Insurance for roof repair

BartInLA

Joined: Nov 11, 2023

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At midnight our policy transfers to Progressive. The roof is 20 years (composition) and definitely needs replacement as I was up there this week. Have 6 stains on ceiling spots.
I sprayed FlexSeal on but here's my question.
Being located just north of Houston obviously a 20 year old roof has endured hail damage. I'm ignorant on how that is assessed but I'm pretty sure an experienced roofer can tell.
So if an inspector comes by next week and noticed the interior and exterior damage, obviously it happened before tonight at midnight. We began noticing one spot a year ago but in the past 6 months we found 5 more. Yeah I shouldn't have put it off.
?? Will the former home insurance cover the damages? They do a depreciation model but the new insurance does replacement cost and ignores depreciation. I think I'm in a bind. Maybe I should keep two policies for awhile? Out of my knowledge field.

TIA

Reloadags1998

Joined: Oct 5, 2001

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4:06p, 5/16/24

AG

Lots of different things and to be clear, I am in the commercial insurance world, not personal lines (homeowners) but many of the concepts still pertain. Also, I just bought a home in the North Houston area last December and ran into a number of issues that required a roof replacement, all out of pocket, (both on the new home and the one I moved out of).

To take the first, most glaring issue first and please heed me on this:

DO NOT CANCEL YOUR CURRENT POLICY. When your new carrier comes to inspect, they are going to cancel your policy due to misrepresentation. (not saying it was intentional) I know this because you said that your new policy offers Replacement Cost Valuation on a 20yr asphalt singled roof. There is not a single carrier in this area (Texas really) that will offer RCV on an old, worn out roof. In fact, most won't offer RCV if the roof is over 10 years old. Did you go online or use an agent to purchase the new policy. If it was an agent, call them NOW can confirm they know about the roof condition. If online, I expect you answered an underwriting questions incorrectly. Either way, the new carrier will drop you like a hat (well, with 30 day notice) and you will have an impossible time finding anyone take a home with a bad roof and damage.

Heck, I might even cancel the new policy before it stats until you have the roof issue resolved. Having 2 insurance policies covering the same thing can cause some headaches you are not prepared for. For example, say there is a fire and you have two policies active covering the home. Which one pays on the claim? Both polices are going to try to take an excess position on the claim and point at each other as primary. Getting either carrier to accept that primary position will take quite a bit of time and I bet a lawyer will need to be involved. It's just not good practice.

Regarding roof replacement: Start getting quotes now and expect that you will need to pay out of pocket. You already said the roof is worn out, so even if you can get your current carrier to bite on the claim, it's unlikely you would get much more than your deductible, which is likely 2% of your home valuation based on your location. That's a $6,000 deductible on a $300k home. Check you policy to be sure however. FYI, a new roof for a 2 story 2,500 sf home I just sold was $12k. I know that more complex, slope, #squares...etc make a difference, but this gives you an idea of cost.

I hope that helps you understand though I'm certain it is not the info you where hoping for.

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Jason_Roofer

Joined: Apr 15, 2021

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10:29p, 5/16/24

I guess depending on where in Houston you are, the current weather situation may have a bearing on your direction.

I would expect, and I'm not going to refute the above commentary because it's out of my wheelhouse, the new carrier, if they even inspect, may request you replace the roof before having full coverage, but if they haven't been out yet….you might get lucky. Otherwise, the advice above is probably what's going to happen.

Either way, if you can manage to find any damage, it will be the responsibility of your previous carrier to cover it (todays weather notwithstanding). If you are in a place that hasn't had decent hail in the past year, that will be out of the question. Then again, if you got a bunch of wind from todays storms, and you policy is active now, then you have something worth looking into now with your new carrier.

If you want a range of how much that roof could cost, I can run some numbers for you and give you a "stupid low" to "stupid high" range so you know what your working with.

Outside of all of this, it seems most likely this is going to be an out of pocket cost now. That sucks, but be happy you got through that long without a new roof. The next time, start socking away the replacement price when the roof hits 10 years. Between 10-15, it needs to be seriously looked at for replacement.

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