I've just closed the sale of my mother's home, which has an open claim with State Farm for damage to the roof from wind/hail from a storm in March. This claim was already estimated with SF coming back with damages way less than the 2% deducible. I re-opened the claim after the buyer and I had an independent contractor inspect it and provided them the report. The claim has been routed back to the local Houston team for their assessment - and it has sat with no progress for 2 weeks.

My understanding is that the open claim is still valid even after the sale, although any payout would (may?) have to go to the new owner. I also don't understand if I can cancel the policy effective today and whether that would impact the claim.

Anybody have thoughts/experience with this type of situation?

foulbeast said:

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I've just closed the sale of my mother's home, which has an open claim with State Farm for damage to the roof from wind/hail from a storm in March. This claim was already estimated with SF coming back with damages way less than the 2% deducible. I re-opened the claim after the buyer and I had an independent contractor inspect it and provided them the report. The claim has been routed back to the local Houston team for their assessment - and it has sat with no progress for 2 weeks.

My understanding is that the open claim is still valid even after the sale, although any payout would (may?) have to go to the new owner. I also don't understand if I can cancel the policy effective today and whether that would impact the claim.

Anybody have thoughts/experience with this type of situation?

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Not an expert but if there is a legitimate claim while the house was insured then the insurer would have to pay out regardless of you cancelling them.

Call me to discuss further.

I've done this several times.

The claim is still valid and it is still yours. The payment goes to you. I've come in on these on the past and what I normally do is handle the reinspection with the carrier, get the roof approved, let the new owner pick the shingle color or pay for upgrades if they want, and then you pay your deductible. The remaining money comes from the carrier to you and we collect from you just as we would any other roofing claim project.

The long and short is that it doesn't matter who owns the home now. You owned it when you had the damage and they were the carrier when it occurred and you are still entitled to have it paid for by them regardless of the current status of the policy and home ownership right now.

I had one like this a month ago that was 1 year after closing.

You can cancel your policy any time. If hail damages your roof on 4/28/2023, and you cancel your policy on 4/29/2023 and then decide to claim it on 4/29/2024, it's still the old carriers problem.

Hope this helps. Again, feel free to call with questions. Folks on here do it all the time. I'm happy to chat.

Good luck with SF. Let me know if you need an appraiser in Houston Metro area.

Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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The claim is still valid and it is still yours. The payment goes to you. I've come in on these on the past and what I normally do is handle the reinspection with the carrier, get the roof approved, let the new owner pick the shingle color or pay for upgrades if they want, and then you pay your deductible. The remaining money comes from the carrier to you and we collect from you just as we would any other roofing claim project.

The long and short is that it doesn't matter who owns the home now. You owned it when you had the damage and they were the carrier when it occurred and you are still entitled to have it paid for by them regardless of the current status of the policy and home ownership right now.

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why would the seller (OP) want to pay the deductible now that he doesn't own the home.

Carnwellag2 said:

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Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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The claim is still valid and it is still yours. The payment goes to you. I've come in on these on the past and what I normally do is handle the reinspection with the carrier, get the roof approved, let the new owner pick the shingle color or pay for upgrades if they want, and then you pay your deductible. The remaining money comes from the carrier to you and we collect from you just as we would any other roofing claim project.

The long and short is that it doesn't matter who owns the home now. You owned it when you had the damage and they were the carrier when it occurred and you are still entitled to have it paid for by them regardless of the current status of the policy and home ownership right now.

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why would the seller (OP) want to pay the deductible now that he doesn't own the home.

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In most cases where this happens, it's during the course of a sale where a buyer wants it replaced, or perhaps someone has changed carriers and the new carrier won't insure the roof without it.

In the case of the OP, he really has no obligation to do anything but perhaps he likes the buyer, is acting in good faith, or has a prior arrangement as part of a concession. I cannot speak to that. I'm only commenting that he can make that claim and his old carrier is obligated to cover it should it be deemed necessary by the adjuster, regardless of the current status of the insured.

Thanks for all the info. The policy is cancelled, but the claim is still open and a second inspection by SF is scheduled for later this month. To be honest, I don't think that the wind/hail damage will be near enough to cover a full replacement, but maybe can get some amount above the deductible. The roof has other issues that are due to age and lack of maintenance that are cited in the inspection but i don't think SF will cover. I am not expecting much here but i don't want to leave money on the table either.

And yes - roof replacement is part of the sale agreement regardless of insurance payout.

I can help you with this with some info! If you shoot me a text or email I'd be happy to talk about it. State Farm can be tough, even with legitimate damage. If you have to replace it anyway, then you might as well go full bore guns blazing now and see if they will eat it. I can get you some info that will at least let you know what the potential is.