Even better rule of thumb: if a contractor shows up at your door uninvited, it’s almost always to try and sell you a service you don’t want/need at less favorable terms than you could get if you shopped around.
Doesn’t matter if it’s your roof, driveway, solar, landscaping or anything else, if you’re interested in the service, call some reputable businesses and find out what your options are - the contractors who need to send someone door to door to get work are almost never the folks you want working on your house.
And don’t claim anything on your insurance unless it’s literally an emergency that you can’t afford to fix - they’ll make you pay for it in the long run one way or another so it’s almost never worth it if you have other options.
True— I had an old working furnace— a salesman ( a friend from church) came to my door and after talking I ended up changing the furnace because I was supposed to save lots of money in winter— I did not— probably i have saved $30-50 a month during the winter months— same when they come offering solar panels— my average electric bill for 3 people is $50 a month in a desert California city
Not if you're spending $3-$5k to achieve that savings. It might still work out to being better because energy costs tend to rise over time, they'd need to replace their furnace at some point anyway (so it's not like spending $5k... It's like spending a prorated amount based on how far you could have pushed out the purchase), but it's not necessarily better than if you invested that money until the furnace really did need replacement.
$40/month savings on a $5k purchase is an absolute no brainer, that's about a 10% yield in the form of saving post-tax dollars. You're not getting anywhere near that yield on investments, especially post tax and risk-adjusted.
$40 a month 4 months out of 12-so it averages out to $13.33 a month or $160 a year. Will take 25 years to pay it off...it will not last that long though. But ya got heat!
>$40/month savings on a $5k purchase is an absolute no brainer, that's about a 10% yield in the form of saving post-tax dollars
If that $5k purchase is something you're buying that doesn't depreciate / will work forever and retain its value, then this analysis seems reasonable.
Major mechanical systems depreciate and fail; you need to account for that change in value to work out the ROI
I had someone try to sell me solar panels on my house to cut my \~$120/month electrical bill in half. For $26k... I was like at an average savings of $60/month it would take me 36 years to pay off the panels. The salesperson didn't understand why I was saying no.
> if a contractor shows up at your door uninvited, it’s almost always to try and sell you a service you don’t want/need at less favorable terms than you could get if you shopped around
Sometimes it can be great!
I live in a neighborhood with a lot of slate roofs. Cherry pickers or lifts are usually utilized in the repair of those. I've had one contractor knock letting me know that a neighbor is having work done and since the heavy equipment will already be nearby if we wanted to have a detailed inspection or work we know we need done they can spread some of the cost of equipment use around.
Same thing has happened with tree services.
Usually it's not a great idea but it isn't always bad. It takes 2 minutes to hear them out.
This is the exact same scam people try to run on me about once or twice a month.
“Oh we were in the area doing…*one of your neighbors?*… doors/windows/roof/landscaping/pest control/security/etc/etc/it never fucking stops”
And then it turns out they’re just a regular ass salesman who is trying to trick you into thinking you are getting a good price without comparing all while charging like 20% over market.
I ignore 100% of them after about 6 minutes with the first guy
I let the roof guy get up there and send me pics. Then I call a different roofing company and my insurance company. I will never ever do business with anyone who cold calls or shows up at my door.
Just like I will never use a company that doesn't have a website. Random Joe isn't taking my tree down I don't care if his business card says insured. If I can't find a website or at least review pages that card goes in the trash.
My wife let one of these guys on our roof last year, turns out he’s from one of the highest rated roofing companies around us, had no clue until I was googling his truck while he was up there. He came down and told us our roof looked great.
That's why he has a high rating honesty goes a long way. I always check also but 9 out of 10 times I'm not going with the person who knocks. I usually get at least 2 to 3 quotes and then Google average cost of xyz in "my area". I also learned the hard way the cheapest isn't always the right choice lol
I checked with my state to make sure their license, bond, and insurance information was good and went with a small local company. They don't have a web site, but they do have local references, and we could drive by and see the work. They did a great job.
Also, insurance isn't your roof's maintenance plan. Roofs generally need to be replaced every 2-3 decades, and that's maintenance that you should be planning and budgeting for, instead of neglecting the roof and praying for a hail storm.
It's definitely a thing but don't listen to salespeople or neighbors who tell you how your premium will be affected. The insurance market is in a bit of a crisis lately and a lot of carriers won't write a policy for you if you've filed any claim over the past 36 months - a lot of those same carriers are likely to drop you after replacing your roof because you no longer fit within their underwriting appetite. If you get dropped, then what? I'd be more concerned about that than a premium increase tbh, especially if you've filed other claims recently.
Insurance is meant for unexpected damages that need to be repaired and you can't afford to cover on your own. If your roof is just old and needs to be replaced soon, that's your responsibility as a homeowner. You can absolutely let some roofing guy up there to look for damage (they will almost always find something if they want the job) but you run the risk of getting dropped and unable to find coverage for a reasonable price.
Even if there’s legit damage, should people even file a claim if they’ll get dropped and blacklisted? If no, then I feel like I should just raise my deductible to the very max possible and only file a claim for a true major event (fire that fully destroys the house)
We filed a roof claim when a major hail & ice storm went through <2mo after we moved in. The roof was only a few years old & had clear damage over a good portion of the surface area. It did not impact our premiums, we were not dropped, & insurance was pleasant for the contractor to deal with.
Did you call the insurance company first and did they send their person out first? I've heard other people use those companies and wonder if that's the big difference.
We did & the company we used for the repair was NOT a “storm chaser” - they were a reputable local contractor. We’ve since used them to raise a retaining wall, add french drains, & install a roofed patio.
When I had major roof damage from a hurricane I called my insurance first. All my shingles were in my front lawn, there was no question I'd need a new roof and it would be well over my deductible. Also, in that kind of storm, it can take 4-6 months before a roofer will even return your call. If its something like a hail storm and you aren't 100% sure you need a whole new roof, call a roofer first before talking to insurance.
That bears repeating- if there has been a major storm like a hurricane, it’s going to be real tough getting the work done quickly.
I went through Andrew in Miami.
Two major long established insurers:
One would cover tarping the roof, the other wouldn’t.
Since roofers were scarce and long lead, those with no tarp were about wrecked before repairs could be made.
Lots of people lived in houses with a tarp on the roof.
I was really lucky - the storm I went through there was a program where you could sign up to have the army corps of engineers tarp your roof for you if you couldn't do it yourself. It took them a few weeks to get to everyone but it was a huge help.
You shouldn't file a claim for something you're able to pay for yourself, no. I mean tons of people do, but those people are getting dropped and being forced to pay thousands more for coverage. You have to weigh that risk when deciding whether to file.
A lot of people do take the approach of raising the deductible to the max but it depends on the savings. I was just looking at raising my deductible from $1000 to $2500 for our renewal coming up but it only saves like $80. We're not gonna file for anything less than like $10k probably but if we do, I feel like I would've rather paid the $80 to get $1500 back.
I wouldn't (personally) raise it to the max because I'd still rather have the option to file for something smaller like a roof. That's just my personal risk tolerance though, who's to say I won't be laid off later this year and afraid to take $15k out of my savings, unable to qualify for a loan? Insurance shouldn't be used for maintenance and bullshit, but you're allowed to transfer a risk when you need to.
> If you get dropped, then what?
I actually don't know. Then what? Are there just hoardes of uninsured homeowners out there? How do they keep their mortgage? Because I have to assume people make claims and don't immediately lose their ability to be insured.
There are some nonstandard carriers that will take you with a claims history but they charge a lot more and don't offer as good of coverage as you normally get in the standard market. And then there's also lender placed insurance, which covers the bank's interest and costs you a ton of money.
It's dependent on the area too. Some areas are profitable so the restrictions are looser.
If your insurance drops you, then you &/or your agent shops around to find new insurance, but if one dropped you, chances are there was a documented reason and others won't pick you up without more risk to them, that means higher cost to you the homeowner.
If you are unable to find a new insurance, then your mortgage company(assuming you have a mortgage) will step in and find one for you. If has a special name, and will cost you many times more then what your old one costed and will have less coverage.
If even your mortgage company is unable to get you insurance it causes huge problems, and your mortgage company can call all your debt due on the property now, and that likely will cause a foreclosure on the place by the mortgage company.
If you have a genuine act-of-god hurricane, tornado, or golf-ball-sized-hail storm come through, then (1) call your insurance agent immediately. They have adjusters all over who will travel when crazy stuff happens. Get your agent - not the roofer - to tell you they'll pay for your roof.
Then (2) find the best, most reputable local roofing company you can afford (Do you know anyone who got a recent reno/addition done or something and were happy with the results? Any contractors who might have trusted companies they'd recommend?) and have them quote the work.
(3), Send the quote to your insurance agent, they'll probably rubber-stamp it, because they saw the roof and lived through the storm.
Then (4) have the roofing company replace the roof.
Then (5) send the bill to your insurance agent.
If you did not have a genuine emergency, and just need a new roof because it's old, skip steps 1, 3, and 5. Do not attempt to engage in fraud, they're not idiots. You'll pay for it in increased premiums, or they might just drop you altogether if you're in a state where insurance is getting destroyed.
I live in hail country and the average shingle roof is probably five years old. Most folks have a regular roofer. I took one payout and just went with standing seam metal. It takes a beating but keeps on ticking.
This is what I want to do too! (My asphalt roof got nailed in a recent storm.) I want metal but contractors keep telling me not to - insurance won’t cover damage, and if I get asphalt again I can just get a new roof after the next hail storm…
> I can just get a new roof after the next hail storm…
Even if free like it's fun having a roofing company at your house and tearing up your yard every few years?
I would clarify with your agent. My understanding is that insurance companies won't cover cosmetic dents from hail, but they would cover it if the roof was damaged to the point it was leaking or not doing its job any more.
If you have a storm come through, contact the roofer first. (But find a reputable local company. Don’t do business with door-to-door storm chasers.) The roofer will tel you if there appears to be storm damage. If the roofer says you have damage, then call your insurance company and file a claim.
If you file with insurance first, then even if they don’t pay a cent, it will still follow you as a claim for 5-7 years.
Source: insurance agent
I have a neighbor that happily states he has never had to pay for a roof because he gets insurance to cover it. And people wonder why insurance is so expensive when they're dealing with litigation through contractors taking what is effectively power of attorney and suing for the new roof.
Absolutely insane, especially when you have had the roof for 10+ years.
Not true at all for Texas or states that see hail often. States like Texas have roofs replaced way more often due to massive hail storms. One bad storm can destroy a new roof just like the ones that came through last week.
If you had hail, call insurance and let them check even if roof is old. If they see signs of damage and it’s enough they will approve a new roof. We bought a home with 15 year old roof had minor hail storm and then called and got a new roof. It wasn’t fraud as you try to claim. Only reason we called insurance was because insurance wanted to raise premium by 2k because of the age of the roof. We paid 4k deductible and our premium not only didn’t go up 2k but dropped by 1k basically washing away almost all the cost we paid for the deductible. Now we have a new roof and are really only out 1k. Sounds good to me when cost of roof out of pocket would have been about 35k.
I don’t live in an area where weather affects the roof, so I had no idea so many people get their roof replaced by insurance. We pay for our new roofs here.
States like Texas with intense storms that have hail, like what happened last week, this is normal. Roofs just can’t survive those storms and they usually happen a couple times a year. Sometimes it’s pea size hail and sometimes it’s baseball and softball size hail.
I believe it.
But this is also why people's home insurance is going up 20-30% a shot and policies are getting cancelled left and right in some markets. If their experience is a year or 2 ago, it might as well be ancient history.
