The roof is one of the most important building components of a property, and it’s one most susceptible to severe weather events. Each year, around one in 35 insured homes has a property damage claim related to wind or hail, according to the Insurance Information Institute (2023).
Climate change is likely to accentuate the trend, and in 2023, many regions of the United States experienced severe hail damage during a “particularly active spring season for hail,” according to Matt Kumjian, an associate professor of meteorology and hail expert at Pennsylvania State University (Henson, 2023).
“Given that major population centers in the south and southeast were under the gun, it will be no surprise to see large damage costs come from those regions,” he said.
For homeowners facing damaged roofs stemming from hail damage, it’s not always clear how much they should expect to receive from insurers for repair and replacement. Filing a property insurance claim and successfully recovering financial losses from hail damage can be tough given the many insurance policy coverage issues that arise and the discretionary nature of the insurance adjusting process.
Many insurance adjusters and the insurance companies they work for may have different adjusting standards outlined in their respective claim department manuals. If a hailstorm is severe enough, visible damages should be obvious and undisputed by the field adjuster inspecting the damages, and the coverage of the loss should be confirmed early on in the process.
Unfortunately, Tiger Adjusters gets calls from policyholders who are offered partial repairs of roof and siding rather than proper replacement; this is why it makes good sense to have a public adjuster handle a hail damage claim to ensure proper compensation for hail damage loss.
In response to one woman’s denied claim for hail damage, news channel KVUE asked the Texas Department of Insurance about options for property owners if they run into problems collecting on claims. “Some people hire public insurance adjusters to help them negotiate claims with insurance companies. Public adjusters work for you, not the insurance company,” an organization spokesperson said (Sanchez, 2023).
A common issue that arises is whether a property owner is paid to replace the complete roof or if a patch job will be offered as a partial repair. The next question is whether the insurance adjuster will apply depreciation to the roof and if so, will it be fair and reasonable to the property owner?
There are many cases in which the insurance company will dispute that damages were caused by hail, claiming previous wear and tear. With help from Tiger Adjusters, policyholders have an advocate who will represent their best interests with insightful technical knowledge.
Hail damage to a modified bitumen roof, a build-up roof, sprayed polyurethane foam application, metal roof, cedar shake roof or any number of tile roofs, likely means recoverable damages. Properly fixing the roof after a hail event is important to ensure protection for the next storm.
“Roof age and materials play a huge role in whether a roof will sustain damage during a hailstorm. Understanding this and taking proactive measures to ensure quality materials are used is the best way property owners can seek to mitigate damage,” said Jon Schneyer, the Catastrophe Response Director of CoreLogic (2023).
A professional public adjuster can make sure that property owners are properly indemnified for loss, and that a fair and honest settlement is provided to fix roof damage along with other siding property damage.
Protect your roof from hail damage — contact Tiger Adjusters.
###
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CoreLogic. (2023, December 18). CoreLogic: Hail Impacted More Than 23 million Homes in 2023. Retrieved from https://www.corelogic.com/press-releases/corelogic-hail-impacted-more-than-23-million-homes-in-2023/#:~:text=From%20mid%2DMarch%20through%20November,%2C%20Illinois%2C%20Oklahoma%20and%20Missouri.
Henson, B. (2023, June 29). A hail-battered June adds to billions in U.S. Storm damage this year. Yale Climate Connections. Retrieved from https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/06/a-hail-battered-june-adds-to-billions-in-u-s-storm-damage-this-year/
Insurance Information Institute. (2023). Facts + Statistics: Homeowners and renters insurance. Retrieved from https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-homeowners-and-renters-insurance
