You’ve been paying for insurance for years and now you have hail damage on your roof in Denver. You’ve maybe already made a hail roof claim and it’s underpaid or denied and not sure how to proceed. Or you’re struggling with, do I make the claim with insurance? Possibly a Denver roofing contractor knocked on your door and told you to make an insurance claim and that you have damage. This hail damage roof page will help you assess your next steps and help you deicide what is best for you as the policyholder.
My Hail Damage Roof in Denver is Filed With my Insurance Company and Insurance Underpaid my Claim
We see this situation everyday where the insurance company only wants to pay for a small repair and not replace the roof and perhaps the approved payment is under deductible. In some cases, the insurance is correct in their decision to not replace the roof. There are many factors that go into the claim decisions.
Here are reasons the insurance company is correct in their roof hail damage claim decision:
- The direct roof hail damage is not extensive and there was not roof hail damage on all slopes of the roofing system.
- Your insurance policy has an extremely high deductible for roof hail damage claims.
- The roof hail damage was minimal, and your roof material is not old and the roof shingles, roof tile or whatever roof covering you have is not discontinued and can still be purchased new. I would never agree repair with used material that is discontinued as this will not put your roof back to a pre-loss condition and properly indemnify you.
If this is your hail damage roof situation, I would always recommend getting a second opinion to ensure they are correct in their findings. Prime Adjustments will review your documentation and review your hail damage roof Denver claim at no cost to give you peace of mind.
Should I Wait to File my Hail Damage Roof Denver Insurance Claim
We get this question a lot. Being in Denver there are hailstorms all the time and many policyholders tell us they have roof hail damage in Denver and want to wait for the next storm.
Your insurance policy is a contract. Many are over 100 pages long and you don’t know exactly what all the fine print means. In some insurance policies they will sneak in that you have one year to file from the date of loss and if you don’t your payment will then change to an ACV policy for the claim. Meaning that you are only entitled to the actual cash value and not the full replacement cost. The actual cash value will depend on the age and condition of your roof. Some Denver insurance policies have a roof depreciation schedule in which the carrier dictates the amount of payment they will provide depending on the age of your roof, not the condition.
If you have roof hail damage in Denver you want to make the claim as soon as you can to ensure you are not giving the carrier late notice. Most policyholders are not going up on their roof to look for damage after hailstorms so there’s also an argument on what was reasonable notice.
Lastly, if you don’t want to make an insurance claim and you have roof hail damage, you run the risk of being uninsured. If you wait until after the statute of limitations and you have a new claim at a later date the insurance carrier can say that you have old damage and it is not covered under your current policy.
Why It’s So Important to Get a Second Opinion on My Hail Damage Roof Denver Claim?
As noted earlier sometimes the carrier absolutely correct in their claim decision. At Prime Adjustments we will review your insurance policy for potential limitations, all claim documentations, the insurance carriers claim decision and documentation and lastly your roof hail damage to determine if you are being paid everything you are owned under your insurance policy that you have paid for.
In some claims the carrier is paying for everything, but the amount is too low, or they are missing line items to properly repair or rebuild your roof. When we do our roof inspection, we typically find many damages the carrier has missed in their inspection, or the carrier has told the field adjuster they will not pay for certain line items.
Repairability of a roofing system is also an important issue to review. Is the current roofing material still available. Is there a match or will your roof have different colors. Do you have a shingle roof and are the asphalt shingles brittle? If so, a repair may not be able to be done. If you have a tile roof and you’re able to replace some broken tiles, how many tiles will be broken during the repair? Is the carrier paying for additional breakage during the repair?
You may have a roof hail dispute based on the hail size. The carrier may say roof hail damage at the date of loss is too small to do the damage. However, sometimes small hail is very dense and can do some major damage to roofing systems.
Many Denver roofing contractors in Denver may reach out to you or knock on your door for a free inspection and tell you that your claim is a home run and you have extensive roof damage and that you need a new roof. Many contractors are extremely knowledgeable, and we assist Denver roofing contractors throughout Denver by assisting their clients with their claims, so they get a proper payout they are entitled to under their policy. As a public adjuster, we are licensed by the state of Colorado to negotiate insurance policy, where it is illegal for a roofing contractor to do so. A roofing contractor can certainly show the damage to the carrier, but they cannot negotiate the insurance policy.
As a policyholder expert, we’re familiar with the different insurance policies offered in Colorado and their hail roof damage coverage and limitations in Denver. A full assessment of your roof hail claim is imperative to ensure you know where you stand and if your claim holds water.
What Is the Insurance Process and How Can I Get My Hail Damage Roof Denver Claim Paid?
When it comes to Denver hail claims, there are a couple recourse mechanisms policyholders have at their disposal prior to requiring legal counsel. Denver Public Adjusting and Denver insurance appraisals are two options for claim dispute resolution that many policyholders have at their disposal, but each has a set of situations where they are best suited. For more information on how appraisal works, visit our page on Denver insurance appraisals. Additionally, a claim can be handled by a public adjuster and then sent to appraisal, but in most states the named public adjuster cannot act as an appraiser on the same file. Generally speaking, public adjusting services are more suited to those who do not want to be burdened by the process of investigation, documentation, and negotiation of their claim, or if they are facing a denial in coverage for all or part of their claim.
When is Appraisal the Better Option for My Hail Damage Roof Denver Claim?
Public adjusters can assist in resolving the hail damage coverage dispute as well as substantiating the loss. Denver insurance appraisals are better suited for situations where there is minimal or no coverage dispute, but a significant repairability, repair methodology, or cost of repairs dispute. While there have been court decisions affirming appraisers’ ability to allow for causation to be included as part of the appraisal, the process is better suited to resolve disputes on an otherwise agreed upon claim.
One of the partners at Prime Adjustments, started his public adjusting career representing Denver hail damage insurance claims in the metropolitan area in 2012 and has worked to assist property owners in the area ever since. His familiarity with the region and understanding of prevailing regulations lends him a unique ability to properly advocate for the insured parties he represents. If you own or represent a property in Denver that has been damaged by hail, give Prime Adjustments a call today for a free public adjuster consultation.
What Types of Claims Do Denver Colorado Public Adjusters Represent?