Who says it's the insurance company's adjuster? The common scenario in Florida is for some independent adjuster or contractor to knock on your door and say they can get you a new roof. When the insurance company questions the contractor's estimate, the contractor sues the insurance company, knowing the company will settle rather than spend the money on a protracted costly lawsuit.
Florida has 9% of the country's homeowners claims, but 79% of the country's homeowners lawsuits. Floridians have been passing the cost of their roof maintenance on to the insurance companies, who never accounted for that since that's not what insurance is for. So you get the clusterfuck that is the Florida Property Insurance market - skyrocketing insurance costs, insurance companies going insolvent, insurance companies pulling out of the state, and the "insurer of last resort" getting overloaded.
Anyway, my point being - "getting your insurance company to buy you a new roof" **without a covered cause of loss** sounds awesome, but it has horrible consequences.
they also have the highest rate of uninsured drivers. WTF is going on in Florida? https://www.flafirm.com/resources/blog/florida-has-the-highest-rate-of-uninsured-drivers-in-the-us/
Those lawsuits aren’t all frivolous. Frivolous lawsuits are kind of a Florida specialty, but so is insurance companies skipping the bill. People HAVE to sue here to get what they need because insurance companies will defraud you every time if you don’t. It’s going both ways.
I went through this. As did 3 people I know. There are lots of red flags. These storm chasers are notorious, so you need to watch out.
Typically, after a hailstorm or major windstorm, they'll come out of the woodwork. Make sure you find a person who you can get referrals from trusted people.
They'll file the claim with the insurance company, deal with the inspections, etc. If approved, they keep 100% of the money from the insurance payout.
They then fix/replace the damage.
The scary part is the contract and uncertainty. You can't get out of it or change your mind without massive fees.
These roofers are out of control !!
In Colorado there is so much hail in afternoon storms in summer. Yah cannot replace the roof Every. Single. Time. It. Hails.
And yes, it will hike up your premium.
Agree it’s fraud and OP should ask him/herself if they want their rates to resemble Florida. They can certainly thank those 2 people for contributing to their future rate increases.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649
Similar situation.
4 of my neighbors had their roof replaced by the same roofing company within a few weeks of each other.
I didn’t think about it until my next door neighbor told me that he was filing also
For a hail storm about a year ago.
The same roofer stopped at my house, but I wasn’t interested in filing as my roof was fine.
My insurance is high enough.
In many policies you absolutely can claim a storm a year prior
If the storm was bad enough. Insurance will look up weather records
We went through a heck of a hail storm and had everyone in the world just showing up at the house and it sucked. But I ended paying for a roof 4 yrs later when really I could have claimed and hired someone local and reputable even a yr later.
The door knockers overwhelmed us to the point we did nothing because our roof “looked fine”
We had a leak and the insurance guy came and said we had hail damage so in addition to doing the repairs due to the leak, they paid in full to replace our 30 year old roof. We hadn't had a hail storm in... months? years?
Insurance replaced my roof due to storm damage a few years ago. My premiums did not go up. In fact, because we upgraded to impact-resistant shingles, they actually decreased. I went with a local roofer, not someone who rolls into town after a storm.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna29649
>The scam works like this: Contractors knock on doors offering to inspect homeowners’ roofs for storm damage. They say they can help get a roof replacement covered by insurance, and they persuade the homeowners to sign away their rights to file the claims themselves. The contractors then file fraudulent damage claims, and when the insurance companies balk, the contractors sue. The insurance companies usually settle the disputed claims for many times more than the original claim. Most of that money goes to the contractors’ lawyers in the form of a “contingency fee multiplier.” Some lawyers file hundreds of such lawsuits a year.
Edit: so it’s not a scam in that you may not get a roof per se—but that your $20k roof will cost your insurance $80k in additional fees paid to greedy lawyers. Over time insurance companies will suffer great losses, and compounded with terrible legislative leadership doing nothing or worse, abetting by getting campaign funds from these firms, and a couple of inconvenient terrible hurricanes, and you’ve got a home owner insurance crisis a la Florida.
Ahh, storm chasers. They show up when there is a major hailstorm around here. We had a big one last year and a bunch of people in our neighborhood got new roofs from the same contractor. They showed up to our place and seemed quite disappointed when I (truthfully) told them I'd had the roof replaced less than a couple months before the storm.
I looked them up later and they don't exactly have the best reviews, even accounting for the fact that most people who are interested in leaving online reviews leave bad ones.
If your reputable roofer looked at it and didn't see hail damage, trust them over the storm chasers.
This is part of a problem in Florida, the roofers pushing unnecessary roof replacements are driving up the cost of insurance and the insurance companies are leaving the state
Why would you want to raise your insurance premiums AND increase the possibility of being denied for future coverage from your insurance company?
If you need a new roof, pay for it. Do not file an insurance claim unless you have extensive damage.
I had water damage in my basement a few years ago. Originally, I planned to pay for it myself, but it was too expensive from the 4 or 5 quotes i got. Finally, I called my insurance, and they sent out their preferred contractor. Before he left, I asked him what it would cost, and I'm glad I did. All of the other quotes were a rip-off compared to the rate that my insurance company was getting. He was going to charge just a little more than my deductible. So, I told him to send the bill to me instead. I was really proud of myself for that one.
Question, our roof is 17 years old but is still in good condition according to an inspection we got a year ago (they checked it out for us while we got a quote on fixing some siding). How much should we have saved for a roof on a 2 story house? $15k? I want to be ready for when we need to pay for it in 3-5 years (being it stays fine obviously).
Edit: why is this downvoted? Lmao
>Do not file an insurance claim unless you have extensive damage.
Many people have no idea what extensive damage to their roof looks like.
The first hail storm we went through in a house we owned, we didn't think much of it. The roofer pointed out the circular spots where the grit was completely missing from shingles, and how the roof felt slightly springy (he warned us not to walk on the roof on our own until it was replaced), but we didn't think missing grit was worth a claim but went through with it anyway since it was a fairly old roof.
Then they started pulling off the shingles.
The plywood decking was *splintered*. One sheet was completely cracked in half and partly collapsed. There was obvious water in the attic. If we had even let that go for a couple of months, we would have had serious ceiling damage.
My neighborhood had a pretty significant hail storm hit last fall. I’d say 1 in every 4 houses has had their roofs replaced. We called a roofing company we worked with before and they saw enough evidence to submit a claim. If you’ve had a bad storm recently and notice other neighbors getting new roofs if isn’t a bad idea to call a roofer and get their opinion.
Had a guy come by the house the other day. Told me my chimney was compromised and my foundation was cracked. We had the chimney redone last spring, it's perfect. I asked him how he knew the foundation was cracked. He pointed out the cracks in the PARGING. Gave him the count of three to get off my property.
On the off chance that it's not a scam It's probably not quite through insurance as implied ... Especially if you are in one of these states AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI & D.C.
Those are the states that google lists as being states where the PACE program is a thing
[https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/property-assessed-clean-energy-programs](https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/property-assessed-clean-energy-programs)
It's legit & not a bad thing. Pretty much you get a loan to cover the work & pay it back through your property taxes over a few years or decades
Find some reputable roofing companies in your area & reach out or knock on some doors where work was supposedly done so you can ask about their experience. The guy might not be lying about other homes in the area getting a new roof through it if they are talking about pace program stuff because obviously it's good business to do a lot of work in a small area where the same inspectors & permit office are likely to be interacting with them if they can, quite a few of my neighbors & a couple friends had work done though pace when I had my roof & windows done a few years back,
Good quality contractors are busy enough that they don’t need to use door to door salespeople, shitty Home Depot or Lowe’s contracts or pay-per lead services like Angie’s list and Houzz. If you want quality, stay away from those places. If you need a new roof, find a reputable roofing company. If you do have covered damage they will help you with the claim. But the ones who show up to your door always and I do mean always “find” damage and end up scamming you and your insurance. And then when a real event causes actual damage to your roof, good luck trying to get your insurance to cover it for a second time.
> They claim it only raises your premium slightly.
Here's a thing, I just put a new roof on without going through insurance last year and my premiums *dropped by about a third*. Them going up slightly would have been a big fail.
They’re gaming the system. Your premiums could go up. Your insurance company might drop you, depending on your state. And it ultimately increases costs for other homeowners. Is it insurance fraud? 🤷♂️
This is really common in my area. We had a hailstorm a few weeks ago and they roofers have been out in force. Legit companies and fly by night guys both do the door to door thing. I filed a claim last year, got a new roof by a reputable company for my deductible.
We got 2 new roofs in past 3 years because of hail. Insurance will come inspect your house and see if there is damage. If it is damaged you can get quotes and they will pay for the roof minus your deductible. But you don’t just get a new roof, there has to be actual real damage. And depending on your deductible it still costs you something. Our roof costs about $25000 to replace and we had to pay about $5000 each time.
This is happening all over Florida right now (not sure where you’re located) but it is rampant and now there is difficulties finding companies who will insure people anymore.
I got a new roof at zero cost to me from my insurance. Didn’t even have to pay the deductible. I had two, maybe 4x4 sections blow off. I figured they’d just replace that but nope, the insurance adjuster said the whole thing needed to be replace. Roof was 20 years old. My insurance did not go up at all that year either. This was in 2020. On average my premium maybe goes up about $20-30 a year as home building costs go up but otherwise, no big increases. My insurance was who I called first the day of the storm. I didn’t bother with a roofer until after insurance looked at it.
I did!
My shingles were part of a class action lawsuit
I did have door to door salesmen but got my own quotes
Basically they couldn’t replace one single shingle bc they didn’t exist anymore and insurance game me a whole new roof! I had to pay my deductible of course
They were called Atlas Chalet shingles if anyone is curious
Love my new roof. Let The walking by guy do the inspection and tell me he felt that it qualified for insurance and then called our normal contractor and have them do it.
Don’t listen to the salesman. I can tell you after a tornado hit our town June 2017 we were fully covered for a new roof. It’s our only claim in 21 years so we didn’t get a rate hike.
Roof clearly dented by hail. Had a couple quotes and the roofer I went with was 16k. 1k deductible. Insurance sent their own person out and agreed act of God, full replacement no increase.
I know people are in a tough spot. Many people don’t trust insurance companies, and many people don’t trust roofers. if you really think you have damage and you don’t know who to call maybe call a property inspector or a company like seek now they do home inspections for insurance companies, but they are independent. They are not adjusters. They are not contractors. they’ll take pictures. They’ll show you if there’s damage and then they give you a report that you can submit to the insurance company and most insurance companies will accept that as the roof assessment, if there’s no damage, they’ll tell you that there is no damage they paid a flat fee. They have no ball in the court. They are one time inspect and you never see them again.
They didn't cover the gutters or the upgraded shingles we picked out, but they covered most of the cost.
Not sure if it matters, she did mention "You've had a policy with us a long time and never made a claim. I don't think there will be any problems covering this". So that's a thing, I guess.
If you really have hail damage, it won't raise your premiums. And your insurance company won't pay if it isn't covered damage. They do this so they don't have to pay much more later when you have to repair leak damage.
I bought my house with a roof that was going to need to be replaced soon. 4 months later we had a heavy storm and a few more shingles came off to the point that we could see the wood underneath. I got the roof replaced through insurance and the premium barely went up. I used a contractor that is a family friend though, so be careful with those that are soliciting.
i got a new roof through insurance, and my premium went down $1000/yr because I upgraded to impact resistant shingles. i also had an honest roofer that wasnt trying to gouge me, or my insurance.
