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The Pitfalls Of Falling For Roofing Insurance Claims

MitchellAndSonsRoofing — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 22:40:47 +0000

Roof insurance can seem like the best decision you will ever make for your brand new roof. As you’re signing the dotted line, a wave of relief washes over you because your roof is covered. You’ve asked the questions you thought were important and feel the roofing insurance policy you have selected is exactly what you need and possibly more. You’re covered, so you don’t worry when you go about your home improvement chores.

Whether some wind rolls through or you hear the pitter patter from small creatures, you don’t worry that much. Your roof insurance company has you covered. Unfortunately, it’s just not that simple. Your roofing insurance company does not want to shell out thousands of dollars for a new roof unless it’s necessary.

On the dotted line you signed, you agreed to a policy that is incredibly limiting and does not always have your best interests in mind. Anything that is not explicitly spelled out in your contract will not be covered. Period. Your insurance agent didn’t make the rules, but must follow them. Make sure you arm yourself with enough knowledge to protect yourself from the pitfalls of roofing insurance claims.

Roofing Insurance Claims Explained

Regardless of how your roof is damaged, the roof insurance claims process can be a headache. You need to figure out the damage, who to call, and schedule everyone to arrive at times that work with your family’s hectic schedule. Let’s go over what a typical insurance claim process looks like:

Notice the damage (whether small or large)
Call a roof inspector
Document the damage
Contact the roof insurance company
Schedule a time for the agent to come by
Create and file report
Wait for claim to be processed

It’s important to note that you should always keep your safety top of mind. If there is significant damage to your home, do not return until it is safe to do so.

While the roof insurance claims process seems simple, it is not meant for every issue that may arise with your roof. In fact, your roof insurance likely only covers a small number of rare instances that may happen to your roof. The more common occurrences are not covered by most roofing insurance policies.

What Is And Is Not Covered By Roof Insurance

Before you sign your contract, you need to understand what is covered. Otherwise, you may have a false sense of confidence in what costs will be associated with a reroofing or repair.

Covered

Storm damage is typically the only issue that is covered by regular roof insurance policies. Special, more expensive policies may cover more. However, the average homeowner will usually only purchase regular coverage. This regular coverage truly does not cover anything aside from storm damage. Storm damage can include fallen trees, missing roof due to natural disasters, and hurricane force winds.

Not Covered

Anything that is not caused by storm damage is usually not covered by most major roof insurance providers. This can come as a shock to many homeowners because they thought they were covered for any damage, defect, or poor installation.

Consider the following issues that are not covered by roofing insurance:

Using staples to hang decorations on the roof
Damage caused from irregular roof maintenance
Children ruining shingles by using the roof as a diving platform for the pool below
Poor installation by the roofing contractor
Manufacturer defects in roofing materials

Homeowners can only rely on their roof insurance for storm damage. Any defects to the roofing materials themselves must be replaced by the manufacturer if they are still covered under warranty. If leaks have been caused by poor installation, the homeowner must track down their roofing contractor to make a labor warranty claim. Unfortunately, as we have described many times in this blog series, most roofing contractors will be in the wind and the homeowner will be left to replace their roof on their own.

Get A Professional Roof Inspection Before You Make A Claim

You can avoid the pitfalls that come with making a roof insurance claim by contacting a professional roofing company for an inspection. Your roof inspector can let you know exactly what has caused the damage to your roof and if it will meet the criteria for an insurance claim. More often than not, whatever the roof inspector finds will not be worth a claim. While this may be shocking, they will explain all of your options. Any professional will not make a fuss if you say you want a second opinion.

Make sure you turn to a professional roofing company with proven experience before you let them on your roof. It is common for con artists to drive around after a large natural disaster and offer to inspect your roof for you. They may even claim they can help you get your insurance claim fast tracked, for a fee. These individuals are only looking to make a quick buck. They may cause damage that was never on your roof and then run away with your money.

If you don’t get an inspection before making an insurance claim, you will not be armed with the knowledge you need to stand up to your insurance agent. Insurance companies that cannot afford for you to cash in on your policy will try to say you do not meet the criteria to make a claim. You are permitted to have your roof inspector at your home at the time when your insurance agent arrives. Your inspector can ensure your insurance agent doesn’t use roofing jargon that you don’t understand.

When in doubt, get a roof inspection to protect yourself from the pitfalls of insurance claims.

