What You Should Know About Making Roofing Insurance Claims
Your roof is an integral part of your home’s foundation. It protects you from various elements, such as rain, hail, and even hurricanes. However, unexpected events can damage its structural integrity, leaving a hole or some damage in it. When this happens, filing a roof insurance claim is essential to help it get repaired or replaced.
With hurricane season in full bloom in some locations, you must understand everything about your roofing insurance and how to maximize your roof insurance claims. Here are some things you should know about this.
Go Over Your Insurance Policy
As a homeowner, you are responsible for learning your insurance policy from front to back. Reading through your home insurance policy allows you to fully understand what type of coverage is included and what types of damages are covered under your policy. Some cover hail damage, hurricane damage, and wind damage, to name a few, so be sure to get comprehensive insurance.
Apart from the coverage limits, familiarizing yourself with the deductibles, exclusions, and other specific requirements that you need when making claims will help you out in a jiffy, especially when there’s an emergency. Don’t hesitate to call your insurance agent to clarify some points you have a hard time understanding.
Report the Damage Right Away
When damages are done to your roof, make sure to call the insurance company immediately. This lets them know about the extent of the damage and keeps you well within the time limit of reporting and filing a claim, if there’s any.
Document the Damage
In relation to the previous point, documenting the damages on your roof is important. This will give the insurance company a better picture of what they need to cover and what a roofing contractor needs to repair or replace.
Pictures, as well as videos, of the damages will help you prove not only that the damage occurred, but also that it was caused by an insured event in the first place.
Get the Roof Assessed
Having extensive damage on your roof can be quite dangerous, more so as it affects the structural integrity of your home. Get your roof inspected right away by roofing contractors. They will give you the lowdown of what needs to be repaired and how much it generally costs.
After reporting the damage, your insurance company will likewise send out an adjuster. The adjuster will assess the damage on your roof and determine how much the repairs or replacement will cost. Compare this with the assessment and inspection conducted by a roofing contractor.
Find Reputable Roofing Contractors
Once you have everything you need, it’s time to find local roofing contractors in the area. Get estimates and quotes from them. This is a great way to gauge a much fairer cost for repairs or replacements, something which comes in handy in the event the insurance company won’t cover everything. At the same time, take the time to ask them if they are willing to work with your insurance company.
Finding a reliable and reputable roofing contractor can be challenging, especially when you don’t know where to start. To help you out, you may want to ask your prospective roofers for a portfolio. This gives you more insight about what and how they work.
Moreover, asking for references is also a good idea as you can call homeowners about whether or not they are satisfied with the roofing work rendered to them.
The Bottom Line
Experiencing damages on your roof can be a pain as it entails filing an insurance claim to secure your roof. However, with the right knowledge and preparation, as well as the right roofing contractors, you can make the whole process much more manageable.