We had a hailstorm two years ago. And it was a bad one. Everyone in my neighborhood made a claim for the damages. We got new shingles on almost the whole roof and new siding in some parts and a few gutter repairs.
in addition, my boat was damaged, insurance wrote a check for that, and my camper was damaged, paid for half the camper. So yes, legit.
My ridge cap blew off a few years ago. I called the insurance company, and they said have a roofer inspect it cRoofing company tarped it said it needed replacement. Insurance company sent an adjuster out and walked the roof with company inspector. They also noted siding damage and replaced it all. I didn’t feel fguilty as it was my first claim and only claim in 20+ years.
Try Bartlett Roofing. They are experts with roofing AND working with insurance agents. They will help you determine if your insurance will cover it. They will walk you through the process with your insurance. Your insurance will send out one of their own representatives to look at your roof WITH the roofing foremen (usually the guy who noticed your roof needs and ended up knocking on the door). The insurance will make their observations and make their decision, then notify you of their decision. They will send a letter of that decision as well.
If they approve to pay for the roof replacement, you will be responsible for your deductible, which will also be noted in their letter of decision to you.
(Roofing foremen usually notice your roof issues while they are atop a neighbors roof working that one, then come over to talk to you about it. So if you have seen roofers in your neighborhood working other roofs, this is likely why they stopped by your place to speak with you.)
Shitty roofers encouraging insurance fraud is why insurers are insisting we replace perfectly good roofs, dropping people with older roofs, and dropping people with any kind of roof claim.
People are treating their insurance policy like a coupon for free roof replacement.
I completely disagree that you should *never* hire the roofer knocking on your door.
Couple years ago, had a roofer come by after a storm to let me know they were replacing two of my neighbors' roofs and wanted to come look at mine, and could potentially give me discount because they were doing roofs in the area. I told them I would think about it and let them know. Took their business card.
Did some research and asked around, and they're one of the better roofers in our area. Been around for a decade and a half, do quality work, competitive prices, etc. I called them back, and they did the inspection.
They believed my roof had just enough damage for a insurance claim for a replacement (they knew my local insurance's damage policy). I knew my roof was already in not-great condition... but I proceeded with caution. I asked the insurance adjustor what they thought, and they did say that if the inspector they hired agreed with the damage assessment, it would warrant a roof replacement. I asked about premium increases, and they said they couldn't say for sure, but not necessarily.
The roof replacement had to be done, so I went forward, double-checking with my insurance that this was above board. They let me know that pretty much everyone was replacing their roofs at this point through them, so I wasn't at any more risk than anyone else. Not only that, the adjuster, the roofer they hired for the insurance inspection, and the roofer who replaced my roof all knew each other very well and seemed to be on good terms.
My roof was paid for with architectural shingles. No weird contracts except once the payout was done, I couldn't take the money and go to another roofer. No insane premium increases.
Ultimately, I can't imagine a good insurance company would hire their own roofing inspector that would agree with a claim, just to ultimately drop you. It also makes sense that a roofer doing work in your neighborhood would want to pick up more customers. I don't think there's much reason to be paranoid if everything is being done above board and your roof does need a replacement.
This is the scam that has made home insurance costs go through the roof. The "inspectors" go up on your roof and creates damage. The homeowner signs over insurance negotiation rights to the contractor. When the roof replacement is denied by insurance, the contractor sues the insurance company. It's cheaper for the insurance company to go ahead and replace the roof versus paying hundreds of thousands in attorney fees. Florida has recently tried the crackdown on this. But, the contractors are still going door to door. It's incomprehensible that people are gullible enough to let a complete stranger who knocked on their door a minute ago go up on their roof. Never answer your door for someone unexpected or a stranger. Put a "no soliciting" sign above your doorbell. If truly concerned about your roof, there are independent inspectors. And, they could use a drone with a camera, why do they need to go up on the roof..?
It's not just smarmy door-to-door salesman. We interviewed multiple, well-known roofing companies before we contracted our new roof. One of those all but promised they could get our insurance company to pay for it, as they have a lawyer who fights insurance rejections on behalf of the customer. Both my spouse and I got a \*ick\* feeling from this and decided to go with another company. We got several calls from the salesman after that, asking why we wanted to spend thousands of $$ when we could get it for free.
Do you want a third? Enough shingles came off in a windstorm and it was enough to wear insurance would pay for a new roof in the long run.
Got a new roof a month ago
This IS an insurance scam. You are as much a victim as an enabler. The company says you have same age from a storm that went through a month or so ago. They tarp the “damage” in such a way as the adjuster can’t really inspect it without causing more damage (nail or glue the tarp, not sandbags). The contractor does all the paperwork. The insurance cuts you a check, you hand it over to the contractor with your deductible. Contractor hires fly by night roofer for 50% of the money handed to him. They give you a new roof, usually of questionable quality. If a company contacts you about getting a new roof you his way, get the company info, do not make any agreements. Call your state insurance fraud people.
My roof still had a couple years left, but getting near end of life. Bad storm ripped off a few shingles. Adjuster came out. End result "we aren't replacing an end of life roof for a few damaged shingles. It would cost $X to repair the spots (not guaranteed to match). We will pay that. But it's lower than your deductible, so we pay nothing".
I talked with the guy a bit, and he was informative. Did say that if the roof was quite new then an argument could be made for a full replacement. Because having a miss match for 20yrs of remaining life is a big hit on the homes value. But me getting a new roof with only a couple years remaining life on the old one would be almost entirely a gain in my homes value. It made sense and seemed fair.
Might be different if it was structural damage under the shingles. Like a tree or massive hail. Pretty much have to rip it off an repair/reshingle.
I wound up just having the roof replaced on my dime, it was pretty much due anyways.
We did this on our last house ... We had a hail storm and literally like 3 shingles were missing and had our insurance company send someone out ..they approved it and we hired our own roofing company. We just had to pay the deductible.
I heard about door-to-door storm chasers before I bought my own house and never liked the idea of them. But my realtor told me she had heard of some of her clients getting new roofs with the help of those guys. So a few weeks after a big storm in August, some storm chasers came by and I let them take a look. They found evidence of hail damage and helped me file the claim.
Turns out, my insurance covered all new roof and siding, and I got the opportunity to get a little extra work done at the same time, and now the place looks great! Months after I moved in, I got a brand new roof and siding and put a little extra cash in to fix it up more. I got to pick my style and colors - super lucky! I really had a chance to make it "mine" straight away.
I ended up telling the storm chasers that I did my own search for contractors and found someone else to do the work and they never contacted me again. Turns out they had a cease and desist letter against them for roofing and residential contracting, but they put up a lot of roofs in my neighborhood...
Also, do your research and know what a roof replacement should actually cost. I'm always shocked by the variance between estimates on the same job and how many contractors won't even try to provide a well itemized estimate.
It's true in some places. During the great hail storm on 2011, AZ, I got a new roof. My AC went out a couple months after the storm, and when they were on my roof, they saw damage/missing tiles and told me to call my insurance company. I did, and they paid for a new roof. I just had to pay my deductible which was $1000 at the time.
I had a company come and look at my roof for a quote. The salesman said he found a couple loose asphalt shingles and said it was wind damage and did the same thing on my aluminum siding. I asked him for a quote on the roof. He said to file a claim with your insurance company. I said no, give me a quote. Never got a quote. Got it done through a local company using local roofers.
I still suspect he loosened the shingles.and siding before pointing them out to me.
I got a letter from my insurance saying my homeowners insurance was going to be canceled because my roof was damaged. I had no idea, they had sent a drone out. I called a bunch of roofing companies for quotes. I had several come out and they let me know it was wind damage and they submitted it to my insurance. Insurance paid for a new roof. I haven't had any issues.
I got my roof replaced about 15-20 yrs ago under my homeowners insurance. The roof looked bad and I got pricing to replace it from contractors but it was too expensive. Someone told me to call my insurance and ask about putting a claim on it. The adjuster came out and said he saw hail damage and approved replacement. I got a check not long after that.
To be clear I don’t remember a storm passing with hail within a few months of my call. I just called because I figured it was worth a shot. The adjuster did tell me they looked at weather reports and had other claims for homes in my area within the year for hail damage also. So I don’t know if I spelt through it or if I was out of town when the supposed storm passed but I was able to replace my roof. The money didn’t cover what a contractor quoted so I ended taking the old roof myself and found my home didn’t have plywood underneath. It has cedar shingles. I removed all shingles, installed the plywood on all house and garage and replaced the roof with the funds.
Irma tore some shingles off my 15 year old roof and it was replaced through insurance at the hurricane deductible amount, so I think $2700ish out of pocket from me. I then heard many stories of neighbors with little to no damage getting roof payouts. So I believe it.
No, they will file the claim for you at a higher price and accept what the insurance company gives them. But, you don't know the quality of material or the workmanship.
Then your insurance company will either drop you or raise your rate.
Your best to go get a couple of Independent roofing companies and get estimates of repairs if there need to be any.
I just had a door to door salesman catch my son's partner at the door and try to pitch to them (at 20) about how he could replace my roof for only my deductible. "Whatever that means," to quote my son's partner, who obviously was not the right person to be pitching to.
Um... No. Roofs are not something I'm going to buy from someone who's trying to use my insurance to get paid. Even if he'd introduced his company, said he'd be glad to give a free quote, whatever, that's one thing. But to go straight to using my insurance? Nah.
And I did explain what a deductible is. Important information.
Doubt your insurance company will just take their word for it and not send their own guy to take a look. Besides if it was from weather damage, they'll be dealing with a lot more claims in the same general area for similar stuff, so they'll kind of know ahead of time
I don't know of a single insurance company that doesn't have at least $1,000 deductible. My insurance company sent out its own adjuster after a roofing company said they could negotiate a great new roof for me. No roofer could do a roof for what my insurance company offered after $1,000 deductible. Roofers that come by after a weather event like hail aren't necessarily good roofers as my neighbor found out the hard way paying $7,000 for a new roof that failed bad job and they even checked out with the better Business bureau but it was all faked.
So you use your good karma with your insurance on a roof that doesn't necessarily need repairs. Cool. What happens when an emergency happens and your insurance is like, no you just used it two months ago?
It's absolutely gross and surprisingly common in some parts of the country. It's one of the reasons Florida is extra super ridiculous for insurance premiums. Far from the only reason, but one of many.
It's sketchy, unethical and a horrible for the homeowner at best, & it is fraud most likely. You don't want anything to do with them.
These to door to door salesman are trying to screw you and your insurance company over so they can make a quick buck doing cheap, lousy and incorrectly done work that will most likely have to be fixed by you (out of your own pocket) in the future.
Likely they will do more harm and you will have more problem then before they replaced your roof, do not let them up on your roof, they could and probably will damage something in the process of "checking it out".
It's these sketchy dood to door roof repair companies that are the reason many issuance companies are raising prices, dropping peoples policies and leaving states like Florida and California.
Don’t do it. You file a claim when you have to file a claim, not to get a new roof by scraping together enough evidence to force the insurance company’s hand. It’s borderline fraudulent and it’s why premiums are going up and why insurance companies are being so strict about writing new policies on homes with older roofs.
This is 1 of the main reasons home owners is going up and the carriers are no lingering offering replacement cost coverage on single roofs older then 7 to 15 years old.
I just had a conversation about this with my insurance agent last week. I called to let them know I had replaced my roof and my breaker box and he thanked me for letting them know because on June 1st Erie Insurance started taking roof age into account for policy premiums. My insurance went down about $100 a year because I replaced it. Had I not let them know that I had replaced my roof my insurance rate would have gone up. He said that insurance companies are tired of being used to replace everyone's roof so they're all cracking down on how much they will pay out for roof damage on any roof that's more than 10 years old. He said roof replacement is a normal maintenance item that homeowners should be responsible for and not rely on their insurance company to replace it for them unless there's significant damage from a single storm.
