After a hail or wind storm many property owners will see neighbors with new roofs, paid by insurance, and ask “why not my roof”? Same storm, same hail, so why not a new roof? The correct answer is complicated.
The fact neighbors had hail damage is always relevant. Complete roof replacement from nearby property is a strong indicator of severe hail damage on your property. No insurer or property owner advocate should ignore what happened to neighbors. However, life is complex, including how roofs are constructed. The two main reasons why one property receives a new roof, and a neighbor does not are: a) differences in building materials, and b) difference in insurer coverage.
Not all building materials are the same. Of course, a metal roof is something very different from a shingle. Within the realm of shingles there are significant differences. A shingled roof only five years old, from a durable, high-quality shingle manufacturer, will receive hail hits differently than a shingled roof with old, brittle shingles that have received a lot of wear and tear. It is very possible that a neighbor with an old roof sustains greater damage than your newer roof. Even roofs of the same age are different. Not all shingles are as durable as another, hence the different price points you see at the store.
Not all insurer policies are the same, and there is large variation in insurer approaches to an adjustment. Many insurance policies have significant carve-outs or exclusions, that reduce the amount an insurer will pay, but not all insurers do so. Insurance companies often take very different approaches when adjusting a claim: some are generous and others not. Some adjusters want to make a name for themselves and save their employer money, others less so. Insurance claim adjusting will never be a completely uniform endeavor when different insurance companies take different approaches.
Another, less common reason but still noteworthy is the fact that all hailstorms do not necessarily affect areas with intent damage, peripheral damage, and at some point, no damage. Hailstorms must end somewhere. If you are on the edge of a hailstorm, it is possible to stand in one spot and be free and clear of all hail, and then walk ten paces into two-inch hail. There is always going to be degrees of damage on the edges of the storm, and many property owners fall right on that edge. I have seen instances were property owners say, “all my neighbors got a new roof”, but in reality, these neighbors are mostly in one direction.
Life is complicated, and so are hailstorms. I’ll end this blog post where I started: hail damage to neighbors are always relevant. It is always something an insurance company must consider when adjusting a claim. To ignore damage to a neighbor is to ignore damage to that location. Yet property owners simply can’t say that damage to a neighbor is “game over” insofar as to what happened to their roof.
If you need help assessing damage to your roof, talk to a seasoned contractor, public adjuster, or send me an e-mail at ed@beckmannlawfirm.com.