When you think about how to negotiate roof replacement with insurance, do you imagine you’re trying to persuade your insurer to cover the cost of your full roof replacement after a sudden incident? Many do, but that’s not really what it’s like.
There isn’t a lot of negotiating that can happen between a homeowner and an insurance company during the claims process, but there are many ways that you can advocate for yourself during the claims process.
In the ideal situation, you would have gotten a free roof inspection prior to the storm, because that would provide a detailed report about the condition of your roof before the storm or other disaster struck. But if you skipped the annual inspections, you aren’t out of luck. You just might need someone on your side who understands the degree of damage and how to prove it.
How to Negotiate Roof Replacement With Insurance with Help from SEI Roofing
Although we don’t “negotiate” with your insurance company, we can directly communicate with them to make sure they understand the damage we identified during our specialized roof inspection and the detailed estimate of the cost to repair or replace the roof.
After documenting the damage and making any minor repairs or tarping the roof to mitigate further damages, we can meet with your insurance adjuster when they come out to assess the damage to your roof. Because we aren’t insurance adjusters and are roofing experts, we can show them evidence of damage that they may have missed. We can factually explain the extent of the damage and what will be needed to ensure the roof is functioning properly again.
What we can’t do is go back in time and decide what kind of deductible or policy you choose. If you chose a policy that only covered Actual Cash Value instead of covering the Replacement Cash Value, they will only pay out the replacement cost minus depreciation of the roof, given its age and condition. Unfortunately, the onslaught of damaging storms across the nation has caused many insurance companies to shift to ACV coverage.
How Does Texas Law Affect How to Negotiate Roof Replacement with Insurance?
Texas law stipulates that the homeowner must always pay their deductible for homeowner’s insurance claims. This is because too many scam roofing companies would blow through town in a damaging storm’s wake and promise homeowners a free roof by paying the homeowner’s policy deductible. So, no matter what, no party—not the homeowner, not the roofing company, and not the insurance company — can negotiate the amount of a deductible once a claim is made against the policy.
Unfortunately, many people’s deductibles are set at 2% of the covered amount of the dwelling. That might not seem like much, but for a policy with $300,000 dwelling coverage, that means your deductible would be $6,000!
Consider this: If you have a deductible of $6,000 and due to age, your roof is valued at $7,000, Your insurance company will only pay you $1000 for your claim.
If replacing your roof will costs $10,000, you’d be stuck having to come up with $9000 for the roof in this scenario.
This begs the question, do you know what your deductible is? Do you know whether you have replacement coverage or only ACV coverage? In truth, most people don’t know the ins and outs of their policy and are shocked to learn the details of their policy only after a catastrophic event.
If paying your deductible and the remainder due after insurance pays out feels overwhelming, talk to us about financing the project.
Do You Need a Roof Replacement?
If you need a roof replacement, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can inspect the damage, develop an estimate and speak to your insurance adjuster on your behalf. You’re not alone with SEI Roofing on your side. Keep in mind, we offer free roof damage inspections after every hail storm and storm with high winds.