It’s enough of a headache to have storm damage to your roof. Will more damage occur before you can get the roof replaced? Will leaks cause structural issues that impact the rest of your home? How will your belongings be impacted? But add in the stress of working with your insurance company to make a roofing insurance claim and your blood pressure may just jump through the roof.
Fortunately, there’s a great resource for help — and it’s not your insurance adjustor. Your roofing contractor can be an excellent source of assistance and advice throughout the process of filing an insurance claim for home damage. If you’d like to know all those tips for getting the best outcome in your roof replacement or other damage claim, establish a relationship with a trusted professional who will be on your side during this sometimes complicated and confusing process.
It’s important to move quickly to identify your roofing professional and then contact your insurance company with information about your property damage. If others in your area have been impacted by the same storm, adjusters will be busy working other storm damage claims and you want to get into the queue right away.
The first thing your insurance company will do is assign a claim representative to manage your case. That representative schedules an adjuster to physically come to your property and review the damage. This is the meeting that you need your roofer to attend, in order to make sure all the damages are recorded and covered. Your roofer can also help inform the adjuster of any local building codes that may impact how repairs must be done in your area. Don’t assume that your adjuster will know this; many adjusters are from out of the area or don’t stay updated on building codes.
Once the adjuster has seen the damage in person, your insurer will create an estimate that reflects your policy type and the repairs required to restore your property to its original state.
Before starting work, ask your roofer to review the insurance estimate for any inaccuracies. Adjusters use a software program that automatically assigns coverage values for your area and type of damage. If your adjuster missed or misunderstood any part of your damage — or even if anything was keyed in incorrectly — your estimate may not be as high as it needs to be. Inaccurate measurements can also cause your claim to be wrong. Any issue that prevents you from getting the money you’re entitled to under your policy is called “under-scoping,” and your contractor is often the best person to catch these errors.
The best time to get the estimate changed is before any work begins. Your claim representative should be able to answer any questions you have and make changes to the estimate if necessary. Will this be easy? It can be, but insurance companies can sometimes be challenging to work with. That’s where your contractor can help with explaining what to ask for and deciphering the language used by the insurer in your roofing claim. If needed, your roofer can file what’s called a supplemental with your insurance company to demonstrate why specific materials or work is needed to restore your roof to its former, undamaged state.
Once you understand and are comfortable with the estimate, your roofing contractor can prepare a contract that outlines the repair or replacement as covered by the insurer. Signing the contract means that you’re responsible for paying the contractor, even if everything is not covered by the insurance company, so make sure you have read it carefully and understand the scope of the work to be done on your home.
We are happy to help you through the claim process. Allow our consultants to answer any questions or offer a free inspection.
Contact us today if you have any questions about getting started.
