Frequent Roofing Questions-Question #3

Question 3: Why Is Your Estimate Higher Than My Insurance Claim Amount?

In many property damage insurance claims for roofing due to hail storms, the roofing contractor’s estimate may be higher than what the homeowner has in his insurance claim document.

Why is this? There are two primary reasons.

1. The adjuster probably left some, or a lot of items out of the scope of work. There’s one important thing to remember about adjusters – the vast majority of them have no experience in roofing, construction, or damage restoration. They are simply “checking off the boxes” in the template they’re given from their claims offices. Oftentimes those templates don’t contain all the necessary items to re-roof your house. If an adjuster doesn’t know how to roof a house, he will not know to add in the items missing from his template.
2. The software that your insurance company uses does not have correct current pricing for this specific local market. This is especially true after a major storm event such as what happened in Fountain and south Colorado Springs on June 13^th, July 30^th, and again on August 6^th.

What Should You Do If Your Insurance Claim Amount Is Too Low?

Remember one thing: The document you receive from the insurance company is also an estimate. It is not engraved on tablets of stone and unchangeable. In most cases, if you or your contractor can explain to the insurance company why the missing line items are necessary, they will add those to the claim (this is called a supplement). There are some insurance companies, however, that refuse to change their estimates. As a homeowner, and as the policy-holder, if this is the case, you should demand that your insurance company show you the verbiage in your policy where it states that they will not pay for the full replacement of your damaged property. If they cannot, you should expect that company to fully indemnify you for your losses. It’s better to know beforehand what your coverage includes. Do your research on insurance companies and before you file a claim, be sure you understand what is and what is not covered by your policy. Read your annual policy declaration page every year and if you don’t understand the language in it, ask your insurance agent to explain it to you.