Comments for Roof Damage Help .com

Comment on How long do you have to claim roof repairs with your homeowners insurance? by Ginger

Ginger — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:03:59 +0000

Be very careful about making too many claims in a short period of time. Example: 3 claims in 3 or 4 years could cause you to lose your policy regardless if a payout is made. Is this a large amount of damage cause by the tree limbs? Are you just trying to replace a worn out roof using insurance money or do you really have damage? What is your deductible?

I am sure to tell my clients that insurance is not a maintenance policy. It is there to prevent you from having a large financial loss. If there isn’t a lot of damage or it won’t break the bank to repair it yourself, consider repairing it without involving the insurance carrier.

Most make a claim within two years of their loss without a problem. There is no reason to involve a lawyer in a claim like this.
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Owner of an insurance agency and husband is an adjuster. Together, we have 42 years experience.

Comment on How long do you have to claim roof repairs with your homeowners insurance? by mbrcatz

mbrcatz — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:58:59 +0000

Well, there’s not a strict statute of limitations on filing a claim - however - you DO have a duty to mitigate your loss.

So. If you had the roof inspected a couple years ago and there was no loss, great. Now you’ve got a tree limb on it - you have GOT to get the tree off the roof, AND patch the hole so the interior of your house doesn’t get damaged.

No hole? Still, take the tree limb off your roof, but you’ll have to wait until the snow melts to find out if you’ve got damage. Likely, you don’t.
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Comment on How long do you have to claim roof repairs with your homeowners insurance? by John

John — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:33:59 +0000

Do you have roof damage from these limbs?

If they just scarred the shingles there’s no claim. This is what may have been the case the last time you had it inspected and if there does happen to be damage your company may require that the funds be spent with the contractor where they send out an inspector to make sure the damage was repaired before they will release all or part of the money. They’re doing a lot of that today.

One of the requirements of your policy is that you do everything you can to protect your home in the event of damage, then notify the insurance company at the earliest possible opportunity then they give you a time limit for reporting a claim. This time limit will be listed in your policy.
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Property and Casualty Claims Adjuster

Comment on How can I remove and replace the roof skin, sheet metal on my ‘79 D-100 pickup? by bmwrider001

bmwrider001 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:22:59 +0000

personally I would look for another vehicle to work on, rather than on an old Dodge pickup you should ponder this question: will the end result be worth the time and money you just invested into it?
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Comment on Who is supposed to pay for a new roof when the inspector missed the damage that previous owner collected on? by glenn

glenn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:46:59 +0000

In Texas our disclosure laws are part of the consumer protection laws. So your situation would be as if a food canning company found out after they sold the product that a poison had seeped in. Of course they would need to recall the product and try and save lives.

Our sellers have to disclose everything they know about no matter what. I would double and triple check the data you have been told and see if it really is true- it does not sound right.

Also if they received money from the insurance company and did not do the repair and did not inform you of the problem that is probably not fraud but it may be something close to insurance fraud.

I doubt the inspector is your best bet of getting coverage. It is possible that immediately after the hail storm the damage was not easily apparent until a little more weather shook the loose gravel off the shingles.
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Comment on Who is supposed to pay for a new roof when the inspector missed the damage that previous owner collected on? by William

William — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:25:59 +0000

I doubt that suing the inspector will get you anywhere. An inspection is only visual. Unless you can prove that the inspector did not apply normal due diligence, it’ll go nowhere - an inspection report is not a guarantee or warranty; it’s a professional opinion.

While the previous owner may have committed insurance fraud against HER insurer, you cannot sue for that as you are not a party to that issue. The only possible grounds I can see might be her failure to disclose known damage.

Since you’re suing, I assume you have a lawyer. Why aren’t you asking that party for legal advice?
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Comment on Who is supposed to pay for a new roof when the inspector missed the damage that previous owner collected on? by golferwhoworks

golferwhoworks — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:47:59 +0000

wow, I think you can sue her for the new roof and damages to the interior as well since she knew it and did not disclose until after the signing. I would think that she had an inspection prior to and was told at least verbally there was a problem. Find that roofer or inspector if you can
Also if they had a mortgage on the house then the check would have been made out to the lender as well as the owner jointly. So in order to have the funds released she would have had to show proof of a signed contract to her lender so repairs could be done asap.
I had to delay a closing for just this reason a few months back
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Comment on Who is supposed to pay for a new roof when the inspector missed the damage that previous owner collected on? by Realtoratheart

Realtoratheart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:58:59 +0000

It’s unfortunate that some folks feel the need to be greedy. In my book of morals, that was insurance fraud! Your options are to continue the suit filed against the inspector, but I would also include that previous homeowner in that suit. To me this was a "material fact" before you actually closed on the property, that the homeowner should have told you about. They clearly knew there was damage. I wouldn’t doubt a judge would see it that way as well and make them pay you for the repair. In the meantime I’m sure your insurance company is not willing to make repairs because of the previous claim. Keep tabs on what things costs you with this damage, including damage to inside the house.
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Comment on Who is supposed to pay for a new roof when the inspector missed the damage that previous owner collected on? by knowitall

knowitall — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:51:59 +0000

In my state the inspector cannot be held responsible for anything they missed. Your best bet is to put pressure on the seller and prove they were aware of this.
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Comment on How to learn to be a roofing contractor dealing with insurance? by Jolly Green Giant

Jolly Green Giant — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:19:59 +0000

Insurance companies will use only a pre-approved pool of contractors. They either send out their own loss adjusters, who will then go out and determine what should be done. Then they give the jobs to the people on their books. You would typically need £10m liability insurance and have to adhere to codes of conduct and do everything by the book. Roofing would often mean that the people living there may have to be accommodated in a hotel, so they would wnat speed and quality and not a one man band that can not complete the work if he gets ill or something.

Secondly they may use a private loss adjuster. This guy will typically know all about the insurance companies and how they work. The clients will sometimes be told by the insurance co to get three quotes from an approved contractor. They find this guy in the Yellow pages. He goes out and then does all the paperwork and gets anybody they want to do the work. They take the risk though. I used to do lots of work for this type of guy, but they always get a lot more than the contractor, but then again they take the risk.

Despite running 40 employees and excellent credentials, we could never get into the big insurers.

Competition is very tough as well now given the current climate. Insurance clients are informed that the roof costs say £20 000 to fix, you know you are only getting £6 000 and the clients often want you to do little extras and shaft the insurance. They are also of the opinion that a claim is a chance to get even with the insurance.

I stopped this kind of work, because the loss adjuster always made the money.
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