Trust The Roof Inspectors At Mitchell And Sons Roofing

We have seen every kind of scenario possible with roof insurance. We understand it can be a frustrating and uncertain time when you need a roof repair or replacement. When you contact Mitchell and Sons Roofing to inspect your roof in New Port Richey, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, or elsewhere in Tampa Bay, you can have peace of mind that we are being completely honest and transparent with what we have found.

The post The Pitfalls Of Falling For Roofing Insurance Claims first appeared on Mitchell and Sons Roofing .

What Your Manufacturer’s Warranty Really Means

MitchellAndSonsRoofing — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 22:19:25 +0000

Anytime a homeowner purchases a roof, one of the first (if not the first) questions they ask is, “How long will this roof last me?” Many are ecstatic to hear we provide them with 25 year roof shingles. Immediately, they think that means the roof will last 25 years. One of the next questions they ask is, “What is the manufacturer warranty?”. When they also hear the answer is 25 years, the homeowner now expects the roof to last 25 years without fail. If the roof does have issues, the homeowner expects it to be covered under the roof manufacturer warranty.

Unfortunately, the roof manufacturer warranty is not a homeowner’s saving grace. In fact, the manufacturer’s warranty isn’t really in place to help the homeowner at all. It is a simple blanket statement that the roof shingles have a 25 year shelf life, whether they are installed on a roof or not.

The manufacturer’s warranty will not replace the roof for anything other than a manufacturer defect. Natural disasters, normal wear and tear, poor maintenance, or a roofing company’s installation defect are the manufacturer’s concern. The company that created the asphalt shingles is only concerned about replacing roof shingles that have a defect the company mistakenly manufactured

What a Manufacturer Warranty Does Not Cover

It’s important to understand that a 25 year roof shingles mean they have a 25 year warranty. The roof manufacturer warranty covers very little in that time frame, and the manufacturer will make it very clear about what the warranty does not cover:

Normal wear and tear
Aging granules on asphalt shingles
Sun bleaching
Missing roof shingles from a storm
Tornado or hurricane took off the whole roof
Leaks caused by the roofing company installation
Decorations on the roof that cause damage
Homeowner walking on the roof
Accidentally ruining roof shingles while working on gutters
Mildew from oak leaves
Water damage from poor runoff
Animals, critters and pests
Fire in the home
Poorly maintained roof
And anything else that does not relate to a manufacturer defect

Do not believe your roof is covered by the manufacturer warranty for 25 years. Your asphalt shingles are only guaranteed to last for at least 25 years without any issues. Between your roof manufacturer warranty and your insurance (stay tuned for our next blog to learn more about that), you don’t have many options other than paying out of pocket for any issues that occur. Your labor warranty is the only thing that will protect you if an issue arises from a poor installation by your roofing company. We covered what all of that entails in our last blog, so be sure to check it out to learn more about labor warranties.

What a Roof Manufacturer Warranty Actually Covers

Manufacturers are in the roofing business to make money by selling their products to roofing contractors. They are not interested in giving away new roof shingles for anything that they did not directly cause. Roofing manufacturers do feel bad whenever homeowners lose their roof due to a natural disaster or cannot get a hold of their roofing contractor who has gone out of business. However, they did not cause the problem, so they do not feel they need to lose money to provide a solution.

The roof manufacturer warranty is very simple and incredibly clear. It only covers a manufacturer defect on the roof shingles. During the 25 year asphalt shingles warranty, a manufacturer will offer replacement shingles if a defect becomes known. Some examples of easily identifiable defects that will be discovered before the roof goes on include holes and tears. However, if your roofing contractor does not have the time to spare waiting for the warranty to process and decides to install the defective shingles anyway, that is not covered. Any obvious defects must be reported to the manufacturer before the roof is installed.

Long term defects that could occur during the 25 year warranty are reported directly by the manufacturer. Even if your roof is five days old or 24 years old, the manufacturer will provide new asphalt shingles due to the recall. Expect to cover the cost of having a roofing company come out and install the replacement roof shingles on your own, however.

While Mitchell and Sons Roofing does not offer this, you may have heard of lifetime roof shingles warranties. These do not have an expiration date, and defects are determined by the manufacturer. If you or your neighbor has one of these warranties, you will need to contact the manufacturer to learn the process for making a warranty claim.

Our Roofing Company Is Always Transparent

Whenever we visit your home for your free, no obligation quote, you will quickly understand we are completely transparent with you about what you can expect from the life of your roof. We strive to educate our clients because we want them to understand the process. We will happily answer any of the questions you may have and go over all of the options with you. Our exceptional craftsmanship combined with our fair pricing has earned us the title of the best affordable roofing company for roof shingles in New Port Richey, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and throughout Tampa Bay. Contact us today to let us know the time that works best for you for us to stop by and give you an estimate.

