Roof Damage Help .com

we cant get a home improvement loan on our house until we fix our roof wich was damaged due to past hurricanes. the place realy needs fixing the mortgage keeps going up and the place is just not worth it any more how do we get out of here?

This is a tough situation.

You may consider seeking some funds from local business who are willing to help in your unfortunate circumstance.

Try getting some local media to cover the situation and you might be surprised and who come forward to help you out.

Do I need pictures? I do know I need a police report and an estimate for the repair. By the way a tree fell on my roof during a wind storm.

Call your insurance company asap. If the tree caused major damage, you need to take measures to secure the area. Your insurance company can provide you with third party contractors that can help you with the temporary repairs. These repairs are covered under your policy. The insurance company will send out an adjuster, and often times they will write you a check right then and there. Acceptance of the check does not mean they will not reimburse you for additional expenses should your contractor find additional damages. A portion of the tree removal is covered. There is no reason you have to call the police.

Will weather related insurance claims raise my premiums. I have an outstanding claim for hail related damage.

Any claim regardless of the reason could/will raise your insurance premium. Sorry to tell you that. My agent told me years ago that a claim is a claim no matter if it's for $5 or $5,000,000 and that all claims count against you. Just remember their objective is to make money and if they have to pay out, you will be penalized.

Last weekend (the weekend of the 25-27th) there was wind that damaged the roof. We called the insurance company on that Tuesday morning. At that time they said that they'd be there by the end of the week. Then Sunday..they never came and then today they said they would not be there until Thursday..thats about 10 days after the claim was filed. It's not like this is minor damage either. We had to put a few tarps on the roof to prevent further leakage.

Is this normal?

I would say it is not normal (unless there have been a large number of claims due to the same event). Time of claim is when you find out if your insurance company is good or not. If you have an agent or broker you should contact them to see if they can advocate on your behalf.

If your roof is very old and in need of repair due to age the claim may not be fully covered. If it was not in need of repair you should be fine … if the adjuster ever shows up.

You are doing the right thing by putting tarps up to prevent further damage.

Good luck!

I had hail damage on my roof about 7 years ago…it only had minor damage…so we didn't replace but did receive some restitution from my insurance carrier to replace the roof. My question is this…if we had another hail storm and it damaged the roof again where it has to be replaced this time….because the damage is more sufficient….is there a time frame on when an insurance will consider a new claim on the same roof? Thanks….I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Basically, if they paid you to replace your roof the last time but you chose not to replace it and pocket the money, they won't pay to replace it again if the old damage is still there. If your company's adjuster gets on your roof to write an estimate for a new storm and finds previous hail damage, he or she will check your claims history, see you had an old hail claim they paid you for, check to see what was paid for in the last estimate, and deny payment for anything that you had already been reimbursed for. There is no "time frame".

It would be the same deal if you backed into a pole with your car. If your insurance company paid you to replace the bumper and you pocketed the money, the next time you backed into a pole, you wouldn't receive any money for your bumper.

The purpose of insurance is to "indemify" you, or bring you back to pre-loss condition. The only way they have to indemnify you is to compensate you monetarily for the damages. If you have a roof that already needs replacing and your company came in and paid for it again, you would, in essence, be profiting from your insurance and that's not what it's designed for.

The skylight in my rental home leaked rain on top of my desk and destroyed my computer. We've had other leaks in the past, but my landlord claims that she was never notified. (We only told her by phone.) Is the landlord responsible for the damage from the leaky roof?

The roof ha since been repaired, but I've been witholding payment to cover the computer repair fees until this situation is resolved. Can I legally do this?

It depends on state law, but usually you cannot legally withhold rent without a 30-day repair and deduct notice from you to the landlady.

Yes, she is responsible for the repairs. Unfortunately, without written notice, it may turn into a he said/she said situation.

my car was badly damaged whilst parked in my council owned garage by the bad winds in January,the garage collapsed,the councils insurers are saying they wont pay out because it was an act of god,I have been told that if the council can claim on their building insurance i certainly have a claim against the same insurers,is this correct.

Sounds like the council's insurers are trying it on. I'd have a quick word with a solicitor, most of them will give the first interview free.

They are making the checks out to me. Is there a time frame that the cars need to be fixed by? OR
Can I keep the money and not fix the cars and pays bills with it?
If I just keep the money; can I get in big trouble for that?

The money is yours to do whatever you wish. Your insurer has met their obligation by indemnifying you for the loss. Keep in mind that you will take a bath on trade-in or sale value when you decide to buy another car if you don't repair them and if you happen to have another loss the prior damage will be deducted from the repair costs.
Note: by August a large number of the smaller depressions on you car will be gone. It's not magic, just the natural tendency of the formed metal working it's way back to it's original shape in the hot sun/cold rain showers.

