We had some crazy hail and wind storms in my area recently. As a result, a portion of my fence was damaged (to the point that my neighbor has it tied up to his tree to keep it up) and, judging by the amount of roof shingle debris on my pool deck, I assume some roof damage. I have the adjuster coming out on Friday. I've never filed a home insurance claim before so does anyone have any advice?

yes, you will have 1 of 2 types of policies, one policy covers the damage as assessed by your insurance company and you can argue with them that it cost more, to get more money for your assessment, or the second type of policy covers the damage assessed by your insurance company and automatically cover the cost, if it cost you more than what the insurance company assessed. You need to find out which kind you have first before you make any decisions on who to hire.

If you have any questions or don't understand, ask the adjuster to clarify.

Also, call your agent for clarifications.

And never tell the contractor how much insurance is covering prior to receiving their bid. If they ask, tell them it's coming out of your pocket and that you don't have insurance.

Have a reputable roofer look at the damage before the claims adjuster. Our insurance claims adjuster tried to deny evidence of hail damage which the roofer had seen. We then went to our insurance agent and raised hell. Our agent sends a second claims adjuster the following week and he approved a $17,000 new roof.

Long story short, don't take no for an answer. Insurance companies will try to avoid paying if possible.

DrippinAggie said:

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Insurance companies will try to avoid paying if possible.

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Yeah, they never pay out.

Quote:

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Damage from hailstorms produced $5.5 billion in insured losses to homes and automobiles in the first half of the year, the Insurance Council of Texas reported Thursday.
The losses are the most in the state since 2008 when $5.7 billion in hail and wind damage was incurred for the entire year. That was the year that Hurricane Ike caused devastation in southeast Texas. By comparison, hail and wind damages were $3.25 billion last year.

San Antonio accounted for a lot of the damage that the state sustained in the first half of 2016. Losses from three April hail storms in the Alamo City exceeded $2 billion including $1.4 billion from the April 12 storm alone.



http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/article/Losses-from-hail-and-wind-damage-most-in-Texas-9443080.php

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You'll get a good amount for the fence. I was shocked because our yard isn't even that big but they gave me like 2800 dollars for it.

It was fairly easy process for me. They sent an appraiser out and within a week or two had the checks. Got the roof fixed and the estimate of the size of the roof was off by quite a bit. Submitted the roofers change order of how many "squares" was the difference and got another check.

A hailstorm cost my former insurance agency a 12 year customer. Try getting a reputable roofer to install only half of a new roof because of hail damage only came in from the west.

I let the agent know that if I had to come out of pocket for the other side, it would cost him a decade + customer. He told me there was nothing he could do, therefore I have a new insurance company. He was floored that I would actually change insurance companies after that long with them.

Honestly, my lesson from last year's Dallas storms was to not call the insurance until after the storm season was over. We called immediately after the first storm and a few weeks later got it even worse. Because we had already filed a claim we were going to have to file TWO claims in order to get the rest of it fixed. Wasn't worth it. Unless you have a leak in your roof I would hold off. Just my 2 cents and what I will be doing in the future.

Why would you not tell the roofer there is / might be an insurance claim for roof damage?

I had my roofer meet the adjuster. He agreed to everything the roofer pointed out. New roof and got money for "damaged" fence and vinyl on the window frames.

Yep. I've never met a roofer who didn't find hail damage, and recommend a full roof replacement. I've never met an adjuster who wanted to replace a full roof.

Roofers always want to meet the adjusters so they can bully/convince them to replace the roof. I've never seen it, but I'm fairly convinced that is when money trades hands between those two.

Be careful of your "deductible"... It can bite you in the a$$

KeepItLow said:

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Why would you not tell the roofer there is / might be an insurance claim for roof damage?

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Just like with healthcare, prices go up when insurance is involved. In this case, the roofer likely knows what insurance is paying out in the area and his bid will be pretty dang close to that number regardless of actual cost.

Aggietaco said:

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KeepItLow said:

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Why would you not tell the roofer there is / might be an insurance claim for roof damage?

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Just like with healthcare, prices go up when insurance is involved. In this case, the roofer likely knows what insurance is paying out in the area and his bid will be pretty dang close to that number regardless of actual cost.

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I still don't get your reasoning for not revealing to a roofing contractor that there is / may be an insurance claim that will potentially fund the cost of a new roof.

What's the point of not revealing? Are you trying to get a low bid for your roof and pocket the difference between the paid out claim and what the roofer you want to use is charging you?

KeepItLow said:

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I still don't get your reasoning for not revealing to a roofing contractor that there is / may be an insurance claim that will potentially fund the cost of a new roof.

What's the point of not revealing? Are you trying to get a low bid for your roof and pocket the difference between the paid out claim and what the roofer you want to use is charging you?

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More than likely to avoid the roofer overcharging and pressuring the adjuster, so the roofer can then be good guy and "waive" the deductible.