Does your roof have damage after a storm? Are you about to jump into the insurance claim process?
Getting a new roof through insurance isn’t exactly painless or easy. Fortunately, that’s where your roofing contractor comes in to lend a hand.
And I’m not talking about just replacing the roof when the time comes. The roofing contractor you hire actually plays a big role throughout the insurance process.
For over 30 years, Bill Ragan Roofing has helped homeowners navigate the complexities and frustrations that come with insurance projects. Now, I’ll help you understand how we and other roofing contractors do this.
This articles covers the following 6 ways roofing contractors help with roof damage insurance claims:
- Being on your side
- Guidance through the process
- Determining if you have a viable claim
- Attending the adjuster meeting
- Supplementing your claim
- Following the scope of work correctly
1. Being on your side of the roof damage claim
The number one way a roofing contractor helps you with your insurance claim is by being on your side. Some insurance companies are difficult to work with even after paying premiums for years.
Reputable roofers have no issue standing up for homeowners and helping them if their insurance company is being difficult or unreasonable. So, it helps to have someone who has your back.
In fact, everything else we’ll cover plays into how a roofing contractor is on your side throughout the process.
2. Guidance through the insurance process
The insurance process is long, confusing, and at times frustrating. There’s nothing you can do about it, but hiring a reputable roofing contractor makes things much easier.
As long as they have insurance experience, they’ll guide you through the entire process and ensure everything is done correctly. This also helps you avoid common scams that lead to insurance fraud, like trying to get out of paying the deductible.
Obviously, you have to rely on the roofing contractor to provide honest advice and information. But if you make the right hire, you’ll get the guidance and advice needed for a smooth insurance experience.
3. Determining if you have a viable storm damage claim
Even though I recommend contacting your insurance company first, it’s common to get an opinion from a roofing contractor first. This allows them to determine if there’s verifiable roof damage so you can decide if moving forward with the claim process is worth it.
They’ll perform a full roof inspection and mark roof areas with missing shingles, granule loss, hail marks, dents in metal, and any other damage with chalk. After marking, they’ll take pictures of all noticeable roof damage to share with you and the adjuster (if there’s one already assigned).
Unfortunately, a roofing contractor has no say in approving your claim. That’s why an adjuster is almost always sent out to perform a separate inspection.
4. Attending the adjuster meeting
As I just said, an adjuster will be on your roof at some point. Even if a roofing contractor already performed an inspection, they should attend the adjuster appointment.
This isn’t to be combative or hover over them while working, but most adjusters aren’t professional roofers. Mistakes do happen, and even noticeable claims get denied sometimes.
Your roofing contractor being there just keeps the adjuster honest during their inspection and ensures nothing gets missed. It also means less back-and-forth over the phone or email because both parties are there to discuss the claim’s viability.
5. Helping you supplement your roof damage claim
Once a claim is approved on an RCV policy, the insurance company provides an estimate for the amount they’re paying out. The initial estimate usually won’t cover the roofing contractor’s pricing because certain line items and important things (mainly overhead and profit) are left off.
If you want most or the full cost covered, you’ll need to supplement your claim. A roofing contractor can help you with the process and provide tools to compare the line items so you can make the appropriate changes to submit for approval.
For example, I give homeowners a Supplementing Checklist to help them recognize the line items insurance should cover with an RCV policy. However, you’re the only one with the right to supplement as the policyholder.
Getting everything approved without hassle is rare, so doing this is completely up to you. But if you’re happy with the payout and don’t want to deal with supplementing, you’ll pay your deductible plus the difference in the estimates.
6. Following the insurance estimate’s scope of work correctly
Whether you supplemented or not, your roof must be replaced per the estimate provided by your insurance company. For RCV policies, this is the only way to get the second check for the recoverable depreciation.
A roofing contractor with insurance experience will make sure this happens by reading and following the scope of work correctly. After the job is done, they’ll take photos and submit them to your insurance company to show the scope of work was followed.
As long as everything checks out, you’ll get a second check (minus your deductible) with the recoverable depreciation to put towards what’s left to pay. You'll either keep it if you already paid the full amount out of pocket or sign it over to your roofer to cover what’s left.
How do you hire a reputable roofing contractor for a roof damage insurance claim?
Now you know the 6 ways a roofing contractor helps with your roof damage insurance claim. Just know that every company and how they handle insurance work is different.
However, you’ll find that most reputable roofing contractors do everything we’ve covered here. Unfortunately, finding a reputable one you can count on is harder than it should be.
Insurance work makes it easy for bad roofing contractors to take advantage of homeowners. In extreme cases, they can even take you down a road of fraud.
So, hiring one who does things the right way is crucial. That’s why I wrote another article with tips to help you do this.
Check out 7 Tips When Hiring a Roofing Company for an Insurance Claim to ensure you find a great roofer with the right experience in your area.