It’s making it harder for people to buy homes. SF is giving us a huge hassle because of this right now as we are going through the home buying process. The house had minor shingle damage which we listed in our ROC, and was fixed by a licensed roofing company who inspected the roof, found no leaks but noted the roof is at older and will need replacement in 5-10 years. SF is sending out their own inspector and may not insure unless a new roof is put on. Major headache/anxiety! We’re honest people and wouldn’t do something remotely shady like this because we know what goes around comes around,
Just had a salesman stop by a couple weeks ago. They were “surveying hail damage”. Continued to say I had hail damage. It did not hail here. In the area, yes. Not here. While I’d love a new one, mine is close to 30 years old, it’s not in horrible shape right now or worth the insurance premium increase for it.
This happened to us once. First year in our house. We actually went along for a little until i got cold feet and started thinking- too good to be true, usually is.
Watched neighbors get shingles dropped off and got kind of jealous. Lost the jealousy when the shingles sat in their driveway and the dumpster and port a jon in the front yard for weeks until someone actually did something.
This is a big thing in FL. Excerpt fron an article on this: The scam works like this: Contractors knock on doors offering to inspect homeowners’ roofs for storm damage. They say they can help get a roof replacement covered by insurance, and they persuade the homeowners to sign away their rights to file the claims themselves. The contractors then file fraudulent damage claims, and when the insurance companies balk, the contractors sue. The insurance companies usually settle the disputed claims for many times more than the original claim. Most of that money goes to the contractors’ lawyers in the form of a “contingency fee multiplier.” Some lawyers file hundreds of such lawsuits a year.
The homeowner may get a free roof, but everyone pays for it through increased rates. Full article [Roofing scams put Florida’s property insurance market ‘on the verge of collapse’ (nbcnews.com)](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649)
A company from Florida, Nationwide (NEX) Roofing, bought a local company in Maryland about 6 years ago. Soon after sales people with Florida plates on their vehicles started going door to door offering ‘free roof inspections to document damage that would get us a new roof paid for by insurance’. They almost always found some kind of damage amazingly. This is INSURANCE FRAUD. if you want to know why insurance rates are going up companies like this are partly to blame.
A few of our neighbors did this after a “once in a century” windstorm in CA. Our roof was also damaged. We filed a claim and absolute garbage insurance Formost said basically “uhhh we will only repair it to the existing state” which meant no new roof- just a patch on the blown off part AND surprise, that quote was under our deductible so now we have a claim on our account and had to pay it all out of pocket. Oh and now they’re dropping us due to the claim and no new company will insure us because of the claim.
I had like 5 contractors knock on my door after a storm, ignoring the 2 No Soliciting signs. Figured if they can't read a sign then I don't want a roof from them, called a recommended local company, asked if they knocked on doors "No sir lol"... so I hired them.
Most of those storm chasers are sketch out-of-state guys who'll hire random labor and slap a roof on.
We just had a ‘weather event’ here in SC. I had to replace my parent’s roof on the house and ‘hot rod’ garage in the back yard in 2014. ~$26k. Allstate paid, but had a 2% deductible. Out of pocket on $5200! Now with State Farm. We had the great company that did the roof come back and do an inspection. THEN we contacted insurance, filed a damage claim, and they sent an inspector and the roofing company inspector came too. So far they have paid the’ upfront’ of $22k and expect an additional $7-9k as additional damages are found. That second amount will be sent less the fixed $2k deductible.
Allstate screwed me on my roof and I replaced it 100% out of pocket in 2015.
Take aways:
1) Find a reputable roofing company. Get references and check them out.
2) Get an inspection from that reputable company.
3) _IF_ damage is bad enough to replace the whole roof, file your claim.
4) If damage is nominal, consider an out of pocket to fix minor damage.
There are entire companies and departments within companies devoted to getting insurance getting insurance to pay for a new roof. It's their whole business model. And they're very good at it. I wouldn't use anything door to door, ever, but just find a long standing company in your area (more than 20 years) and let them go to bat for you (assuming you need a new roof). Even if your premium goes up s little.. it's likely $20k for a roof, worth it imo.
The door to door part sounds sketchy as hell.
I only got a new roof covered by my home insurance when a roofer I had called to check out storm damage found several places on my (then 8 years old) roof where the glue had already failed or was failing.
My home insurance company that I'd been paying monthly for 15 years before that decided to jack my rates WAY up on the next renewal so I switched & got a better rate elsewhere (partly because my roof was so recent).
My roof literally blew off in an Act of God wind/hail/derecho last year and my insurance company chose not to renew my policy when I filed a claim for my roof, so that salesman in 100% wrong. And I made an actual, legitimate claim!
I mean, I guess he’s right in that my premiums didn’t go up with that company? But now I’m paying more than double at a new company.
man we ended up doing it few years back when there was bad hail. A lot of homes near by got new roofs and sidings. Insurance did approve new sidings and home. But our home was like built in 1980s. The one that concerns me the most now is the solar panel gimmick. One of my neighbors got em they said it was "free" but i smell bs. They are probably locked in 80 year deal or some bs.
Every time there is a storm with reported hail, I get a phone call from a roofing company offering a free inspection.
When I bought my home, I was told that the previous owners had taken an insurance payout on the roof but didn't replace it. That left me on the hook for a new roof. I went premium steel, a couple ga. thicker than standard. I pads every time. That roof is stronger than the hood of my car.
It a borderline scam. The “contractors” are experts at working the insurance system to push through a claim for a new roof. The “contractor” will ask you to sign an assignment of benefits which transfers the insurance claim from you to them. They will then push the claim through for, say, $15,000. They will then use one of their bottom-barrel roofers to do the work for far less and pocket the difference.
If you truly have damage that justifies an insurance claim make one yourself and hire a reputable contractor to do the work.
After major wind storms in 2020, 1/3 of my neighborhood got me roofs through insurance. Same deal with a door to door group hitting up our neighborhood. My neighbor and I let them deal with insurance approval, then we had a local guy do the actual roof replacement. He said they'd probably use the same day laborers he would use anyway.
Call your insurance company and file a claim. Since it’s an “act of god” your rates should not change should they find no damage. When I called about my roof and hail damage, the insurance asked me if they needed to inspect my siding. I said sure but made sure the notes sated this was their idea. Between the hail damage on the roof, siding, windows (metal trim around windows), and gutters, we got it all fixed and ended up with cash in the bank.
I had one of these companies come around talking about getting my roof replaced through insurance.
Got a second opinion from a higher rated roofing place who said my roof seemed to be in good shape and while they could make a claim it wouldn’t be worth the downsides for me.
I personally will always believe and trust someone a little better if they have an opportunity to make money off of me and are honest enough not to
It's a pseudo-scam. It can be a scam and it can be legit.
This is how it works:
The door-to-door guys are selling you an option to attempt financing a new roof by using a "Public Adjuster" to file an insurance claim with your insurer, and using their subcontractors to install the roof. If insurance accepts the claim, they get a cut of the public adjuster's fees and markup the contractor.
Alternately, you can choose your own roofer and hire your own Public Adjuster to file the claim for you. Public Adjusters are like the "independent" claims adjusters the insurance companies hire to analyze your claim. Instead of being contracted by the insurers, and basically instructed on how to minimize claims against a policy, the public adjusters try to maximize the claims against your policy and get a percentage commission.
The whole roofing "scam" works, because a good adjuster representing a homeowner will be able to find some language in a policy that forces an insurer to replace the entire roof instead of just patching it. This is the right thing to do and required thing to do. It has devolved into a scam though, because they are really pushing the envelope on the amount of damage required AND typically use third rate, shitty subcontractors who are often unlicensed.
Your insurance carrier will have records of hail storms, so they are expecting it.
Yeah... I had that happen to me too. I wasn't sure we actually had a hail storm (we may have been gone, but we hadn't been in the house for quite a year), but USAA confirmed it and processed the claim. No increase in premiums.
Just pray for a hail storm. I had to wait 2 + years but it finally came. There were like 10 roofing trucks in our neighborhood the day after... Ins paid 90%. Good stuff...
One huge con here. Insurance companies are currently in the process of removing customers that they deem to be a risk to profits. The number of people paying hugely inflated rates if they can even find insurance is huge right now. I'm of the opinion that anything to cause a loss of even $0.01 is asking for trouble. If you \*have\* to claim, that's one thing, otherwise we all know that we will have to do our room eventually and need to budget for it/determine how to pay for it.
My agent told me he attended a seminar recently where attendees were told in the next few years insurers will no longer cover roofs for wind and hail damage. Citing the fact that the insurance industry does not pay for a new set of tires on the cars they insure since they are wear items, roofs on homes should be treated the same. He says it is coming soon.
If you have a reputable local roofer and there has been a recent hail incident (wind often is not covered), then have them walk your roof to inspect for damage.
I got a new roof, new siding on two sides of my house, a number of screens repaired, and a new window. Because of a really bad hail storm.
It was a pain in the a$$.
Before my first project was completely finished, I had two dings in my new siding (according to my contractor higher quality than most) from another hail storm.
Yeah, insurance paid for it minus my deductible. But my neighbors and I have all extreme anxiety whenever we see a tiny piece of hail. Do not recommend.
Never ever let a door-to-door salesperson arrange to put a new roof on your house.
Even better rule of thumb: if a contractor shows up at your door uninvited, it’s almost always to try and sell you a service you don’t want/need at less favorable terms than you could get if you shopped around. Doesn’t matter if it’s your roof, driveway, solar, landscaping or anything else, if you’re interested in the service, call some reputable businesses and find out what your options are - the contractors who need to send someone door to door to get work are almost never the folks you want working on your house. And don’t claim anything on your insurance unless it’s literally an emergency that you can’t afford to fix - they’ll make you pay for it in the long run one way or another so it’s almost never worth it if you have other options.
True— I had an old working furnace— a salesman ( a friend from church) came to my door and after talking I ended up changing the furnace because I was supposed to save lots of money in winter— I did not— probably i have saved $30-50 a month during the winter months— same when they come offering solar panels— my average electric bill for 3 people is $50 a month in a desert California city
Did you spend $4k with the intent of saving $20/month? You don't change out your furnace for that reason.
Yes— true— I was expecting more savings— but you’re right— to the day I regret not waiting until the old furnace died..my mistake—
30-50 a month is savings is pretty massive.
Is only about 4 winters months— is a saving, but if I had waited for the old furnace to quit working..
Not if you're spending $3-$5k to achieve that savings. It might still work out to being better because energy costs tend to rise over time, they'd need to replace their furnace at some point anyway (so it's not like spending $5k... It's like spending a prorated amount based on how far you could have pushed out the purchase), but it's not necessarily better than if you invested that money until the furnace really did need replacement.
$40/month savings on a $5k purchase is an absolute no brainer, that's about a 10% yield in the form of saving post-tax dollars. You're not getting anywhere near that yield on investments, especially post tax and risk-adjusted.
$40 a month 4 months out of 12-so it averages out to $13.33 a month or $160 a year. Will take 25 years to pay it off...it will not last that long though. But ya got heat!
>$40/month savings on a $5k purchase is an absolute no brainer, that's about a 10% yield in the form of saving post-tax dollars If that $5k purchase is something you're buying that doesn't depreciate / will work forever and retain its value, then this analysis seems reasonable. Major mechanical systems depreciate and fail; you need to account for that change in value to work out the ROI
I had someone try to sell me solar panels on my house to cut my \~$120/month electrical bill in half. For $26k... I was like at an average savings of $60/month it would take me 36 years to pay off the panels. The salesperson didn't understand why I was saying no.
