Interested in hearing how this plays out for you. I'm with them as well (for 20 years) and have never had a claim on my home.

I inquired with my agent about filing a damage claim for my roof for the storms this spring. She told me, if I do and they deny it, it will still count as a claim against me and they can drop my coverage.

The work around is for me to get three estimates. If at least two of them (preferably all three) say that I need a new roof, then there is a higher chance the adjuster will also find that I need a new roof (but not guaranteed).

So, that's now on my to do list. But I don't understand how it's legal for them to drop coverage on people who file claims that are denied.

All of this assumes someone actually sustained hail damage that is covered under a policy. Addressing the dropping of coverage by an insurer for a claim is not in scope:

They should generally consider getting an independent examination of their roof from an experienced, well-respected area roofer (or two, or three even). They should consider getting the roofer to state on paper exactly why the roof exhibits all the indications of hail damage and not normal wear and tear, and get the roofer's full estimate for repair.

If the insurer continues to deny the claim after having time to consider all of this well developed experienced roofer evidence, consider searching for and hiring an attorney with experience in "bad faith" insurance litigation in Texas. When insurance companies play games with customers and refuse to properly investigate, document, adjust, or pay on a legitimate and covered claim, they can be liable for 3x damages plus having to pay your attorney's costs and fees. It's a serious legal action only used in the most egregious of instances.

Ran into this as well. They often use third party inspectors to look at your roof, and my local agent was able to force a second review with an actual State Farm inspector and not these third party guys, who essentially make money to find reasons not to pay the claim. During the second review (very important to have your roof repair company on hand to look at the roof) together with an actual State Farm (employee) roof inspector, things went much better and they approved completely fixing our roof and gutters - minus our deductible. Good luck!

File a TDI complaint

Jason Duke

jasonduke@infinityroofer.com

Done NUMEROUS roofs for TexAgs users, mine included. Recommend.

This is where the whole "go with state farm and get an agent you know" bs falls flat. they can't do a damn thing when it comes to dealing with "corporate" and you are left twisting in the wind like everyone else, but at least your agent calls you to say sorry....

Their marketing department never runs out of money

Insurance is a racket.

Txmoe said:

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I've paid premiums for 35 years and never filed a major claim with SF. But now they are refusing to cover obvious hail damage on my roof. (They are calling it "normal wear and tear.") I'm about to go through mediation with them but I'm wondering what else I can do to fight this.

This is not a rant about my local agent who has been very helpful through all of this. This fight is with the claims department. Appreciate any advice.

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What a mess. But, this is not atypical. Also, your local agent is a big asset to you so he is not our opponent. You've gotten some good advice so far, so I'll add what I've done.

I just did one with State Farm and it was a huge fight. My typical workflow for these guys is:

Meet customer
inspect and document roof
Meet adjuster and persuade them to pay for the roof
If they deny it…
I send a full report with my photos along with a MASSIVE estimate to them to kick their tail into gear.
We do a re inspection and hope I get an adjuster that knows what he's doing. I document everything again.
If they deny it again, I can burn up as many resources as they want with several tactics to force reinspection over and over again until they either cave or say no.

If they say no, I have a really awesome Ag that is a PA that will go to bat with appraisal. He may or may not take the claim, and that process will cost you a little out of pocket but still cheaper than paying for the roof outright.

My last State Farm dance like this went from them approving a 2,000 dollar repair with two inspections and finally they gave up and ate the roof to the tune of nearly 26 times the original claim. And yes, when they make me and my homeowners fight for an approval, it costs them way more than had they just approved it the first time.

I don't win every single one but I win most of them. Sometimes this is just about wearing them down and being a thorn in their side to force them to do the right thing.

My contact is in my profile if you'd like to discuss or hash this out over the phone or offline. I can pull hail reports and do some legwork before ever setting foot on the roof. I'm happy to help you out if you need anything.

I'm happy to provide as much free info and resources to people here as I can afford.

Property value is meaningless for an insurance company. All they care about is the replacement value of the "bricks and.sticks".

Those have definitely increased at a higher rate recently which is reflected in higher premiums.

The trend of them not wanting to insure a house if the roof is 10 years old is fairly new and very obnoxious.

Many times an insurance denial isn't just based on a particular insurance company, but who did the inspection and who is pushing the claim for the property owner. Late last year I resolved a mid six figure commercial denial and got the whole roof paid. I just resolved a mid six figure claim with State Farm on Friday - got them to pay everything including siding. I have a high six figure claim going right now where I'm fighting a denial based on a cosmetic exclusion provision in the policy. I hired an engineering firm and I think we have a good chance of reversing the denial.

If your roof has damage from a documented storm and the insurance company denies the claim, get professional representation from someone who regularly handles those type of claims. Don't just give up. You paid the premiums, the insurance company should pay for the damages. If necessary, your representative can get the assistance of industry experts to help get denials reversed.