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rbickel
USA
3 Posts |
 Posted - 03/27/2004 : 09:24:34
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| Is the following satement correct "It takes hail 1" in diameter to damage roof shingles and hail of this size would cause severe damge to roof vents". I had my roof inspected for hail damage and the roofer told me I definately had hail damage so I filed a claim. The adjuster came out and inspected and said that I had none. He said that my screens were not even damaged. I had told the insurance company during the interview that I had replaced all of my screens because they were filled with holes. So much for not nickel and diming insurance companies. The same roofer that inspected my house also inspected my neighbors, whose roof is being replaced, and stated that the damage to my roof was more extensive. The denial letter that I received from the adjuster gave me the impression that he looked at everything but my roof. I am now jumping through hoops trying to set up a reinspect with an imparital adjuster. I am not trying to get something for nothing but I don't want to get abused either. I am the only house in the neighborhood whose roof is not being replaced. Any help would be appreciated. |
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KileAnderson
USA
875 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 09:57:10
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Your second to last sentence is not going to get you anywhere. As adjusters we hear "I'm the only one in my neighborhood who isn't getting a new roof" EVERY time we get a request for a reinspect. In just about every case I can stand in the driveway and point to 2 or 3 others that I know I didn't pay for. Chances are you will not get another adjuster unless that adjuster has been reassigned to another area. Your original adjuster will meet with your roofer and if the roofer can convince him that there is damage then you will get a new roof. If not, then you won't.
For the most part the statement about the 1" hail is true. If the roof is in good condition. But if the roof is 20 years old it may be damaged by much smaller hail. Do you have metal roof vents? Are they dented? Is there any other evidence of hail damage anywhere else on your property?
I find it funny that home owners believe what a roofer they usually have never met before says is gospel but they think the company they have an established business relationship with for 20 years or more and continue to do business with is lying. Roofers are in the business to make money, not because they enjoy risking their lives and swinging a hammer in the summer sun. If a roofer tells you that you don't have damage he has a 0% chance of getting any work out of you or your insurance company. If the roofer knows that he has gotten to you first and he tells you that you have damage he at least has a 10% chance that an inexperienced or lazy adjuster will show up and pay for the roof and he now has a job. I don't know if you are a gambler, but 10% is better than 0% especially if you don't have to place a bet.
Just my 2 cents. Take from it what you will. |
Edited by - KileAnderson on 03/27/2004 18:27:24 |
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rbickel
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 11:09:48
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Thanks for the response. My first impression was exacly what you had said that the roofer was just looking for work. When that same roofer inspected the damage to may neighbors house, which is getting a new roof, and said that mine was worse as far as damage goes it really made me wonder.
As far as finding another adjuster, I have no choice. If it were up to me I would just as soon have the original adjuster and my roofer meet to reinspect but Allstate will not let me do that. We both have to have differant adjusters for the reinspect. When I made the claim I requested that the adjuster and the roofer meet at the same time but the adjuster could not schedule to accomodate. The house is 15 years old. |
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rbryanhines
22 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 13:02:24
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In response to Kile's post:
Maybe it is your fingernails scratching the blackboard. (Please refer to your post on "is spelling important")
I guess the insured shouldn't believe the roofer because he/she hasn't paid the roofer thousands of dollars a year for the past twenty years. Roofers are not the only ones in business to make money.
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KileAnderson
USA
875 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 17:10:40
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Mr. Hines,
The adjuster does not make any more or less money if he does not find damage to a roof. The roofer makes money by selling a roof. The homeowner gets a new roof and the added value to his home of a new roof. Who in this 3 way triangle of Adjuster, Homeowner and Roofer stands to make no more or less money based on the dicision? Mr. Adjuster. He is the only truly objected one of the three. |
Edited by - KileAnderson on 03/27/2004 17:12:42 |
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Czar
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 17:22:02
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To Follow Mr. Anderson's comment...
As an indepenent I would make more money if I found more damage, depending on the fee schedule with the carrier. So when I get down off your roof and tell you there is no damage, there is no damage. Believe me if I can find it, I would write it. So actually all three parties are there to make money, but only two of them have something to gain if they lie. |
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alanporco
USA
112 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 17:22:07
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Bryan, Are you a roofer or an adjuster? Of course adjusters are in the business to make money. One huge difference is that roofer only makes money if he actually works on the roof. An adjuster gets paid whether the claim is denied or the roof is replaced or anything in between. In fact, the adjuster make more if he/she can justify replacing the entire roof. Depends, of course, on the fee schedule.