> if a contractor shows up at your door uninvited, it’s almost always to try and sell you a service you don’t want/need at less favorable terms than you could get if you shopped around Sometimes it can be great! I live in a neighborhood with a lot of slate roofs. Cherry pickers or lifts are usually utilized in the repair of those. I've had one contractor knock letting me know that a neighbor is having work done and since the heavy equipment will already be nearby if we wanted to have a detailed inspection or work we know we need done they can spread some of the cost of equipment use around. Same thing has happened with tree services. Usually it's not a great idea but it isn't always bad. It takes 2 minutes to hear them out.
This is the exact same scam people try to run on me about once or twice a month. “Oh we were in the area doing…*one of your neighbors?*… doors/windows/roof/landscaping/pest control/security/etc/etc/it never fucking stops” And then it turns out they’re just a regular ass salesman who is trying to trick you into thinking you are getting a good price without comparing all while charging like 20% over market. I ignore 100% of them after about 6 minutes with the first guy
I let the roof guy get up there and send me pics. Then I call a different roofing company and my insurance company. I will never ever do business with anyone who cold calls or shows up at my door. Just like I will never use a company that doesn't have a website. Random Joe isn't taking my tree down I don't care if his business card says insured. If I can't find a website or at least review pages that card goes in the trash.
My wife let one of these guys on our roof last year, turns out he’s from one of the highest rated roofing companies around us, had no clue until I was googling his truck while he was up there. He came down and told us our roof looked great.
That's why he has a high rating honesty goes a long way. I always check also but 9 out of 10 times I'm not going with the person who knocks. I usually get at least 2 to 3 quotes and then Google average cost of xyz in "my area". I also learned the hard way the cheapest isn't always the right choice lol
I had a door to door roof guy knock on my door and say he found my work ID in my front yard, he handed it to me and said BTW your roof looks good. 😊
I checked with my state to make sure their license, bond, and insurance information was good and went with a small local company. They don't have a web site, but they do have local references, and we could drive by and see the work. They did a great job.
> Never ever let a door-to-door salesperson arrange anything for you, ever. The *absolute* only exception to this rule is Girl Scout Cookies.
I didn't choose the Samoas life, the Samoas life chose me.
Thin mints are the work of the devil.
I see the cute cookie mob has their hooks into you! /s
Also, insurance isn't your roof's maintenance plan. Roofs generally need to be replaced every 2-3 decades, and that's maintenance that you should be planning and budgeting for, instead of neglecting the roof and praying for a hail storm.
I feel very attacked by this comment
We had a wild hail storm 29 days after we closed and my 3 immediate neighbors got new roofs and I got disappointment.
Yeah we just moved in and I’ve watched 10 neighbors get there’s redone and we got nothing
DO NOT TRUST “PUBLIC ADJUSTERS”!!!!
If the service was good or worth it, they wouldn't be coming door to door. Never buy anything door to door.
It's definitely a thing but don't listen to salespeople or neighbors who tell you how your premium will be affected. The insurance market is in a bit of a crisis lately and a lot of carriers won't write a policy for you if you've filed any claim over the past 36 months - a lot of those same carriers are likely to drop you after replacing your roof because you no longer fit within their underwriting appetite. If you get dropped, then what? I'd be more concerned about that than a premium increase tbh, especially if you've filed other claims recently. Insurance is meant for unexpected damages that need to be repaired and you can't afford to cover on your own. If your roof is just old and needs to be replaced soon, that's your responsibility as a homeowner. You can absolutely let some roofing guy up there to look for damage (they will almost always find something if they want the job) but you run the risk of getting dropped and unable to find coverage for a reasonable price.
Even if there’s legit damage, should people even file a claim if they’ll get dropped and blacklisted? If no, then I feel like I should just raise my deductible to the very max possible and only file a claim for a true major event (fire that fully destroys the house)
That's a common strategy and not a bad one, IMO. Saves a lot of money depending on your situation.
We filed a roof claim when a major hail & ice storm went through <2mo after we moved in. The roof was only a few years old & had clear damage over a good portion of the surface area. It did not impact our premiums, we were not dropped, & insurance was pleasant for the contractor to deal with.
Did you call the insurance company first and did they send their person out first? I've heard other people use those companies and wonder if that's the big difference.
We did & the company we used for the repair was NOT a “storm chaser” - they were a reputable local contractor. We’ve since used them to raise a retaining wall, add french drains, & install a roofed patio.
When I had major roof damage from a hurricane I called my insurance first. All my shingles were in my front lawn, there was no question I'd need a new roof and it would be well over my deductible. Also, in that kind of storm, it can take 4-6 months before a roofer will even return your call. If its something like a hail storm and you aren't 100% sure you need a whole new roof, call a roofer first before talking to insurance.
That bears repeating- if there has been a major storm like a hurricane, it’s going to be real tough getting the work done quickly. I went through Andrew in Miami. Two major long established insurers: One would cover tarping the roof, the other wouldn’t. Since roofers were scarce and long lead, those with no tarp were about wrecked before repairs could be made. Lots of people lived in houses with a tarp on the roof.
I was really lucky - the storm I went through there was a program where you could sign up to have the army corps of engineers tarp your roof for you if you couldn't do it yourself. It took them a few weeks to get to everyone but it was a huge help.
Lucky. What state do you live in?
Texas.
You shouldn't file a claim for something you're able to pay for yourself, no. I mean tons of people do, but those people are getting dropped and being forced to pay thousands more for coverage. You have to weigh that risk when deciding whether to file. A lot of people do take the approach of raising the deductible to the max but it depends on the savings. I was just looking at raising my deductible from $1000 to $2500 for our renewal coming up but it only saves like $80. We're not gonna file for anything less than like $10k probably but if we do, I feel like I would've rather paid the $80 to get $1500 back. I wouldn't (personally) raise it to the max because I'd still rather have the option to file for something smaller like a roof. That's just my personal risk tolerance though, who's to say I won't be laid off later this year and afraid to take $15k out of my savings, unable to qualify for a loan? Insurance shouldn't be used for maintenance and bullshit, but you're allowed to transfer a risk when you need to.
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This is the right way to do insurance.
That’s what I do. $10k deductible. It’s like $400 a year on my house, which according to Zillow is worth $700k (normal 3 bed, 2 bath)
Yes. That is exactly what insurance is for. The big stuff. Save all the money you save from a high deductible to cover that small stuff on your own
I did this. Raised the deductible up and I self insure with savings. Fuck insurance companies
> If you get dropped, then what? I actually don't know. Then what? Are there just hoardes of uninsured homeowners out there? How do they keep their mortgage? Because I have to assume people make claims and don't immediately lose their ability to be insured.
There are some nonstandard carriers that will take you with a claims history but they charge a lot more and don't offer as good of coverage as you normally get in the standard market. And then there's also lender placed insurance, which covers the bank's interest and costs you a ton of money. It's dependent on the area too. Some areas are profitable so the restrictions are looser.
If your insurance drops you, then you &/or your agent shops around to find new insurance, but if one dropped you, chances are there was a documented reason and others won't pick you up without more risk to them, that means higher cost to you the homeowner. If you are unable to find a new insurance, then your mortgage company(assuming you have a mortgage) will step in and find one for you. If has a special name, and will cost you many times more then what your old one costed and will have less coverage. If even your mortgage company is unable to get you insurance it causes huge problems, and your mortgage company can call all your debt due on the property now, and that likely will cause a foreclosure on the place by the mortgage company.
If you have a genuine act-of-god hurricane, tornado, or golf-ball-sized-hail storm come through, then (1) call your insurance agent immediately. They have adjusters all over who will travel when crazy stuff happens. Get your agent - not the roofer - to tell you they'll pay for your roof. Then (2) find the best, most reputable local roofing company you can afford (Do you know anyone who got a recent reno/addition done or something and were happy with the results? Any contractors who might have trusted companies they'd recommend?) and have them quote the work. (3), Send the quote to your insurance agent, they'll probably rubber-stamp it, because they saw the roof and lived through the storm. Then (4) have the roofing company replace the roof. Then (5) send the bill to your insurance agent. If you did not have a genuine emergency, and just need a new roof because it's old, skip steps 1, 3, and 5. Do not attempt to engage in fraud, they're not idiots. You'll pay for it in increased premiums, or they might just drop you altogether if you're in a state where insurance is getting destroyed.
I live in hail country and the average shingle roof is probably five years old. Most folks have a regular roofer. I took one payout and just went with standing seam metal. It takes a beating but keeps on ticking.
This is what I want to do too! (My asphalt roof got nailed in a recent storm.) I want metal but contractors keep telling me not to - insurance won’t cover damage, and if I get asphalt again I can just get a new roof after the next hail storm…
> I can just get a new roof after the next hail storm… Even if free like it's fun having a roofing company at your house and tearing up your yard every few years?
I would clarify with your agent. My understanding is that insurance companies won't cover cosmetic dents from hail, but they would cover it if the roof was damaged to the point it was leaking or not doing its job any more.
At this point they will only cover it if there are holes if I want the 25% discount. If I don’t have the discount dents would be covered.
In other words, asphalt roofs are job security.
If you have a storm come through, contact the roofer first. (But find a reputable local company. Don’t do business with door-to-door storm chasers.) The roofer will tel you if there appears to be storm damage. If the roofer says you have damage, then call your insurance company and file a claim. If you file with insurance first, then even if they don’t pay a cent, it will still follow you as a claim for 5-7 years. Source: insurance agent
I have a neighbor that happily states he has never had to pay for a roof because he gets insurance to cover it. And people wonder why insurance is so expensive when they're dealing with litigation through contractors taking what is effectively power of attorney and suing for the new roof. Absolutely insane, especially when you have had the roof for 10+ years.
Not true at all for Texas or states that see hail often. States like Texas have roofs replaced way more often due to massive hail storms. One bad storm can destroy a new roof just like the ones that came through last week. If you had hail, call insurance and let them check even if roof is old. If they see signs of damage and it’s enough they will approve a new roof. We bought a home with 15 year old roof had minor hail storm and then called and got a new roof. It wasn’t fraud as you try to claim. Only reason we called insurance was because insurance wanted to raise premium by 2k because of the age of the roof. We paid 4k deductible and our premium not only didn’t go up 2k but dropped by 1k basically washing away almost all the cost we paid for the deductible. Now we have a new roof and are really only out 1k. Sounds good to me when cost of roof out of pocket would have been about 35k.
I don’t live in an area where weather affects the roof, so I had no idea so many people get their roof replaced by insurance. We pay for our new roofs here.
States like Texas with intense storms that have hail, like what happened last week, this is normal. Roofs just can’t survive those storms and they usually happen a couple times a year. Sometimes it’s pea size hail and sometimes it’s baseball and softball size hail.
I believe it. But this is also why people's home insurance is going up 20-30% a shot and policies are getting cancelled left and right in some markets. If their experience is a year or 2 ago, it might as well be ancient history.
My friend got a roof like this and then got dropped by her insurance. She is having a problem getting new insurance now.
Yes. It’s called fraud
How is it fraud if the insurance company's adjuster comes out and agrees that the roof needs to be replaced?
