Many roofers will work with your insurance company when they do storm-related repairs.
Still, don’t delegate the job entirely to a roofer or to anyone else. Know what your claim asks for and what the insurance company is paying. A few tips:
- If a storm damages your roof but doesn’t cause any leaks, don’t wait for another storm before calling for service and making an insurance claim. If your roof suffers from hail damage and that makes it more vulnerable to wind damage during a future storm, you could wind up paying two separate insurance deductibles because parts of the damage occurred during separate incidents.
- Do not submit your insurance adjuster’s quote to any roofing company. Some estimators are asking for this so they can simply duplicate the information for a quick sale that involves as little work for them as possible. Instead, choose a qualified, local roofing company, get a written quote and compare that to your adjuster’s estimate.
- Don’t let anyone convince you to sign on for an inflated price with the promise that the contractor will overbill your insurance company to get enough money back to reimburse you for your deductible. That’s insurance fraud. Some will offer to pay you $1,000 to let them put a sign in your yard, and then they try to get your insurance company to cover that fee. Insurance companies will not pay an outrageous price for the work.
- Say “no” to any roofer who pressures you into having the work done immediately by saying your insurance company won’t pay if you wait for a better roofer. It’s not true. Take a day or so to think about it before you hire someone. Schedule the work for a time that’s convenient. And schedule payments so you’re not paying up front—reputable companies don’t need any seed money to buy supplies. Instead, pay in increments as the work is completed.
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