You think it's enjoyable to listen to an insured call you names or physically threaten you because you failed to find damage that the roofer had assured him was there? |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 17:50:50
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Sir, it is entirely possible that a new or inexperienced adjuster may well have overlooked hail damage to your roof and home. It happens more than we would like to admit. Since I don't won't to bore anyone, I will opt out of telling a few stories along the lines of what clean-up adjusters sometimes find on hail storms (and yes, it does cut both ways).
My suggestion is to enlist your agent in your cause by calling and discussing what you have experienced and ask the agent to go to bat for you in arranging an impartial reinspection by a claims supervisor or another adjuster. If they are willing (and many are) invite the agent to be present at the time of reinspection.
Consider as well seeing if you can find a friend or acquaintance who is an insurance adjuster and have them inspect your roof for an impartial opinion. The same would be true if you could enlist a roofer friend whom you trust to tell you the truth.
Good luck and please let us know how this all turns out for you. |
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LarryW
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 18:17:02
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| In my experience, an adjuster will be asked to vacate an assignment (get fired) much quicker if that adjuster is found to be consistently underpaying claims than if found to be overpaying. All carriers which I have worked for have insisted that the claims be paid on the basis of what is owed under the policy. I have never even heard of a carrier intimate that any adjuster should try to pay less than the actual covered damage. So, there is neither a financial interest for the adjuster to deny a legitimate claim nor any job security interest in doing so. Actually, the adjuster would be better off (if an error is to be made)to err on the insured's side. |
Larry Wright |
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Czar
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 18:21:16
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| Mr. Bickel although my first response to your question was a rant on roofers, I would agree with Jim. If you do reside the same place that is listed on your Bio, you may have some cause for concern for what your adjuster found or did not find during his inspection. I have spoken to many adjusters located in the center of the Buckeye state. Most adjusters near you just do not have the experience with hail as they would if they lived in TX, it just does not hail in Ohio, and usually if it does it is so small that it is not going to damage a roof. Also fi you don't mind me asking, what roofing contractor did you have conduct your inspection? |
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katadj
USA
315 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 19:34:32
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| And if all else fails, invoke the appraisal provision of the policy and then you will have two(2) unbiased opinions. |
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LarryW
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 20:53:26
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| Czar: You should have added that most 12 year olds wouldn't have the concern to pose the original question. |
Larry Wright |
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Linda
USA
127 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 22:34:59
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LarryW, for some unknown reason, the birthdate feature of the profile does not always lock on to the year selected. Mine reverts to 1989 which I can assure you is not my year of birth. I have changed it numerous times and it still errs.
In the recent past, we have had numerous ones post the age as 13. |
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Linda
USA
127 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2004 : 23:27:47
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Mr. Bickle, perhaps it would be of some help to you if you would read what the Nebraska Department of Insurance has to say about "Do I have hail damage to my roof?" There is an online brochure that can be found at
http://www.nol.org/home/NDOI/brochure/b_hail.htm
This is a very informative and useful guide to the homeowner. Hats off to the Nebraska Department of Insurance for publishing it. I wish more states would publish this information. There are any number of other places on the net to find this information as well.
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rbickel
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2004 : 07:44:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Czar
Mr. Bickel although my first response to your question was a rant on roofers, I would agree with Jim. If you do reside the same place that is listed on your Bio, you may have some cause for concern for what your adjuster found or did not find during his inspection. I have spoken to many adjusters located in the center of the Buckeye state. Most adjusters near you just do not have the experience with hail as they would if they lived in TX, it just does not hail in Ohio, and usually if it does it is so small that it is not going to damage a roof. Also fi you don't mind me asking, what roofing contractor did you have conduct your inspection?
I had Able Roofing to the original inspection. You are right it doesn't hail that much in central Ohio. This is the second claim I have filed in twenty five years of home ownership. The first one was in Michigan twenty years which was also hail damage. It was rare to see hail there also. |
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okclarryd
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2004 : 11:31:24
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HEY!!!!!!!
I wanna be 13, too.
Experience being the arguably best guide, Ohio hail is USUALLY small and non-damaging if the roof is in good condition.
However...................
I would go for the second adjuster meeting with the roofer scenario. If the second adjuster cannot manipulate his schedule to accomodate the roofer, perhaps a third adjuster might be able to find the time. And get the agent out there, too. The agent needs to know which roofer in his community is in it for the long haul and not just the money.
Plus, the squeaky wheel ................ |
LARRY D HARDIN |
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Question, I hope someone can answer
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