Denver Roofers Getting Insurance to Pay For Roofing Repair Damage

Denver CO

07 December, 2021

10:53 AM

Description

Rocky Mountain Exteriors Find local Denver roofers at Rocky Mountain Exteriors. Background: Generally, there are four main sections of a homeowners insurance policy: dwelling, other structures, personal property, and liability. Dwelling insurance covers the actual structure of the home, including the roof. Other structures refers to sheds and other built structures that are on the property but that aren’t connected to the house. Personal property insurance is like renter’s insurance; it covers the belongings that live in the house with you in the cases of damage or theft. Finally, liability insurance covers the homeowner if someone who doesn’t live in the house gets injured in it. Foreground: So to find how to get homeowners insurance to pay for a new roof, your first stop will be your copy of your policy, and specifically the section on dwelling insurance. The big question your insurance will ask is, “Do you need a new roof for a covered reason?” The short answer to what’s covered is sudden, accidental damage. Usually, this includes fires, lightning strikes, windstorms, and hail. So an important part of how to get homeowners insurance to pay for a new roof is being able to show that one or more of these things damaged your roof to the point that it needs replacing. If you can do that, paperwork and the deductible should be all that stands between you and that new roof. Although insurance companies usually have certain maintenance requirements for policyholders to meet, even a roof in perfect repair can’t withstand being struck by lightning, for example. It’s just really tough to tell how pampered a given shingle was before it exploded. Likewise, a strong windstorm can send branches, furniture, Dorothy’s house, and other debris flying at such velocities that again, even a roof that’s in good repair can’t withstand their impact. The same is often true of severe hail. Some storms produce hailstones bigger than baseballs and–one more time–how could a reasonable person expect a roof to come out undamaged after being hit by hundreds of icy fastballs? Three reasons for roof replacement that are often not covered are floods, earthquakes, and regular wear-and-tear. Unlike fire and lightning, floods and earthquakes damage many homes at once–sometimes many thousands of them–so if the insurance company had to pay for those roofing repairs and replacements, they would go bankrupt. The alternative would be charging so much for premiums that the purpose of insurance would be defeated. Sure enough, after Hurricane Katrina, we saw ardent resistance from practically the whole industry to accepting claims. Many insurers insisted that the damage to their customers’ houses was caused by flooding, which wasn’t covered. This wasn’t just a greedy bunch of executives trying to get off the hook; it was a financial disaster–an existential threat, even–to their firms. In the end, insurers paid tens of billions of dollars to around a million people and then changed their policies to ensure that they’d never find themselves in that position again. Insurance policies cover things that might happen, not things that definitely will happen. Regular wear-and-tear will happen to your roof, your house, and every other material thing in your life. So if you file a roof insurance claim, you’ll have to be able to show compelling evidence of the sudden, accidental damage we discussed above–not a gradual wearing-down process. Also, wear-and-tear is sometimes caused by poor maintenance. So it can help your claim’s chances considerably if you’ve been having your roof inspected once or twice a year all along. Keep the receipts from those inspections. Just like in a trial, it sure helps to be able to prove everything you say. Rocky Mountain Exteriors 1001 S. Monaco PkwySuite 250 Denver, CO 80224 (303) 377-2801 https://rmext.com/