The post What Your Manufacturer’s Warranty Really Means first appeared on Mitchell and Sons Roofing .

Understand What Your Labor Warranty Really Means Before Signing Your Contract

MitchellAndSonsRoofing — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 20:49:47 +0000

It’s important you understand warranties and what they really mean. Part one of our warranties explanation will go over your labor warranty, and we will release part two next month that goes over manufacturers’ warranties.

When it comes to choosing which roofing company to go with for your residential or commercial roofing project, you need to make sure you go with a strong, healthy company. Unfortunately, 90% of roofing contractors will be out of business in less than seven years. That means seven of them will go out of business before the average labor warranty expires.

Only the strongest, healthiest roofing companies with good capital and high quality work will be able to withstand the test of time. If you opt to go with a roofing contractor that does okay work and promises an extended labor warranty, you likely will never get to cash in on that warranty if something goes wrong.

Your Labor Warranty Is Only As Strong As The Company Itself

Roofing companies that provide okay or poor work typically change their LLC three or more times in the 10 years they will last in business. Each time they change their LLC, they are no longer contractually obligated to honor your labor warranty.

This means you will not be able to get “free” repair work on a poorly installed roof. The roofing contractor that changed their LLC is off the hook and you will now need to obtain roofing estimates from another company. If the original work is beyond repair, you may be liable for an entire roof replacement.

You cannot rely on the promised labor warranty alone when choosing your roofing contractor. You need to consider the roofing company’s work history, the labor warranty itself, and the total contract price.

Consider the Roofing Contactor’s Previous Work

The roofing company you are working with should have some examples of their previous work and be able to provide all of their required licenses and insurance. Read up on their customer reviews and see if you can understand what kind of work they provide. If it’s mediocre and customers often need the contractor to come out two or three times to fix an issue, this should be a red flag.

Another red flag is to look at how long the roofing company has been in business. If the contractor boasts about their 10, 15, or even 20+ years of experience, their company should be in business for a number of years. If the company age is 5 or less, this could be a sign they are the type of contractor that changes their LLC often to get out of their labor warranty obligations

Understand Your Labor Warranty

If you don’t understand your labor warranty, you could easily be falling into a pitfall with the wrong contractor. Labor warranties can range for any number of years, but the most common ones you will run into are 5, 10, or 15 years. The labor warranty covers any issues that arise from a poor installation by the roofing contractor. This does not cover storm damage, manufacturer defects, or any other issues that may arise.

If your roofing contractor is promising to fix any issues regardless of the cause, this is a red flag. They are trying to oversell you and have you quickly sign the dotted line on your contract. In truth, roofing companies should stand behind their work and sell you on the fact they will not need to come back out to fix your roof. Your roofing contractor should be confident they will install the roof so well that it will last the average length of time for the chosen roofing material.

Roofing contractors that are quick to have you focus on the labor warranty alone are not going to provide you with the quality of workmanship you deserve. Even worse, they may not even be around to make those promised repairs in the future.

Your Total Contract Prices Matters

When it comes to roofing projects, great roofing companies and contractors will all charge around the same price. While it’s important to receive a variety of quotes, those that are far higher or lower than others usually indicate trouble with that roofing contractor. Roofing projects are typically large costs, so it’s understandable that you will want to go with the lowest quote you receive. However, you need to consider what that lowest quote involves.

Contractors who underbid on your project will likely not provide the same high-quality roof you expect and deserve. In fact, they will use the cheapest materials and take any shortcut they can along the way. The finished product they provide will last one to three years, and then problems will begin to arise. Your contract with them that promised a wonderful labor warranty will no longer be valid because they will have either changed their LLC or they are out of the roofing business altogether.

While the cheapest contractor is tempting to choose, it’s in your best interest to go with a trusted and reliable roofing company. These companies will not use their labor warranty as their main selling point. They will always sell you on the quality of their work and the longevity of your new roof.

Choose Tampa Bay’s Trusted Roofing Company

While we encourage you to obtain as many quotes as you need to make your most informed decision, you can never go wrong by turning to Mitchell and Sons Roofing. Our roofs continue to withstand the test of time and hurricane force winds. We understand that warranties are important, which is why created this post about your labor warranty. Contact us today to get started on your free no obligation quote. Be sure to stay tuned for next month’s post on manufacturers’ warranties and what they really mean!

The post Understand What Your Labor Warranty Really Means Before Signing Your Contract first appeared on Mitchell and Sons Roofing .