Do you have hail damage? Let’s talk about it.
It is commonplace that insurance carriers write roof damage resulting from hail off as wear and tear or natural abrasions caused over a period of time. This is the case more often seen when involving tiled roofs. Dents and impacts are less obvious than they would be on metal and shingle roofs, roof tiles will not always crack or break and often will remain in place.
While the tile could remain mostly intact to the untrained eye, a tile can also be worn, weakened, chipped or scared by hail and can result in its seal becoming broken allowing rain to enter; damage the ceilings and interior of the property. Not only can hail affect your roof but windows and glass can be broken allowing the damage to reach the interior of your property.
An example of harder to identify and commonly overlooked damage to windows is when the seals of the window has been compromised due to the impact of hail.
When a window has a compromised seal, it can be near impossible to identify without using proper test and overlooked by the insurance carrier if not brought to their attention.
Additionally, depending on the percentage of the windows that are affected and the type of windows installed in the property, code enforcement can turn what seemed like a simple and affordable repair into a much larger and expensive repair for the policyholder.
Especially if they are not properly compensated in the settlement of their claim. This example is only one of many other damages that can be caused by hail that can be a costly oversight to a policyholder.
Most policyholders do not know the state statues and local building codes that may apply to their loss or what to do when roof tiles, bricks, or other building materials are discontinued and cannot be matched and how these items can result in a surprisingly higher repair cost to the property owner. Properly identifying and documenting hail specific damages can be difficult and tedious and without proper training, near impossible.
In most cases where a policyholder is not represented damages are overlooked because a policyholder does not know what to look for, the extent of coverage that their insurance policy affords, understand limits or how deductibles apply, what forms to fill out and when those forms are to be submitted, what signing a form can mean to the outcome of their claim, when specific items are relevant or irrelevant, and the complexities of handling a claim. This causes undue stress in an already stressful time and when handled improperly can be very costly to the policyholder.
We are a Team of Experts for Hail Damage Claims
Our team of public adjusters at Dependable Claims Specialists are highly trained and educated experts in handling your claim, the processes that are involved in handling your claim, how to properly and fully identify your damages, how to estimate the damage to your property properly, how to present your damages to the carrier, and what your carrier expects and needs. This results in avoiding mis-documentation of your claim facts that can negatively impact to your settlement. Dependable Claims Specialists Public Adjusters knows how to relieve you of the stress and how to maximize your claim settlement. We are here to work for you!