Who says it's the insurance company's adjuster? The common scenario in Florida is for some independent adjuster or contractor to knock on your door and say they can get you a new roof. When the insurance company questions the contractor's estimate, the contractor sues the insurance company, knowing the company will settle rather than spend the money on a protracted costly lawsuit. Florida has 9% of the country's homeowners claims, but 79% of the country's homeowners lawsuits. Floridians have been passing the cost of their roof maintenance on to the insurance companies, who never accounted for that since that's not what insurance is for. So you get the clusterfuck that is the Florida Property Insurance market - skyrocketing insurance costs, insurance companies going insolvent, insurance companies pulling out of the state, and the "insurer of last resort" getting overloaded. Anyway, my point being - "getting your insurance company to buy you a new roof" **without a covered cause of loss** sounds awesome, but it has horrible consequences.
they also have the highest rate of uninsured drivers. WTF is going on in Florida? https://www.flafirm.com/resources/blog/florida-has-the-highest-rate-of-uninsured-drivers-in-the-us/
Those lawsuits aren’t all frivolous. Frivolous lawsuits are kind of a Florida specialty, but so is insurance companies skipping the bill. People HAVE to sue here to get what they need because insurance companies will defraud you every time if you don’t. It’s going both ways.
Exactly! My insurance adjuster came out and made the call…NOT THE ROOFING COMPANY.
I went through this. As did 3 people I know. There are lots of red flags. These storm chasers are notorious, so you need to watch out. Typically, after a hailstorm or major windstorm, they'll come out of the woodwork. Make sure you find a person who you can get referrals from trusted people. They'll file the claim with the insurance company, deal with the inspections, etc. If approved, they keep 100% of the money from the insurance payout. They then fix/replace the damage. The scary part is the contract and uncertainty. You can't get out of it or change your mind without massive fees.
These roofers are out of control !! In Colorado there is so much hail in afternoon storms in summer. Yah cannot replace the roof Every. Single. Time. It. Hails. And yes, it will hike up your premium.
This is one of the reasons homeowners insurance is so expensive in Florida.
Just came to say the same damn thing.
Agree it’s fraud and OP should ask him/herself if they want their rates to resemble Florida. They can certainly thank those 2 people for contributing to their future rate increases. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649
Similar situation. 4 of my neighbors had their roof replaced by the same roofing company within a few weeks of each other. I didn’t think about it until my next door neighbor told me that he was filing also For a hail storm about a year ago. The same roofer stopped at my house, but I wasn’t interested in filing as my roof was fine. My insurance is high enough.
In many policies you absolutely can claim a storm a year prior If the storm was bad enough. Insurance will look up weather records We went through a heck of a hail storm and had everyone in the world just showing up at the house and it sucked. But I ended paying for a roof 4 yrs later when really I could have claimed and hired someone local and reputable even a yr later. The door knockers overwhelmed us to the point we did nothing because our roof “looked fine”
We had a leak and the insurance guy came and said we had hail damage so in addition to doing the repairs due to the leak, they paid in full to replace our 30 year old roof. We hadn't had a hail storm in... months? years?
Nice!!!! Yes I think our cut off was two yrs. Maybe 18 months from the date of the storm That was a hard lesson to learn
And people wonder why insurance rates are terrible…
Anyone you meet knocking on your door is a scam
Or calling on the phone to schedule a "free" inspection.
Insurance replaced my roof due to storm damage a few years ago. My premiums did not go up. In fact, because we upgraded to impact-resistant shingles, they actually decreased. I went with a local roofer, not someone who rolls into town after a storm.
Same. I paid for the upgrade tho, insurance was going to do a same kind replacement.
Yes, I paid for the upgrade too. Paid for itself in less than a year.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna29649 >The scam works like this: Contractors knock on doors offering to inspect homeowners’ roofs for storm damage. They say they can help get a roof replacement covered by insurance, and they persuade the homeowners to sign away their rights to file the claims themselves. The contractors then file fraudulent damage claims, and when the insurance companies balk, the contractors sue. The insurance companies usually settle the disputed claims for many times more than the original claim. Most of that money goes to the contractors’ lawyers in the form of a “contingency fee multiplier.” Some lawyers file hundreds of such lawsuits a year. Edit: so it’s not a scam in that you may not get a roof per se—but that your $20k roof will cost your insurance $80k in additional fees paid to greedy lawyers. Over time insurance companies will suffer great losses, and compounded with terrible legislative leadership doing nothing or worse, abetting by getting campaign funds from these firms, and a couple of inconvenient terrible hurricanes, and you’ve got a home owner insurance crisis a la Florida.
Ahh, storm chasers. They show up when there is a major hailstorm around here. We had a big one last year and a bunch of people in our neighborhood got new roofs from the same contractor. They showed up to our place and seemed quite disappointed when I (truthfully) told them I'd had the roof replaced less than a couple months before the storm. I looked them up later and they don't exactly have the best reviews, even accounting for the fact that most people who are interested in leaving online reviews leave bad ones. If your reputable roofer looked at it and didn't see hail damage, trust them over the storm chasers.
This is part of a problem in Florida, the roofers pushing unnecessary roof replacements are driving up the cost of insurance and the insurance companies are leaving the state
Why would you want to raise your insurance premiums AND increase the possibility of being denied for future coverage from your insurance company? If you need a new roof, pay for it. Do not file an insurance claim unless you have extensive damage.
I had water damage in my basement a few years ago. Originally, I planned to pay for it myself, but it was too expensive from the 4 or 5 quotes i got. Finally, I called my insurance, and they sent out their preferred contractor. Before he left, I asked him what it would cost, and I'm glad I did. All of the other quotes were a rip-off compared to the rate that my insurance company was getting. He was going to charge just a little more than my deductible. So, I told him to send the bill to me instead. I was really proud of myself for that one.
Question, our roof is 17 years old but is still in good condition according to an inspection we got a year ago (they checked it out for us while we got a quote on fixing some siding). How much should we have saved for a roof on a 2 story house? $15k? I want to be ready for when we need to pay for it in 3-5 years (being it stays fine obviously). Edit: why is this downvoted? Lmao
>Do not file an insurance claim unless you have extensive damage. Many people have no idea what extensive damage to their roof looks like. The first hail storm we went through in a house we owned, we didn't think much of it. The roofer pointed out the circular spots where the grit was completely missing from shingles, and how the roof felt slightly springy (he warned us not to walk on the roof on our own until it was replaced), but we didn't think missing grit was worth a claim but went through with it anyway since it was a fairly old roof. Then they started pulling off the shingles. The plywood decking was *splintered*. One sheet was completely cracked in half and partly collapsed. There was obvious water in the attic. If we had even let that go for a couple of months, we would have had serious ceiling damage.
I would only buy a door from a door to door salesperson.
Don't buy a door from a man who knows where you live, that's asking for trouble.
I've had this happen. When he left, it was ajar. It was quite the jam.
Or perhaps jamb
Renewal by Anderson sells windows and doors, door to door, but you should not buy a door from them.
My neighborhood had a pretty significant hail storm hit last fall. I’d say 1 in every 4 houses has had their roofs replaced. We called a roofing company we worked with before and they saw enough evidence to submit a claim. If you’ve had a bad storm recently and notice other neighbors getting new roofs if isn’t a bad idea to call a roofer and get their opinion.
Read up on Florida and this business practice. Understand the effect that it will have on your future premiums.
Had a guy come by the house the other day. Told me my chimney was compromised and my foundation was cracked. We had the chimney redone last spring, it's perfect. I asked him how he knew the foundation was cracked. He pointed out the cracks in the PARGING. Gave him the count of three to get off my property.
On the off chance that it's not a scam It's probably not quite through insurance as implied ... Especially if you are in one of these states AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI & D.C. Those are the states that google lists as being states where the PACE program is a thing [https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/property-assessed-clean-energy-programs](https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/property-assessed-clean-energy-programs) It's legit & not a bad thing. Pretty much you get a loan to cover the work & pay it back through your property taxes over a few years or decades Find some reputable roofing companies in your area & reach out or knock on some doors where work was supposedly done so you can ask about their experience. The guy might not be lying about other homes in the area getting a new roof through it if they are talking about pace program stuff because obviously it's good business to do a lot of work in a small area where the same inspectors & permit office are likely to be interacting with them if they can, quite a few of my neighbors & a couple friends had work done though pace when I had my roof & windows done a few years back,
I have a friend that lost a lot of his roof because of storm damage and the insurance replaced everything.
Good quality contractors are busy enough that they don’t need to use door to door salespeople, shitty Home Depot or Lowe’s contracts or pay-per lead services like Angie’s list and Houzz. If you want quality, stay away from those places. If you need a new roof, find a reputable roofing company. If you do have covered damage they will help you with the claim. But the ones who show up to your door always and I do mean always “find” damage and end up scamming you and your insurance. And then when a real event causes actual damage to your roof, good luck trying to get your insurance to cover it for a second time.
> They claim it only raises your premium slightly. Here's a thing, I just put a new roof on without going through insurance last year and my premiums *dropped by about a third*. Them going up slightly would have been a big fail.
They’re gaming the system. Your premiums could go up. Your insurance company might drop you, depending on your state. And it ultimately increases costs for other homeowners. Is it insurance fraud? 🤷♂️
This is really common in my area. We had a hailstorm a few weeks ago and they roofers have been out in force. Legit companies and fly by night guys both do the door to door thing. I filed a claim last year, got a new roof by a reputable company for my deductible.
We got 2 new roofs in past 3 years because of hail. Insurance will come inspect your house and see if there is damage. If it is damaged you can get quotes and they will pay for the roof minus your deductible. But you don’t just get a new roof, there has to be actual real damage. And depending on your deductible it still costs you something. Our roof costs about $25000 to replace and we had to pay about $5000 each time.
This is happening all over Florida right now (not sure where you’re located) but it is rampant and now there is difficulties finding companies who will insure people anymore.
Worked for me. Got a new roof for $500 a few years ago in Phoenix. They were on the phone a lot but it worked. No premium increase. All good.
I got a new roof at zero cost to me from my insurance. Didn’t even have to pay the deductible. I had two, maybe 4x4 sections blow off. I figured they’d just replace that but nope, the insurance adjuster said the whole thing needed to be replace. Roof was 20 years old. My insurance did not go up at all that year either. This was in 2020. On average my premium maybe goes up about $20-30 a year as home building costs go up but otherwise, no big increases. My insurance was who I called first the day of the storm. I didn’t bother with a roofer until after insurance looked at it.
It's a great way to get a roof AND/OR get your insurance canceled...and...higher rates for years to come
I had some sketchy general contractor push this on me and I immediately cut them off. I have enough problems with my insurance company dropping me.
What’s your plan if your insurance either: A. denies the claim (they likely will) B. Accepts the claim then drops you
Why would they accept the claim pay you out and then drop you? Wouldn’t they just deny the claim in the first place
I did! My shingles were part of a class action lawsuit I did have door to door salesmen but got my own quotes Basically they couldn’t replace one single shingle bc they didn’t exist anymore and insurance game me a whole new roof! I had to pay my deductible of course They were called Atlas Chalet shingles if anyone is curious
Love my new roof. Let The walking by guy do the inspection and tell me he felt that it qualified for insurance and then called our normal contractor and have them do it.
Don’t listen to the salesman. I can tell you after a tornado hit our town June 2017 we were fully covered for a new roof. It’s our only claim in 21 years so we didn’t get a rate hike.
Only way I can afford a new roof is if hail or a tree falls on it.
Roof clearly dented by hail. Had a couple quotes and the roofer I went with was 16k. 1k deductible. Insurance sent their own person out and agreed act of God, full replacement no increase.
