Community Chat

[SilleeMee]

@on the bay 

Insurance is not a warranty and insurance doesn't pay for something just b/c it's old and needing replaced.

[Sooner]

Policies differ and insurance is to replace what was damaged.  If you have a roof was was 20 years old, it likely needed to be replaced, or at least you'd have to spend money to fix it up.  

So the insurance pays to replace what you hinsured--a roof valued as a 20-year old roof, not a new one.  The more you pay, the more value you insure.  

[SilleeMee]

Recoverable depreciation policies are great if you experience frequent damage to your house from storms and hurricanes...like yearly. Otherwise recoverable depreciation coverage is costly and adds up. It doesn't make sense to have it when you only have occasional damage. I'd rather not pay for a recoverable depreciation policy but instead put the money aside for when I need to make repairs w/o making a claim. Making claims causes premiums to go up.

If you have a mortgage, some mortgage companies require that kind of insurance so that it takes care of the homeowners' inability to pay otherwise for their damages to homes.

[geezerette]

I recently spoke to my agent about my roof policy.  My roof will soon be 20 years old and definitely is showing that it will need replacing soon.  It has some minor storm damage right now, but not enough for the insurance to kick in.

If I do have significant storm damage, my policy will cover the whole roof replacement regardless of its age.  The agent said if I can afford the premiums to keep that policy since my company and other insurance companies are no longer offering these types of comprehensive coverage.  My policy is grandfathered in.  They simply can't afford to anymore with the cost of materials, labor and the number of exentive storm damage claims now.

And if I move, I won't be able to get a similar policy on another house.

[Beammeupscotty]

So I guess you have to have different coverage to pay for old roofs which are damaged by storms?

My dd's roof was very bad AND old and her insurance covered the damage minus a small deductible,

[Beammeupscotty]

@geezerette   That makes sense.  

I'm glad we had the total coverage. 

[geezerette]

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@Beammeupscotty wrote:

So I guess you have to have different coverage to pay for old roofs which are damaged by storms?

My dd's roof was very bad AND old and her insurance covered the damage minus a small deductible,

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@Beammeupscotty 

My insurance agent said that no company in our area is writing policies for total roof replacement for older roofs. That may be different in other areas, I don't know.  The only policies now available here are those that as your roof ages, the less they will pay in the event of storm damage.

As I said above, I only have complete coverage because our policy was written 20 years ago and I still have the same policy with the same company.  

She also said that my policy includes other coverages that they no longer offer as well.  But believe me, I've paid for that coverage over the years with premiums (which have skyrocketed in the last few years), and no claims for any home damage during all that time.

[SilleeMee]

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@Beammeupscotty wrote:

So I guess you have to have different coverage to pay for old roofs which are damaged by storms?

My dd's roof was very bad AND old and her insurance covered the damage minus a small deductible,

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It's called recoverable depreciation coverage and some policies have it, some are required to have it and some choose not to have it.

Everything depreciates in cash value including roofs. The older it is, the less it's worth in cash value. The difference in price of a new roof minus the cash value of the old roof is what is covered by recoverable depreciation policies.

[Kachina624]

We have very little hail and when we do, it's too small to cause damage.  About 20 years ago a local roofing company went through the neighborhood telling home owners to claim hail damage.  On the day before the insurance adjuster came, the roofering company had a worker show up with a hammer and he deliberately damaged shingles.  I refused to let them on my roof and eventually paid for my own roof, one of the few people who did.

[SilleeMee]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

We have very little hail and when we do, it's too small to cause damage.  About 20 years ago a local roofing company went through the neighborhood telling home owners to claim hail damage.  On the day before the insurance adjuster came, the roofering company had a worker show up with a hammer and he deliberately damaged shingles.  I refused to let them on my roof and eventually paid for my own roof, one of the few people who did.

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@Kachina624 

It's those kinds of acts of fraud that causes everyone to pay more for insurance. Despicable.