Is Hail Damage On Your House?

Inspection:

Anytime there is hail or high winds you should have your roof inspected by an experienced contractor. Hail can damage your roof without any visual signs from the ground. Ordinarily, hail has to be the size of golf balls before it actually breaks through your shingles. However, if it is driven by high winds, or if it hails for more than a minute, you may suffer damage to your roof through bruises that crack and weaken the shingles reducing the life expectancy of your roof. The combination of heat, cold and rain will gradually cause you to lose the granules that keep the sun from wearing out your roof prematurely in those spots.  It is nearly impossible to determine if you have hail damage from the ground. If you do not want to call your insurance company to report a claim, we will inspect your roof for damage free of charge. If we find damage, we will leave you a written assessment and estimate the cost of repairs so that you can notify your insurance company. Your insurance adjuster will count the number of bruises on your roof to determine if they think your roof is totaled. It  is possible for your adjuster to miss the damage to your roof. We will be happy to consult with the adjuster to point out the damage to your roof for you.

The Insurance Company Estimate:

In order to settle any claim, whether it be a roof, fire, flood or automobile damage, your adjusters are trained to estimate the full costs to repair the damage that has been assessed. Don't forget, most discrepancies occur when an adjuster has not assessed the same amount of damage as the contractors, or when the contractor's opinion on the repair process differs from the adjuster's. He will use his guide books, market surveys and past claims as a basis for the estimate. If their estimate is less than the estimates of all the contractors, you can pick the contractor and have him get the necessary funds approved for your repair. Your insurance company will approve and pay the remaining funds, and any depreciation money that has been withheld from your claim, after your repairs have been completed.

Our company handles over 500 insurance claims every year and we will be glad to work with your adjuster. We can repair any work that your adjuster has assessed for a price that agreeable to both them and us.

My Adjuster Said "No Damage"

Your roof may have been the only one on the block that did not receive enough damage to justify replacing the roof. However, it is very easy to miss the damage. Your adjuster and insurance company want you to have a new roof if you need one. All you have to do is call your adjuster or agent requesting a meeting with your contractor, so that we can show them our assessment of damage and work out the price of repair. "We didn't get enough money to cover our repairs!" Your agent and our adjuster are swamped with calls from people every day with the same problem. Most of the time your adjustment is fine, you just need someone to explain the depreciation (hold back) part of the claim to you, or to discover an additional cost that could have been missed. If you have replacement cost insurance, you will receive additional funds from your insurance company, after you provide your agent or claim's office the final invoices for the damaged repairs.