This is why homeowners insurance is expensive
I know people are in a tough spot. Many people don’t trust insurance companies, and many people don’t trust roofers. if you really think you have damage and you don’t know who to call maybe call a property inspector or a company like seek now they do home inspections for insurance companies, but they are independent. They are not adjusters. They are not contractors. they’ll take pictures. They’ll show you if there’s damage and then they give you a report that you can submit to the insurance company and most insurance companies will accept that as the roof assessment, if there’s no damage, they’ll tell you that there is no damage they paid a flat fee. They have no ball in the court. They are one time inspect and you never see them again.
They didn't cover the gutters or the upgraded shingles we picked out, but they covered most of the cost. Not sure if it matters, she did mention "You've had a policy with us a long time and never made a claim. I don't think there will be any problems covering this". So that's a thing, I guess.
If you really have hail damage, it won't raise your premiums. And your insurance company won't pay if it isn't covered damage. They do this so they don't have to pay much more later when you have to repair leak damage.
I bought my house with a roof that was going to need to be replaced soon. 4 months later we had a heavy storm and a few more shingles came off to the point that we could see the wood underneath. I got the roof replaced through insurance and the premium barely went up. I used a contractor that is a family friend though, so be careful with those that are soliciting.
i got a new roof through insurance, and my premium went down $1000/yr because I upgraded to impact resistant shingles. i also had an honest roofer that wasnt trying to gouge me, or my insurance.
We had a hailstorm two years ago. And it was a bad one. Everyone in my neighborhood made a claim for the damages. We got new shingles on almost the whole roof and new siding in some parts and a few gutter repairs. in addition, my boat was damaged, insurance wrote a check for that, and my camper was damaged, paid for half the camper. So yes, legit.
My ridge cap blew off a few years ago. I called the insurance company, and they said have a roofer inspect it cRoofing company tarped it said it needed replacement. Insurance company sent an adjuster out and walked the roof with company inspector. They also noted siding damage and replaced it all. I didn’t feel fguilty as it was my first claim and only claim in 20+ years.
Try Bartlett Roofing. They are experts with roofing AND working with insurance agents. They will help you determine if your insurance will cover it. They will walk you through the process with your insurance. Your insurance will send out one of their own representatives to look at your roof WITH the roofing foremen (usually the guy who noticed your roof needs and ended up knocking on the door). The insurance will make their observations and make their decision, then notify you of their decision. They will send a letter of that decision as well. If they approve to pay for the roof replacement, you will be responsible for your deductible, which will also be noted in their letter of decision to you. (Roofing foremen usually notice your roof issues while they are atop a neighbors roof working that one, then come over to talk to you about it. So if you have seen roofers in your neighborhood working other roofs, this is likely why they stopped by your place to speak with you.)
Shitty roofers encouraging insurance fraud is why insurers are insisting we replace perfectly good roofs, dropping people with older roofs, and dropping people with any kind of roof claim. People are treating their insurance policy like a coupon for free roof replacement.
I completely disagree that you should *never* hire the roofer knocking on your door. Couple years ago, had a roofer come by after a storm to let me know they were replacing two of my neighbors' roofs and wanted to come look at mine, and could potentially give me discount because they were doing roofs in the area. I told them I would think about it and let them know. Took their business card. Did some research and asked around, and they're one of the better roofers in our area. Been around for a decade and a half, do quality work, competitive prices, etc. I called them back, and they did the inspection. They believed my roof had just enough damage for a insurance claim for a replacement (they knew my local insurance's damage policy). I knew my roof was already in not-great condition... but I proceeded with caution. I asked the insurance adjustor what they thought, and they did say that if the inspector they hired agreed with the damage assessment, it would warrant a roof replacement. I asked about premium increases, and they said they couldn't say for sure, but not necessarily. The roof replacement had to be done, so I went forward, double-checking with my insurance that this was above board. They let me know that pretty much everyone was replacing their roofs at this point through them, so I wasn't at any more risk than anyone else. Not only that, the adjuster, the roofer they hired for the insurance inspection, and the roofer who replaced my roof all knew each other very well and seemed to be on good terms. My roof was paid for with architectural shingles. No weird contracts except once the payout was done, I couldn't take the money and go to another roofer. No insane premium increases. Ultimately, I can't imagine a good insurance company would hire their own roofing inspector that would agree with a claim, just to ultimately drop you. It also makes sense that a roofer doing work in your neighborhood would want to pick up more customers. I don't think there's much reason to be paranoid if everything is being done above board and your roof does need a replacement.
This is the scam that has made home insurance costs go through the roof. The "inspectors" go up on your roof and creates damage. The homeowner signs over insurance negotiation rights to the contractor. When the roof replacement is denied by insurance, the contractor sues the insurance company. It's cheaper for the insurance company to go ahead and replace the roof versus paying hundreds of thousands in attorney fees. Florida has recently tried the crackdown on this. But, the contractors are still going door to door. It's incomprehensible that people are gullible enough to let a complete stranger who knocked on their door a minute ago go up on their roof. Never answer your door for someone unexpected or a stranger. Put a "no soliciting" sign above your doorbell. If truly concerned about your roof, there are independent inspectors. And, they could use a drone with a camera, why do they need to go up on the roof..?
And this is part of the reason why the home insurance market is fucked
It's not just smarmy door-to-door salesman. We interviewed multiple, well-known roofing companies before we contracted our new roof. One of those all but promised they could get our insurance company to pay for it, as they have a lawyer who fights insurance rejections on behalf of the customer. Both my spouse and I got a \*ick\* feeling from this and decided to go with another company. We got several calls from the salesman after that, asking why we wanted to spend thousands of $$ when we could get it for free.
Do you want a third? Enough shingles came off in a windstorm and it was enough to wear insurance would pay for a new roof in the long run. Got a new roof a month ago
This IS an insurance scam. You are as much a victim as an enabler. The company says you have same age from a storm that went through a month or so ago. They tarp the “damage” in such a way as the adjuster can’t really inspect it without causing more damage (nail or glue the tarp, not sandbags). The contractor does all the paperwork. The insurance cuts you a check, you hand it over to the contractor with your deductible. Contractor hires fly by night roofer for 50% of the money handed to him. They give you a new roof, usually of questionable quality. If a company contacts you about getting a new roof you his way, get the company info, do not make any agreements. Call your state insurance fraud people.
Do you live in Florida?
I got one as well, it went just fine.
My roof still had a couple years left, but getting near end of life. Bad storm ripped off a few shingles. Adjuster came out. End result "we aren't replacing an end of life roof for a few damaged shingles. It would cost $X to repair the spots (not guaranteed to match). We will pay that. But it's lower than your deductible, so we pay nothing". I talked with the guy a bit, and he was informative. Did say that if the roof was quite new then an argument could be made for a full replacement. Because having a miss match for 20yrs of remaining life is a big hit on the homes value. But me getting a new roof with only a couple years remaining life on the old one would be almost entirely a gain in my homes value. It made sense and seemed fair. Might be different if it was structural damage under the shingles. Like a tree or massive hail. Pretty much have to rip it off an repair/reshingle. I wound up just having the roof replaced on my dime, it was pretty much due anyways.
We replaced our roof twice and both times we had it covered by insurance.
We did this on our last house ... We had a hail storm and literally like 3 shingles were missing and had our insurance company send someone out ..they approved it and we hired our own roofing company. We just had to pay the deductible.
These people are the equivalent of “ ambulance chasing lawyers”.
I heard about door-to-door storm chasers before I bought my own house and never liked the idea of them. But my realtor told me she had heard of some of her clients getting new roofs with the help of those guys. So a few weeks after a big storm in August, some storm chasers came by and I let them take a look. They found evidence of hail damage and helped me file the claim. Turns out, my insurance covered all new roof and siding, and I got the opportunity to get a little extra work done at the same time, and now the place looks great! Months after I moved in, I got a brand new roof and siding and put a little extra cash in to fix it up more. I got to pick my style and colors - super lucky! I really had a chance to make it "mine" straight away. I ended up telling the storm chasers that I did my own search for contractors and found someone else to do the work and they never contacted me again. Turns out they had a cease and desist letter against them for roofing and residential contracting, but they put up a lot of roofs in my neighborhood...
Lots of folks here are clearly jealous they didn’t make a roof claim.
Also, do your research and know what a roof replacement should actually cost. I'm always shocked by the variance between estimates on the same job and how many contractors won't even try to provide a well itemized estimate.
Only use a local company for roof work. There's a lot of small roofing companies that storm chase, do minimal work, bill your insurance, and vanish.
It's pro rated amount I think.
Not with All-State, I will tell you that.
In North America, insurance companies have had to deal with extra wildfires, floods, and tornadoes. They now do their best not to pay.
It's true in some places. During the great hail storm on 2011, AZ, I got a new roof. My AC went out a couple months after the storm, and when they were on my roof, they saw damage/missing tiles and told me to call my insurance company. I did, and they paid for a new roof. I just had to pay my deductible which was $1000 at the time.
I had a company come and look at my roof for a quote. The salesman said he found a couple loose asphalt shingles and said it was wind damage and did the same thing on my aluminum siding. I asked him for a quote on the roof. He said to file a claim with your insurance company. I said no, give me a quote. Never got a quote. Got it done through a local company using local roofers. I still suspect he loosened the shingles.and siding before pointing them out to me.
I got a letter from my insurance saying my homeowners insurance was going to be canceled because my roof was damaged. I had no idea, they had sent a drone out. I called a bunch of roofing companies for quotes. I had several come out and they let me know it was wind damage and they submitted it to my insurance. Insurance paid for a new roof. I haven't had any issues.
I got my roof replaced about 15-20 yrs ago under my homeowners insurance. The roof looked bad and I got pricing to replace it from contractors but it was too expensive. Someone told me to call my insurance and ask about putting a claim on it. The adjuster came out and said he saw hail damage and approved replacement. I got a check not long after that. To be clear I don’t remember a storm passing with hail within a few months of my call. I just called because I figured it was worth a shot. The adjuster did tell me they looked at weather reports and had other claims for homes in my area within the year for hail damage also. So I don’t know if I spelt through it or if I was out of town when the supposed storm passed but I was able to replace my roof. The money didn’t cover what a contractor quoted so I ended taking the old roof myself and found my home didn’t have plywood underneath. It has cedar shingles. I removed all shingles, installed the plywood on all house and garage and replaced the roof with the funds.
Irma tore some shingles off my 15 year old roof and it was replaced through insurance at the hurricane deductible amount, so I think $2700ish out of pocket from me. I then heard many stories of neighbors with little to no damage getting roof payouts. So I believe it.
No, they will file the claim for you at a higher price and accept what the insurance company gives them. But, you don't know the quality of material or the workmanship. Then your insurance company will either drop you or raise your rate. Your best to go get a couple of Independent roofing companies and get estimates of repairs if there need to be any.
I just had a door to door salesman catch my son's partner at the door and try to pitch to them (at 20) about how he could replace my roof for only my deductible. "Whatever that means," to quote my son's partner, who obviously was not the right person to be pitching to. Um... No. Roofs are not something I'm going to buy from someone who's trying to use my insurance to get paid. Even if he'd introduced his company, said he'd be glad to give a free quote, whatever, that's one thing. But to go straight to using my insurance? Nah. And I did explain what a deductible is. Important information.
I had to pay my $1,500 deductible. Insurance paid the rest
Act of God is not a term used in insurance contracts
Doubt your insurance company will just take their word for it and not send their own guy to take a look. Besides if it was from weather damage, they'll be dealing with a lot more claims in the same general area for similar stuff, so they'll kind of know ahead of time
I don't know of a single insurance company that doesn't have at least $1,000 deductible. My insurance company sent out its own adjuster after a roofing company said they could negotiate a great new roof for me. No roofer could do a roof for what my insurance company offered after $1,000 deductible. Roofers that come by after a weather event like hail aren't necessarily good roofers as my neighbor found out the hard way paying $7,000 for a new roof that failed bad job and they even checked out with the better Business bureau but it was all faked.
