtain the living they do and often times employ experts in the fields of engineering and architecture to obtain the work. Think of it as these individuals help employ construction workers that might otherwise be unemployed, straining the already volatile unemployment insurance system. To the engineers and architects or older construction workers, this is more of a service to the community than a means of making money or god forbid, a living. Let them help you! A catastrophic insurance claim, including hail damage to your roof, siding, gutters, windows or any other part of your home is a valid insurance claim. It is illegal for insurance companies to raise your premiums because of a catastrophic claim. They may raise your deductible some, but if you are a good client like most people are to their insurance companies, how often are you really ever going to make a claim to repair your home? Seldom if ever. Be a trooper and help out those who could use the work irregardless of how much or little damage you have. This keeps people employed, paying bills, food on the table, clothes for the family and of course insurance payments for the construction workers home, cars, boats, etc. The money just cycles around in circles back to the insurance companies (maybe not yours) and everyone else like it should.
Hope this helps you better understand what is going on.
yes, there is good guys out there just trying to pay there bills and feed there kids.i say check refs.
Our area experienced a major hail storm. A Nationwide adjuster determined there were damages to my shingled roof and to my tarracotta roof. They gave me enough money to replace the shinged roof on my garage and a porch. As for the tarracotta the adjuster said the damage was on 100 to 120 square feet. I have that portion of the roof leaking. When i tried to get a roofer to replace the 100 sqft of tile, nobody wanted to. The roofers could not guarantee thier patch work. Nationwide told me to get an estimate on the roof. The lowest estimate was $48,000. When Nationwide got the estamate they sent thier own roofer to my house. They also agreed there was hail damage. The an expert tile roofer was sent to my home. He also agreed. Finally Nationwide sent a forensic engineer to inspect the roof, He decided there was no damage. Meanwhile I have installed a tarp and my daughter is woken up with water dripping on her at times. I have a document which states " damage to tarracotta roof from hail damage" from a Nationwide adjuster. It seems to me once they received the expensive estimate, Nationwide changed their mind. I do have legal help at this point.
I would like to say that I had other companies come out, specifically because the original company said that there definitely was damage to the siding. Every one of the companies that came to look said there was no damage to the siding. Since a neighbor did get all his siding replaced by the same company that wanted to deal with my insurance company, I tried to contact them again. That became complicated. Apparently there is one umbrella company that lets others use there name. Two that I managed to contact did not seem to be the company originally looking for my business. Now I forget if they ever came out to look at the house, but I never got new siding or roof put on. Sorry if this is not completely understandable. Everything about the situation was like this.
I filed a claim for hail damage on my roof. I have Country Financial insurance. The adjuster said it really was not hail damage but the age of my roof. My adjuster turn it over to a consultant. I have an appointment today with the consultant and a roofer. The consultant asked the age of the roof twice. I have dents in my vents and lost a lot of grit this past year in my gutters. Do i have hail damage ?
Age has nothing to do with it. Hire a certified hail damage inspector.
Re: Photo #5, labeled, "The Perfect Hail Hit"
I wholeheartedly disagree with this caption for this particular photo! The "center" of the "hail hit" shows the granules still intact, while the surrounding area has missing granules. Gentlemen, what we see here is classic pigeon poop - nothing more, nothing less; very prevalent in last year's Phoenix storm. Apparently, the acidic nature of bird droppings tends to "etch out" the granuled area, and many, many times will leave a center "island" of intact granules, as shown here.
contrary to the pigeon poop theory, according to Haag Engineering, photo number 5 is a perfect hail hit. The center of the hit has the granules smashed into the mat and the impact caused peripheral granules to be knocked off. Usually, the center mass is not so large. Also, the age and condition of the shingle has an effect on how the hail affects the mat.
I spent last winter in Phoenix and saw a ton of crap from birds...I saw adjusters circle it as hail many times, until they learned to recognize it.
EYEAM4ANARCHY 3 years ago
It's pretty good informationally, but it would probably be better if you added some kind context to it; such as hail damages represents **% of insurance claims, costs $**/annually etc. If you really wanted to make it more hub friendly you could take all the info in it and rewrite it in an essay style without the myth/fact style.
Basically, something that works as a salesman's handout doesn't necessarily work the same for general distribution, because it's not such a targeted audience. You have to kinda let them know why they should want read it.