Insurance Claims
Insurance Claims for Property Damage
Your homeowner’s insurance policy covers Roof Insurance Claims and treats destruction from hail, wind, rain, and snowstorms as a loss. In most cases, your insurance company will pay to replace your damaged roof minus the deductible. Because weather damage is categorized as a natural disaster, an insurance claim does not count against you and will not typically raise your insurance premium.
Limitless Roofing + Construction knows all about dealing with weather-damaged roofing. We can repair or replace your home’s roof and anything else that was destroyed like gutters. If you need us, we will meet with your insurance company to explain your situation. We will help make sure that your claim does not get denied or that you do not accept a settlement that will not cover the expense of restoring your home to the condition it was in before the storm damage occurred. We do not ask you to pay anything upfront except the deductible. The rest we collect from your insurance company.
Questions & Answers
Suffering through your home’s destruction is disconcerting. It leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions. To bring it all into focus, here are a few questions that people frequently ask a Houston roof company.
Q. My roof is not leaking, but I think I have hail damage. How can I tell for sure?
A. Most of the hail that hit your home during the storm was probably too small to cause any real problems. However, there may have been some irregular hailstones that were heavy enough to harm your roof. It could take months before it begins to leak. A state-licensed Houston residential roofer should be called to examine your roof and advise whether you should file an insurance claim.
Q. Why did my insurance company withhold depreciation on my roof?
A. Your Roof Insurance Claims policy covers the full replacement value of your roof. The company will probably give you the payment in a few installments. The first check you will receive is for the actual value of the roof (AV). That is the amount your roof is worth today based on its remaining useful life expectancy. The depreciation is part of the replacement value (RV), which will be paid to you after the roof is replaced or repaired to satisfy the insurance adjuster’s summary report.
Q. Why did my neighbor receive full-replacement value for his roof, but I only got half as much?
A. your neighbor’s roof was likely damaged more seriously than your roof was.
Q. Can I file an insurance claim for fire or animal damage?
A. Yes, you can, and we can help you fill out the claim.
Weather-Related Insurance Claims for your Roof
Hail can destroy a home or business quickly. It usually accompanies a tornado or other high-wind event. Most hail is about the size of a pea, but when the updraft from the storm is strong, the hailstones may be dropped and lifted by the storm many times. This recoating can result in hailstones as big as a golf ball or even a baseball. Some of those hailstones can weigh up to 6 pounds. People can be killed or sustain severe injuries if they get hit by hailstones this large.
Giant hailstones can ruin your vehicle and batter your roof and windows. No roof covering is immune to a hailstorm. Some materials, like steel or copper, can take a real beating. After a hailstorm, a roofing company should be called in to assess the damage and make recommendations for repairing or replacing your roof.
An asphalt roof can be damaged by hailstones. Here are three telltale signs that your asphalt roof was damaged by hail.
- Circular cracks that make the roof vulnerable to leaks
- Missing granules that expose the substrate
- Bruises or dimples in the shingles that soften the asphalt
If you have a slate roof, it is easy to see hail damage. Usually, slates can weather small hailstones, but when the stones are large, they tend to damage the tiles. Three conditions will lead to slate damage and a possible reroof.
- Soft, thin, or deteriorated slates that have become fragile, such as soft black slates
- Extremely large hail
- Slates that were installed in a single layer also called side-lap style
With any combination of very large hailstones and very fragile slate tiles comes the likelihood of serious damage. When slate is damaged by hail, the stone’s force leaves a clean hole on the top and a cratered hole on the bottom of the tile.
Most insurance companies will pay for a roof replacement if your roof suffers hail damage. We work with all the major insurance companies, and we can help you fill out and submit your claim.
Despite the damage that hail can cause to a roof, a roofer can often repair it by replacing the broken slates or shingles. Depending on the size of your roof, it could take one to three days for a couple of roofers who are experienced to repair the damage.
In most cases, hail damage can be repaired, but some unscrupulous residential roofing companies might try to condemn the roof so that they can replace it. Always get a second opinion when you are dealing with a roof that has been through a hailstorm.