What is the best way to handle this?

[alpacamom]

We had a lot of shingles blown off our roof this year in storms and were planning on going through our homeowners insurance to get the roof done. Should we get some roofing estimates first and decide on who we'd want to go with, then have that person here when the insurance adjuster comes, or have the insurance guy come out first? Is it a bad idea to go through the insurance company?

[Siryet]

we had the same situation here and we called homeowners insurance and they sent an adjuster out and told us how much they would pay for repairs. then we had to look for a roofer to repair the damage at that price. in the meantime, another storm happened and we lost more shingles and had to call the insurance company again. This time we already had roofing quotes for a complete new roof to be installed.
At the second call I explained to the insurance adjuster that this was going to be a continuing occurrence since the roof was at that age and we couldn't
afford to keep paying the deductibles. He agreed and asked us to have the roofer with the lowest bid call him and this we did.
The roofer and the insurance company agreed on a price for the complete new roof (Shingles) and within a week we had a new roof.
I would call the homeowners insurance as that is what it is for, but that's just me.

[Ozarkquilter46]

we had put in claims 2 times in 5 years. Both from lighting stricks. We have a 500 deduc. the first time they sent us 1,500 to replace tv's dvd's nintendo's and the game that was melted inside it, microwave and phones. The next time they sent us 600. to replace the computer and phone.
Well what they didn't tell us is that is dosn't mater if your claim is for one dollar or a million dollars, it just shows on your record that you filed a cliam. After those two claims they droped us and we almost lost our house loan because no one would insure us. We finly found a local place that would but the rates were through the roof!!!! And it stayed that way till we had no claims for the next 7 years then the rates droped and we were concidered insurable again. Talk about extortion!! Now if its not something over 5,000 out of our own pocket we will never file a claim again. We figured that is what we lost paying the higher insurance prem. over that 7 years. Hope this helps

[ericjeeper]

Do you need a new roof due to its age? Lots of folks use their insurance as a maintenance plan.It is not for that.
Like Ozarkquilter stated.. They can drop you for being a high risk.
So if your roof is old and tired it is just part of being a homeowner,bite the bullet and save the insurance for a real serious issue.just my opinion.

[michiganfarmer]

I think it is bad to go throught the insurance company.

Some companies will cancell their clients after their first claim.

I will only use my house insurance if the house is destroyed.

[Danaus29]

Get the estimate first, then decide if it is worth filing with your insurance. We got dropped (non-renewal notice) after we filed 2 claims in 5 years also. The first one was really no big deal and we should never have filed it (looking back, you know hind-sight is 20/20) but the lightning strike (over $5000 in damages) caused so much damage we had no choice.

[Helena]

We live in an area that the winds are very high at times. We have had and did put "interlocking" type of shingles on our roof. The roof we took off..which wasn't leaking or losing any was put on in...(drum roll please..1950's)..but since we were getting the addition redone we went with a new roof all around. Ask about these type of shingles for you new roof too.

[Michael W. Smith]

Originally Posted by alpacamom

We had a lot of shingles blown off our roof this year in storms and were planning on going through our homeowners insurance to get the roof done. Should we get some roofing estimates first and decide on who we'd want to go with, then have that person here when the insurance adjuster comes, or have the insurance guy come out first? Is it a bad idea to go through the insurance company?

I would think the insurance company is only going to pay what it would to repair your roof, they cover what was damaged by the storm. If the shingles came off due to your roof being an old roof to begin with, you aren't going to end up with much of an insurance claim, and for the most part YOU will paying for the new roof.

If you go the insurance route, that claim will pop up, and you can pretty much expect your premiums to go up. File another claim, and you are a good candidate that will be dropped.

If the roof was put on 8 years ago, and they are 25 year shingles, then yeah, file the claim. But if you needed a new roof anyway, I don't think having the insurance company pay for one is a wise move (unless you were planning on getting a new insurance company anyway.)

[HillsideHouse]

Ahh, just wait ya'll! All these claims for new roofs, new siding, wind damage. It's causing insurance companies to drop wind/hail coverage in their policies. Right now it's only effecting the coastal communities but just ahh, just wait....just like flood insurance it's slowly going to creep in for almost everyone. And let me tell you guys, it's NOT cheap. We are 40 miles from the NC coast (Nags Head area), 12 miles from any large body of water, 3 miles from a creek that's about a foot wide. HO $575. Flood $575. not too horribly bad right? WIND/HAIL policy $1,054. The bigger your house the more you pay (ours is only 1800 sq ft, brand new stick built). Of course the mtg. companies force you maintain the policy but even if your house is paid off & you do NOT want wind/hail no insurance company will write a policy without it.

I worked in claims for several years, hence we've never made any claims becuase I KNOW what can happen. Just suck it up & fix it ourselves. The house would have to fall down before I even called them. Telling your claims adjuster that you want a new roof because it's just going to keep happening might not be such a good thing. They can deny your claim due it being a maintance issue, then give you 30 days to replace your roof or you risk being cancelled...as others have written it's not a good thing at all.

Hillside

[alpacamom]

Thanks everyone for putting this all in perspective for me. I have actually been putting this off all summer long because I just know that if I file a claim for the roof, something majorly catastrophic will happen right afterward. It happened to me years ago with a truck I had...the spare tire had been stolen from under the back end where it was mounted and we filed the theft claim for a $450 spare tire and winch then a couple months later, I was in an accident. My rates went up and I was not a happy lady. Again, thank you!!

Just adding my 2 cents as to how insurance works..

We lived in Pennsylvania..had a storm blow away 1/2 the roof..filed a claim with our homeowners insurance..no problem, roof was replaced in less than a week..we thought we were happy.
The very next year, we had a problem with one of our foster children..she destroyed three pieces of furniture as well as brand new wallpaper..in PA, they have insurance for losses due to foster children..ok, so we filed a claim..uh oh..it turned out that if you HAVE homeowners, that claim goes to them, not the insurance company used by the state..So now we had two ( count them) two claims in 14 months..

We sold that house and moved to Alabama..paid CASH at closing for a full year of homeowner's insurance..6 weeks later we were shocked to receive a check in the mail from the new company..sorry, here's your payment back, you are too risky to insure..What the???

Had no problem getting insurance via the local farm co-op folks, but what an awakening that was..!! Moral of the story..if you think about filing a claim with your homeowner's insurance company, don't..unless as others have said your home has been completely destroyed..sad, but true.

[alpacamom]

Thanks bostonlesley. I've gotten an interesting and logical perspective from everyone here and it's greatly appreciated!