I have home insurance and during the high winds some tiles blew off my roof. Thing is they fell on two cars parked in my drive, neither of them mine. The insurance company say they will pay for the roof but not the cars and my friends have to claim on their car insurance. Now they want me to pay the excess charges - £250 and are VERY annoyed that they will loose their no claims. They are talking about taking me to court ……………… Why doesn'r my hose insurance cover this - does anyone know ………………HELP

Unless the laws where you live are different from where I live, you aren't legally obligated to pay for the damage to their cars unless you were somehow negligent the the maintenance of your roof. Did you have and did you know that you had loose tile on your roof? If you did, then you were negligent. If it was an otherwise intact roof and the damage was caused solely from the high winds, then you were not negligent.

The excess charge isn't your responsibility either. If, for the sake of your friendship, you want to pay it, that would be your choice. Otherwise, they need to write it off as a choice that they made to 1) have a deductible 2) park in your drive and 3) not move their cars when high winds come up.

HOSE insurance, BTW, only covers accidents that occur when a pressurized hose gets loose and causes damage to people or property due to its whipping around. LOL Only kidding!

totaled the roof and wrote me a check for $29,000. I can get the roof replaced for much lower than that. Will they ask for the difference back? The adjuster said nothing about having to turn in a receipt upon completion.

You can keep the difference for yourself. However, I would caution you on getting the best roofing company possible. I have had many clients had very poor experience with roofing companies. It is an industry that is currently fraught with contractors who are going out of business (which would be bad for you after they did a job because their warranty would be worthless!), some are con artists, others are just in such dire economic straits that they will quote you a low price to get the job and then can't finish it because they run out of money and/or the job could never be completed for that amount.

You need to make sure that the Roofing Contractor is Licensed, Bonded & Insured. Depending on the jurisdiction many contractors will list themselves as licensed, bonded and insured. Essentially the license means that he has complied with the requirements of the jurisdiction and has therefore been issued a license. Some jurisdictions require that they be tested in the particular expertise that is declared by the contractor, i.e. a carpenter in carpentry, a drywall installer in drywall, etc. In some jurisdictions the test also includes legal requirements for what makes a valid contract, etc. You should ask for a copy of the license, but I would also take it one step further and verify that he is still actively licensed with the state or jurisdiction where the work will be done.

I have seen cases where the contractor will fake everything from the license to the proof of insurance (i.e. an insurance certificate). Faking documents is easily accomplished nowadays via computers, scanners, color copiers, etc. Therefore call the state verify the license and call the insurance agent or company to verify the proof of insurance.

Some jurisdictions will require that contractors obtain a surety/license bond in order to obtain the contractors license. The bond is essentially a financial guarantee given to the state to cover if the contractor takes someone's deposit and then fails to complete the work, the state can then ask the bonding company to pay on the bond thereby reimbursing the homeowner for the deposit. Not all jurisdictions require a bond. However, if the job is large enough and/or if bank financing is involved you or the bank can require a performance bond which would essentially do the same thing, i.e. provide a financial guarantee to make sure that the work is completed.

I suggest that you obtain a Certificate of Insurance naming you as Additional Insured. Make sure that the Contractor is covered for Commercial General Liability (including Products and Completed Operations) and for Workers Compensation Insurance (if they will be bringing in workers–this is very important with roofers because of the high risk of falls!) and Commercial Automobile Insurance if they will be driving their trucks or vans onto the job site or picking up materials on your behalf. The Commercial General Liability Policy will provide coverage if during the course of work they cause damage to your home, i.e. while applying stain to your new kitchen cabinets they start a fire that spreads to your entire house resulting in a total loss.

You should also check the contractor's references to make sure that his work is top notch–a license does not guarantee quality work! And go one more step and check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure he has had no complaints filed against him. Also make sure he has been in business a few years–that way you can make sure it is not a fly by night operation that is here today and gone tomorrow (very important to back up the guarantee!) If the project is over $15,000, I would also do no more than a 25 or 30% down payment & the balance in 2 payments (one midway and the other upon satisfactory completion). Also the contract that you sign with them has to be very specific in all details (i.e. a detailed scope of work) listing that they will tear off and haul away the old roof, check the subroof, replace roof with …. roofing materials, install flashing, replace gutters, etc.

Make sure that the entire project is done to your satisfaction before you hand over the final payment and/or before you sign any release. If they subcontract any portion make sure that you get a release of all liens from them–this protects you in case they fail to pay a subcontractor and the subcontractor subsequently tries to file a mechanic's lien against the property.

I hope this helps. Good Luck!