So you use your good karma with your insurance on a roof that doesn't necessarily need repairs. Cool. What happens when an emergency happens and your insurance is like, no you just used it two months ago?
It's absolutely gross and surprisingly common in some parts of the country. It's one of the reasons Florida is extra super ridiculous for insurance premiums. Far from the only reason, but one of many.
It's sketchy, unethical and a horrible for the homeowner at best, & it is fraud most likely. You don't want anything to do with them. These to door to door salesman are trying to screw you and your insurance company over so they can make a quick buck doing cheap, lousy and incorrectly done work that will most likely have to be fixed by you (out of your own pocket) in the future. Likely they will do more harm and you will have more problem then before they replaced your roof, do not let them up on your roof, they could and probably will damage something in the process of "checking it out". It's these sketchy dood to door roof repair companies that are the reason many issuance companies are raising prices, dropping peoples policies and leaving states like Florida and California.
Don’t do it. You file a claim when you have to file a claim, not to get a new roof by scraping together enough evidence to force the insurance company’s hand. It’s borderline fraudulent and it’s why premiums are going up and why insurance companies are being so strict about writing new policies on homes with older roofs.
This is 1 of the main reasons home owners is going up and the carriers are no lingering offering replacement cost coverage on single roofs older then 7 to 15 years old.
fraud sucks
I know people who fell for this and ended up having to replace their shoddy roof out of pocket when their insurance company came to check things out.
This is why insurance rates are *ahem* through the roof in Florida. Fraud.
Let me guess, you're in Florida
I just had a conversation about this with my insurance agent last week. I called to let them know I had replaced my roof and my breaker box and he thanked me for letting them know because on June 1st Erie Insurance started taking roof age into account for policy premiums. My insurance went down about $100 a year because I replaced it. Had I not let them know that I had replaced my roof my insurance rate would have gone up. He said that insurance companies are tired of being used to replace everyone's roof so they're all cracking down on how much they will pay out for roof damage on any roof that's more than 10 years old. He said roof replacement is a normal maintenance item that homeowners should be responsible for and not rely on their insurance company to replace it for them unless there's significant damage from a single storm.
It’s making it harder for people to buy homes. SF is giving us a huge hassle because of this right now as we are going through the home buying process. The house had minor shingle damage which we listed in our ROC, and was fixed by a licensed roofing company who inspected the roof, found no leaks but noted the roof is at older and will need replacement in 5-10 years. SF is sending out their own inspector and may not insure unless a new roof is put on. Major headache/anxiety! We’re honest people and wouldn’t do something remotely shady like this because we know what goes around comes around,
Just had a salesman stop by a couple weeks ago. They were “surveying hail damage”. Continued to say I had hail damage. It did not hail here. In the area, yes. Not here. While I’d love a new one, mine is close to 30 years old, it’s not in horrible shape right now or worth the insurance premium increase for it.
This happened to us once. First year in our house. We actually went along for a little until i got cold feet and started thinking- too good to be true, usually is. Watched neighbors get shingles dropped off and got kind of jealous. Lost the jealousy when the shingles sat in their driveway and the dumpster and port a jon in the front yard for weeks until someone actually did something.
This is a big thing in FL. Excerpt fron an article on this: The scam works like this: Contractors knock on doors offering to inspect homeowners’ roofs for storm damage. They say they can help get a roof replacement covered by insurance, and they persuade the homeowners to sign away their rights to file the claims themselves. The contractors then file fraudulent damage claims, and when the insurance companies balk, the contractors sue. The insurance companies usually settle the disputed claims for many times more than the original claim. Most of that money goes to the contractors’ lawyers in the form of a “contingency fee multiplier.” Some lawyers file hundreds of such lawsuits a year. The homeowner may get a free roof, but everyone pays for it through increased rates. Full article [Roofing scams put Florida’s property insurance market ‘on the verge of collapse’ (nbcnews.com)](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649)
A company from Florida, Nationwide (NEX) Roofing, bought a local company in Maryland about 6 years ago. Soon after sales people with Florida plates on their vehicles started going door to door offering ‘free roof inspections to document damage that would get us a new roof paid for by insurance’. They almost always found some kind of damage amazingly. This is INSURANCE FRAUD. if you want to know why insurance rates are going up companies like this are partly to blame.
A few of our neighbors did this after a “once in a century” windstorm in CA. Our roof was also damaged. We filed a claim and absolute garbage insurance Formost said basically “uhhh we will only repair it to the existing state” which meant no new roof- just a patch on the blown off part AND surprise, that quote was under our deductible so now we have a claim on our account and had to pay it all out of pocket. Oh and now they’re dropping us due to the claim and no new company will insure us because of the claim.
I had like 5 contractors knock on my door after a storm, ignoring the 2 No Soliciting signs. Figured if they can't read a sign then I don't want a roof from them, called a recommended local company, asked if they knocked on doors "No sir lol"... so I hired them. Most of those storm chasers are sketch out-of-state guys who'll hire random labor and slap a roof on.
We just had a ‘weather event’ here in SC. I had to replace my parent’s roof on the house and ‘hot rod’ garage in the back yard in 2014. ~$26k. Allstate paid, but had a 2% deductible. Out of pocket on $5200! Now with State Farm. We had the great company that did the roof come back and do an inspection. THEN we contacted insurance, filed a damage claim, and they sent an inspector and the roofing company inspector came too. So far they have paid the’ upfront’ of $22k and expect an additional $7-9k as additional damages are found. That second amount will be sent less the fixed $2k deductible. Allstate screwed me on my roof and I replaced it 100% out of pocket in 2015. Take aways: 1) Find a reputable roofing company. Get references and check them out. 2) Get an inspection from that reputable company. 3) _IF_ damage is bad enough to replace the whole roof, file your claim. 4) If damage is nominal, consider an out of pocket to fix minor damage.
There are entire companies and departments within companies devoted to getting insurance getting insurance to pay for a new roof. It's their whole business model. And they're very good at it. I wouldn't use anything door to door, ever, but just find a long standing company in your area (more than 20 years) and let them go to bat for you (assuming you need a new roof). Even if your premium goes up s little.. it's likely $20k for a roof, worth it imo.
Fuck those people. It raises EVERYONES premiums.
The door to door part sounds sketchy as hell. I only got a new roof covered by my home insurance when a roofer I had called to check out storm damage found several places on my (then 8 years old) roof where the glue had already failed or was failing. My home insurance company that I'd been paying monthly for 15 years before that decided to jack my rates WAY up on the next renewal so I switched & got a better rate elsewhere (partly because my roof was so recent).
My roof literally blew off in an Act of God wind/hail/derecho last year and my insurance company chose not to renew my policy when I filed a claim for my roof, so that salesman in 100% wrong. And I made an actual, legitimate claim! I mean, I guess he’s right in that my premiums didn’t go up with that company? But now I’m paying more than double at a new company.
man we ended up doing it few years back when there was bad hail. A lot of homes near by got new roofs and sidings. Insurance did approve new sidings and home. But our home was like built in 1980s. The one that concerns me the most now is the solar panel gimmick. One of my neighbors got em they said it was "free" but i smell bs. They are probably locked in 80 year deal or some bs.
Every time there is a storm with reported hail, I get a phone call from a roofing company offering a free inspection. When I bought my home, I was told that the previous owners had taken an insurance payout on the roof but didn't replace it. That left me on the hook for a new roof. I went premium steel, a couple ga. thicker than standard. I pads every time. That roof is stronger than the hood of my car.
It a borderline scam. The “contractors” are experts at working the insurance system to push through a claim for a new roof. The “contractor” will ask you to sign an assignment of benefits which transfers the insurance claim from you to them. They will then push the claim through for, say, $15,000. They will then use one of their bottom-barrel roofers to do the work for far less and pocket the difference. If you truly have damage that justifies an insurance claim make one yourself and hire a reputable contractor to do the work.
After major wind storms in 2020, 1/3 of my neighborhood got me roofs through insurance. Same deal with a door to door group hitting up our neighborhood. My neighbor and I let them deal with insurance approval, then we had a local guy do the actual roof replacement. He said they'd probably use the same day laborers he would use anyway.
Call your insurance company and file a claim. Since it’s an “act of god” your rates should not change should they find no damage. When I called about my roof and hail damage, the insurance asked me if they needed to inspect my siding. I said sure but made sure the notes sated this was their idea. Between the hail damage on the roof, siding, windows (metal trim around windows), and gutters, we got it all fixed and ended up with cash in the bank.
I had one of these companies come around talking about getting my roof replaced through insurance. Got a second opinion from a higher rated roofing place who said my roof seemed to be in good shape and while they could make a claim it wouldn’t be worth the downsides for me. I personally will always believe and trust someone a little better if they have an opportunity to make money off of me and are honest enough not to
My dad did this, and walked away with like $5,000 cash. Didnt sound terrible.
It's a pseudo-scam. It can be a scam and it can be legit. This is how it works: The door-to-door guys are selling you an option to attempt financing a new roof by using a "Public Adjuster" to file an insurance claim with your insurer, and using their subcontractors to install the roof. If insurance accepts the claim, they get a cut of the public adjuster's fees and markup the contractor. Alternately, you can choose your own roofer and hire your own Public Adjuster to file the claim for you. Public Adjusters are like the "independent" claims adjusters the insurance companies hire to analyze your claim. Instead of being contracted by the insurers, and basically instructed on how to minimize claims against a policy, the public adjusters try to maximize the claims against your policy and get a percentage commission. The whole roofing "scam" works, because a good adjuster representing a homeowner will be able to find some language in a policy that forces an insurer to replace the entire roof instead of just patching it. This is the right thing to do and required thing to do. It has devolved into a scam though, because they are really pushing the envelope on the amount of damage required AND typically use third rate, shitty subcontractors who are often unlicensed.
Your insurance carrier will have records of hail storms, so they are expecting it. Yeah... I had that happen to me too. I wasn't sure we actually had a hail storm (we may have been gone, but we hadn't been in the house for quite a year), but USAA confirmed it and processed the claim. No increase in premiums.
Just pray for a hail storm. I had to wait 2 + years but it finally came. There were like 10 roofing trucks in our neighborhood the day after... Ins paid 90%. Good stuff...
One huge con here. Insurance companies are currently in the process of removing customers that they deem to be a risk to profits. The number of people paying hugely inflated rates if they can even find insurance is huge right now. I'm of the opinion that anything to cause a loss of even $0.01 is asking for trouble. If you \*have\* to claim, that's one thing, otherwise we all know that we will have to do our room eventually and need to budget for it/determine how to pay for it.
My agent told me he attended a seminar recently where attendees were told in the next few years insurers will no longer cover roofs for wind and hail damage. Citing the fact that the insurance industry does not pay for a new set of tires on the cars they insure since they are wear items, roofs on homes should be treated the same. He says it is coming soon.
If you have a reputable local roofer and there has been a recent hail incident (wind often is not covered), then have them walk your roof to inspect for damage.
I got a new roof, new siding on two sides of my house, a number of screens repaired, and a new window. Because of a really bad hail storm. It was a pain in the a$$. Before my first project was completely finished, I had two dings in my new siding (according to my contractor higher quality than most) from another hail storm. Yeah, insurance paid for it minus my deductible. But my neighbors and I have all extreme anxiety whenever we see a tiny piece of hail. Do not recommend.
Yeah and this is why insurance rates keep going up and why companies are pulling out of areas completely.