What Every Property Owner Needs to Know About Insurance Claims Before Filing One

If your property has recently been damaged from a storm, flooding, fire or other calamity, you are likely racing around trying to figure out how to initiate your claim.

Maybe you’re lucky enough to never have had to file for hail damage restoration before. Either way, this is invaluable information that every homeowner needs to know.

1. Insurance companies are for-profit entities. Insurance companies need to turn a profit. They can’t do that if they’re paying the full amount of what every property was worth pre-damage. But they will if you know how they operate. In our experience, the insurance company’s offer is usually about a third of what you need to repair or rebuild. Most people assume they must take that offer. We can help negotiate what’s needed in a language they speak.
2. Your insurance company will likely ask you to get three bids on the work. They will pay out a claim that is based on the cheapest bid. Is the cheapest bid the evaluation you want the company using on your claim? Of course not. You want value.
3. When you ask your insurance carrier for a repair company’s name, they will give you one they’ve worked with before. If you don’t perform your own due diligence, you could be getting “just” a roofer or “just a flooring person.” You will also likely have selected a vendor who does a lot of work for insurance companies. Is that the focus you want them to have? If they depend on the insurance companies for business, who do you think comes first? We can tell you no one wants to bite the hand that feeds them. We used to get a lot of work from insurance companies and before we switched to a customer-focused approach.
4. It’s all in the coding and the assessment. Insurance companies operate on data and data relies on codes and numbers. If an assessment is not worded correctly or the assessment does not take the whole structure into account, your claim may not be valued at what it should. When we look at a structure, we look at all parts of the structure, not just the roof. Hail damage is not selective. It doesn’t remain just on your roof. You need an assessment that looks at the whole structure or you could end up paying the price for undiscovered damage later.
5. You need a policy expert. Do you know exactly what your property insurance policy covers? If you’re like most homeowners, you don’t. That’s okay. But if you’re not an expert in the property policy, you need someone who is. And you need that person on your side. You can rest assured the insurance company knows the policy. You need to work with someone who is willing to open it up and see what it covers. The details may surprise you.
6. A remediation expert remediates. Remediation experts don’t have to build back. They may just clean up the problem. Most of them only carry a C or B license. In some cases, it’s possible to just repair or seal. These remedies, while they can be done doesn’t mean they always should be the course of action. They may not be good for your home in the long run and may cause problems later or when you try to sell. At Blue Ribbon Exteriors, we’re building everything back to code, saving you money and issues in the future, and giving you better return on your property investment.
7. Insurance companies paying out claims aren’t worried about codes. Keeping up with codes and ensuring repairs are up to current code falls on the contractor. Most property owners just want to restore their property to what it was before the catastrophe. At Blue Ribbon Exteriors, we go the extra mile to ensure all work is up to code even if codes have changed since the home was originally built. We take it upon ourselves to work with your insurance company to incorporate that into the claim.

Why Calling “Just” a Roofer Can be a Costly Mistake

There are a lot of good roofers out there. They know their craft and they do roof after roof in the same way they did the 12 previous ones.

But if you have an insurance claim, “just” a roofer—even a good one—can be a costly mistake.

Here’s why…

If you have a roof leak or damage from a hailstorm, it’s common sense to call your insurance company and then a roof repair company to fix the damage.

Right?

After all, the damage is on the roof. That’s where the leak or damage is.

So, they come out and do a roof assessment and tell you that you need a new roof or maybe just a repair. They give you the bid. It’s nice and low, like your insurance company wants.

And The Roofer Fixes It

Sure, the back and forth communication with your insurance company may have been annoying but it’s all better now.

Except this roofer you hired, the one who was really cheap, only knows roofs. He examined your shingles and based your insurance claim on what he saw on the roof.

Too bad he never checked the gutters.

• And the patio…
• And that area over the bay window…
• And your fence…

And that is really a shame because if he had checked those things, your insurance likely would’ve covered that damage too. But weeks or months later, when you realize the problem on your own, it will be too late.

That is a sad story that too many customers of “just” roofing companies tell.

When we work with a client who has storm or other types of property damage, we look at the entire property ensuring that you get the largest claim approved that you are entitled to. Plus, since we are a Class A construction company, we don’t have to call in anyone else to fix the other things we found.

We can do it all.

And that way you’re only dealing with one contractor. We’re managing the job end to end, every component. Plus, we’re going to negotiate with the insurance on all parts of it.

Why does that matter to you?

Simply put, less headache for you! Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The other thing we do that the “just” a roofer doesn’t is we take on the role of your insurance claim advocate. We handle the back and forth for you. We work on the paperwork and administrative details that the insurance company knows you don’t have time for.

Blue Ribbon Exteriors gets the claim adjusted properly every time. And we can help with things most roofing companies don’t like getting your alternative living expenses under your home insurance claim processed.

The smallest claim increase we ever negotiated was 50% above the original claim. Most are higher than that!

Our customers are often amazed at how easy the process is for them when they work with us. We invite you to experience the Blue Ribbon difference. Call us today and leave the “just” a roofer guy to do his thing, just not on your house.