3 pros!
Before bad weather strikes, get to know your homeowner's insurance policy and how it applies to roofing repairs.
If your roof is damaged during a storm, you can save valuable time and money by taking immediate action.
After you evacuate your family and inspect the roof for spot damage, call a roofing contractor and your insurance agent. You need to ensure that your homeowner's policy covers all storm damage to your roof, including "replacement costs," which is the cost insurance companies will pay to replace your roof if it is damaged or simply too old (20 years or older) and in need of repair. The roofing contractor will inspect your roof for damage, but only the insurance adjuster truly knows if your roof is eligible for replacement.
What kind of storm damage are they looking for?
Steve Furber of highly rated Colony Roofing & Exteriors, a Houston-area roofing company, says, "The insurance adjuster will be looking for bruises, which are spots where the asphalt is visible." Sometimes these spots are large and quite obvious, but generally they are small and require a trained eye to recognize them.
Generally, a qualified and experienced roofer will use chalk to mark the damaged area, and then take photographs so the images can be presented to the insurance company. Only the insurance company knows definitively if you have enough damage to warrant replacement costs or if the amount of damage requires them to pay for a new roof.
How does the adjuster recognize damage?
"The adjuster will draw a 10 x 10 test square," Furber says. "Depending on the company, he will be looking for about eight to ten bruises on the square. If the adjuster finds this type of damage, the slope is totaled."
Be sure to contact your insurance company immediately if you find damage because there may be a statute of limitations in your policy that prevents a replacement after a certain amount of time has passed.