Some Insurance Companies Suck
 

So here is my rant.

In my cul de sac their are maybe 4 houses that haven't received new roofs due to last years hail storm. (Including my own) Let alone all the house in my neighborhood that have new roofs. Anyways, I just received my adjuster's report and they of course denied my claim. The admitted to hail damage to fascia, soffit, siding which they are willing to repair but they denied the roof.

Sometimes I have the worst luck.

Anyone know a good insurance company. My house insurance is up for renewal and I will be switching?

What specific reason did they give you for denial?

Attached is your estimate of hail damages to your residence, please note there was no evidence of hail damages to your shingles that would affect its integrity and there no reason they will not last manufacture stated warranty. Your soft metal do have hail dents and siding does need repairs

There is a trick to these things.. Adjusters working for the insurance company usually deny these kinds of clams, usually blaming damage (if any) on age which to be fair is often the case. However if the adjuster is busy or unavailable the insurance company will send a contractor which is likely to one who will get the job so they'll always give you good news.

Yeah too late. I have another roofer coming out, but he says he has never had any of his reports change an insurance company's mind after they have denied it.

So have you seen damage to your shingles then or had a carpenter/roofer tell you that the shingles do need to be replaced?

I have seen damage to the lower roof, I myself have not been on the top part and I personally have no idea how much damage would need to be caused to effect the integrity of my shingles. That is why I called in another roofer now. Hey, if he agrees with the insurance company, I will count myself lucky that my house miraculously got missed admist a plethra of house damage. But I had hail damage hard enough to put holes in my siding, but no deterimental damage to the roof? Seems fishy.

If the contracter does say that you need new shingles, I'd get them to put in in writing and call then your broker.

I myself, had a claim.... ING sent people out and looked at things, and I had some siding replacement and full spout replacement, but no roof. They said there was no damage. I do know that I had a higher quality roof installed, of which they confirmed to me.

They did however tell me that I have 2 years, and if I wanted, I could have someone else look at it, and they would cover the cost. I never did.

ING has been great, with 4 claims (house, truck, car and trailer) hit by hail, by 2 different storms, they processed quickly and I had no issues.

FYI, hail damage causes divets on the shingles, this cracking the material... If there are no visible divets, then there probably isn't any damage due to hail. Just like divets on car surfaces, picture the same on roofing material.

I can see divets on the lower roof section. I may have to look into ING depending on what this new roofer finds out. They sound pretty good.

My only other problem is that I only recently noticed hail damage on the hood of my vehicle. Unless the light is in exactly the right position you don't notice them and you can't feel them at all. I was going to leave it, but if I switch companies for auto then their inspection would void future hail damage. So do I put a claim in for this?

I think your problem will be that you won't be able to submit to a new company, as the damage is a past occurance, of which they were not your insurance provider. You will have to hope for another big storm, that causes damage throughout the city, in order for you to try and get it covered.

Seems odd that they denied you when you can see the divets. That isn't good!

I think your best bet is to call your broker to get the best advise on whether to put in a claim or not. We don't have access to your policy, how this could affect your insurance rates or what coverage you have under your policy. You could possibly get some very bad advise for your specific situation.

Checking Insurance Consumer Reviews first? ;-)
 

Well, I am with TD Insurance and quite happy with them on the Home side though they were suck for my Auto insurance when I had a windshield chip... I believe Aviva and Belairdirect should be good as well. I would check Home Insurance Consumer Ratings before switching... :D

Good luck!

Unfortunately most don't know how good or bad their insurance companies are until they put in a claim. My parents had a fire on their acreage that took out my dads workshop (thousands in wood tools), a barn, freezers full of meat, truck and tractor. Fire was old electrical, insurance covered the workshop, dad had to fight for the tools and prove they were being used - he was doing renos in the house at the time so that was easy enough to do. But he had to pay first then get reimbursed. Lost on everything else bec a city underwriter wrote the policy wrong. Damage was more than $100,000, got maybe $50k back. They changed companies shortly after and ensured they had farm coverage.

all insurance companies suck, just some more than others.

Calgary have a GlobalTV troubleshooter?

Not sure if this will will help or not, but a bunch of my buddies from Sunik Roofing just went the the hail damage inspection program.

Maybe give them a call and ask for an inspection?

My wife once new an adjuster for a large insurance company, she said it was typical for them to deny big claims 3 times before they would finally pay out. This was because most people would just accept it and only the persistant ones or the ones threatening legal action were dealt with, saved the insurance company millions every year. If your independent roof inspector says there is roof damage don't let it go, it could cost you a ton of money in the future.

Well, they said I can appeal their decision and they will hire an independant roof inspector with no financial interest in the decision at my cost unless they find there is damage then it is added to the claim. That is reasonable I guess.

If you are really going to change companies, look around for an insurance broker, not a specific company. They shop for the best rates and do battle for you.
We've only had one claim, but it went very well.