maxiep
RIP Dr. Jack
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
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ABM, for the record, I'm not talking out of my ass on this one. My home in Denver had concrete/asbestos tiles for its roof (asbestos in a non-friable state is a wonder material). The roof was amazing (it had been installed in 1931), but it was crushed during a hail storm last year. It's also a roof unique to Colorado, so it requires local expertise to understand.
State Farm sent an inspector who looked from the street and said "I'm going to count the tiles broken and then give you $50 each to repair them". I sent that person away without allowing them on my roof. I called State Farm and told them to send another inspector.
The second inspector walked up a ladder in six different areas, counted 26 broken tiles, told me she understood that $50 per tile to repair it was insufficient, so she was going to up it to $100. I had personally counted 84 tiles that were damaged from the storm. When I related this, the woman said she couldn't see all of them without getting on the roof and she was unwilling to do so. I smiled, and let her send me a check.
Finally, I got smart. Since this is the first time State Farm had ever been recalcitrant in giving me what I deserved, I decided to read my policy and learn about my options. "Like kind" replacement became the key issue as (obviously) they don't make tiles with asbestos anymore. Masonite tiles (the kind State Farm wanted me to replace the broken ones with) weren't "like kind". While SF had the ability to repair the roof at their discretion, they had an obligation to replace the broken product with the EXACT SAME product, and that product had to be documented. Furthermore, if they opted to repair, I refused to remove liability from them.
I set up a meeting with my agent, and we called the claims center in Texas. We had a civil conversation where I explained my position, showed my agent photos of the damage, e-mailed the claims center photos of the damage, reminded them that since more than one tile was broken and couldn't be replaced with exactly the same product, they HAD to replace my roof. Furthermore, my existing product had been tested (after decades of non-production) for Class A fire resistance and Class 3 impact resistance while being a tile product that weighed only 400 lbs a square, and only a TILE product would be acceptable. It left one option: a fake slate product. I also provided them with three different estimates for the cost of the entire project. Furthermore, three other homes within a two block radius with the same product had their roofs replaced with no objection by their insurance companies. I gave them the companies, addresses and phone numbers of my neighbors. I told them that I had been a loyal customer, the company had certified my roof and that I felt like I had been treated poorly. I mentioned that I had spoken to my college roommate, who was an insurance lawyer and he had counseled me to submit a Proof of Loss before we took the next step. I was hoping to come to an agreement before we had to take those steps.
I told them that I wanted a LOCAL adjuster, and one that worked for State Farm. I told them that I would choose my contractor and that contractor would point out where the damage was done and what the options were for like kind replacement. The adjuster came out--he knew my roofer and had worked with him before--and totalled the roof. Two weeks later I held a check in my hand for a little over $62,800 from State Farm and three weeks after that I had a new roof and gutters. If I could get SF to move from $1,600 ($2,600 minus my deductable) to that amount, you can get your insurance company to pay you for the roof you deserve.
As an epilogue to this story, my homeowners insurance was just renewed, and at a lower rate as the DaVinci slate product has a Class 4 impact rating. BP is clearly the insurance expert, but I'm not completely ignorant on the process. If you're in the right, don't let the insurance company bully you. Use your agent to grease the skids.
Good luck.
State Farm sent an inspector who looked from the street and said "I'm going to count the tiles broken and then give you $50 each to repair them". I sent that person away without allowing them on my roof. I called State Farm and told them to send another inspector.
The second inspector walked up a ladder in six different areas, counted 26 broken tiles, told me she understood that $50 per tile to repair it was insufficient, so she was going to up it to $100. I had personally counted 84 tiles that were damaged from the storm. When I related this, the woman said she couldn't see all of them without getting on the roof and she was unwilling to do so. I smiled, and let her send me a check.
Finally, I got smart. Since this is the first time State Farm had ever been recalcitrant in giving me what I deserved, I decided to read my policy and learn about my options. "Like kind" replacement became the key issue as (obviously) they don't make tiles with asbestos anymore. Masonite tiles (the kind State Farm wanted me to replace the broken ones with) weren't "like kind". While SF had the ability to repair the roof at their discretion, they had an obligation to replace the broken product with the EXACT SAME product, and that product had to be documented. Furthermore, if they opted to repair, I refused to remove liability from them.
I set up a meeting with my agent, and we called the claims center in Texas. We had a civil conversation where I explained my position, showed my agent photos of the damage, e-mailed the claims center photos of the damage, reminded them that since more than one tile was broken and couldn't be replaced with exactly the same product, they HAD to replace my roof. Furthermore, my existing product had been tested (after decades of non-production) for Class A fire resistance and Class 3 impact resistance while being a tile product that weighed only 400 lbs a square, and only a TILE product would be acceptable. It left one option: a fake slate product. I also provided them with three different estimates for the cost of the entire project. Furthermore, three other homes within a two block radius with the same product had their roofs replaced with no objection by their insurance companies. I gave them the companies, addresses and phone numbers of my neighbors. I told them that I had been a loyal customer, the company had certified my roof and that I felt like I had been treated poorly. I mentioned that I had spoken to my college roommate, who was an insurance lawyer and he had counseled me to submit a Proof of Loss before we took the next step. I was hoping to come to an agreement before we had to take those steps.
I told them that I wanted a LOCAL adjuster, and one that worked for State Farm. I told them that I would choose my contractor and that contractor would point out where the damage was done and what the options were for like kind replacement. The adjuster came out--he knew my roofer and had worked with him before--and totalled the roof. Two weeks later I held a check in my hand for a little over $62,800 from State Farm and three weeks after that I had a new roof and gutters. If I could get SF to move from $1,600 ($2,600 minus my deductable) to that amount, you can get your insurance company to pay you for the roof you deserve.
As an epilogue to this story, my homeowners insurance was just renewed, and at a lower rate as the DaVinci slate product has a Class 4 impact rating. BP is clearly the insurance expert, but I'm not completely ignorant on the process. If you're in the right, don't let the insurance company bully you. Use your agent to grease the skids.
Good luck.
