Waddle busted their ass to get my place done quickly after the deracho. Were great to work with
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Hail damage and insurance dispute
- Thread starter salennon07
- Start date
Not all roofs are the same. Our roof was the only one in the neighborhood not to have roof damage from a hail storm 3 years ago. Adjuster and 2 roofing contractors confirmed no damage. Our 40 year rated shingles evidently held up better than typical roofs. We definitely had hail as we got full replacement of all gutters, leaf guards, doors, and premium windows. In the end, our claim was probably twice what a roof replacement would have cost. The windows were a fluke. Normally hail damage is only for the trim. Our windows were a premium brand from Pozzi out of the northwest. The are out of business with no replacement parts available. Thus we were able to convince the insurance company that the only comparable replacement would be all new Pella windows.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Unexpected situation going on with me. I put in a claim right away, and I had a roofing company knock on the door the next day, offering to do an inspection. I looked them up and they seemed to have a good track record, so I agreed. They came back and did an inspection, finding a bunch of damage that I hadn't noticed. They took a bunch of pictures and told me to call them when I found out when the adjuster was coming, so they could be here at the same time and argue my case with the insurance company.
So, last night the adjuster called. She asked if I'd already been working with a roofing company. When I told her yes, she asked if they'd taken pictures. I said they had, and she said "Good. If you give me their contact information, I can just get the pictures from them and I won't have to come out to do my own inspection."
It was not the way I thought it was going to go down. We'll see how it works out long term, but for now I'm optimistic.
So, last night the adjuster called. She asked if I'd already been working with a roofing company. When I told her yes, she asked if they'd taken pictures. I said they had, and she said "Good. If you give me their contact information, I can just get the pictures from them and I won't have to come out to do my own inspection."
It was not the way I thought it was going to go down. We'll see how it works out long term, but for now I'm optimistic.
When I called Waddle they said watch out for door knockers. Many of them are from out of town and they may not be up to date on Ames code, etc….
Door knockers aren’t the problem. You just have to have know when someone isn’t local. Also, Ames doesn’t have specific codes when it comes to this stuff, Iowa does. Out of staters are the problem. I am not based in Ames, live in Des Moines actually. I was born and raised Ames and would say I’m local, and have been working with quite a few homeowners, and have also door knocked. Not everyone knows the process or the extent of damage they may have. I prefer not to, but such is the reality sometimes.
Waddle just doesn’t like someone competing with them. There are really great companies to work with if you can get past the first wave of contractors coming in.
I think you’re right, it may have been out of staters not out of towners. My fault.
Find a roofing company that will come out and walk your roof with the insurance adjuster. We got major hail damage in 2017 that dented our gutters and downspouts and shredded our window screens. The roofing company that inspected our roof met the adjustor when he inspected our roof and we got a new roof gutters and downspouts and window screens replaced for our $500 deductible.
Reach out to your agent, have them call and ask for it to be readjusted, or ask for them to order an engineers report. There are calculations of hits per square foot they use. Get you agent involved.
Not true at all. Plenty will, 2 claims maybe not but only a few make you be claim free. I am an Independent agent of my 15 plus markets only 1 makes you be claim free over a 3 year period.
You give them the estimate but cut off what they are paying. Get an honest bud from them.
Had major hail in 2017 with IMT as our carrier. The adjuster saw little damage on our roof and only wanted to replace the damaged shingles and select pieces of siding. Everyone else in our neighborhood was getting full replacement and our 10 year old home would have looked like a checkerboard due to weathering and inability to match.
The adjuster finally agreed to full coverage the third time after meeting with the contractor on the roof, who joked they were going to throw him off of it if he didn't come around. The contractor later said in their experience IMT was usually difficult to settle with. After the job was done at next renewal we switched to West Bend and couldn't be happier.
The adjuster finally agreed to full coverage the third time after meeting with the contractor on the roof, who joked they were going to throw him off of it if he didn't come around. The contractor later said in their experience IMT was usually difficult to settle with. After the job was done at next renewal we switched to West Bend and couldn't be happier.
Insurance pays to have the work done to your house, whatever it may be. Contractors work for the price provided. If you don’t tell me what your insurance has covered how am I supposed to give you an exact breakdown in an estimate myself?
Good contractors aren’t trying to rip anyone off. We just want to make sure the items that are being covered by your insurance are sufficient for a full replacement as they sometimes miss things (ie ice and water barrier, ridge cap shingles, steep charges, 2 story charges) Usually they are pretty good about it but with all these CAT adjuster coming in from out of states, as well, they don’t know all the Iowa codes. It’s my job to make sure it’s all there. If it is, the amount provided by insurance will cover the work done to let’s say the roof. That’s all we charge for when we invoice insurance, and we spell out the items we don’t do. Our customers get a copy of that invoice and we break it down through the whole process.
Had a new one today - Insurance adjuster (State Farm) called and told me that they now do homeowners adjustments virtually (apparently they've been doing this on autos for a few years). They text a link to a video chat app at a scheduled time and I walk around the exterior of the house and show them the damage. If the damage is bad enough, they automatically replace what they see plus the roof. If it's inconclusive, they send out an actual adjuster.
Anyone had an experience like this before? I can see this turning out very good, or very badly for me.
Anyone had an experience like this before? I can see this turning out very good, or very badly for me.
They do this when there has been a significant impact to a large area of homes. Usually within a radius of a mile or two. Personally, as a project manager, I don’t like them because what is seen on video/picture is different than what your eyes can see, but as long as the collateral damage (downspouts, siding, fascia wraps, etc.) is visible, it can be mostly a good experience.
We had one the other day that the insurance told us, the contractor, to take photos around all elevations and roof, and document damage and send to them. We did, and then they saw how significant it was and said essentially we don’t believe you and now are sending out an adjuster. Anything to make the process more difficult!
Honestly, if anyone needs help with this stuff or has questions, I don’t really care about using me and my company, I just want to make sure people are getting taken care if. This can be a daunting experience and I hate how insurance can sometimes take advantage of not knowing. Feel free to DM me anytime.
That's weird to me. Would think they really wouldn't get an accurate visual.
I appreciate the input. I just have a hard time believing they will get an accurate representation of the damage unless it's obviously catasteophic. I'm fully ready to fight if I don't like the result!
We have IMT and had over $40k in hail damage 2 years ago and they gave us no issues. Between IMT and NuVu are house was back to normal in less then 2 months from the storm.
Absolutely. It may take a little bit but if you pursue what is rightfully deserved you can get it.
The problem I'm finding is that there is such a large volume of work, the contractors I've talked to (all local) aren't even providing estimates. They basically agree to do the job for whatever insurance is paying, and working directly with the adjuster to cover additional discovery / missed damage.
