Wind ripped off a bunch of shingles. I have questions about my policy. (PA)
Two nights ago, we had some crazy wind in Southeastern PA. The following morning, I woke up to about 15-20 or so shingles laying in my yard, with additional rows of shingles flapping in the wind on my roof. I called a roofer out to put up tarps, and his opinion was that patching the bald spots wouldn’t look good, nor would it last that long. He opined that I really need a new roof.
I recently had a leak from my bathroom that destroyed a couple kitchen cabinets, and I decided to retain that loss myself since I planned on redoing the kitchen anyhow. Unfortunately, I don’t have much capacity to retain a full roof replacement on top of that, so now I’m considering filing a claim. Before I call it in, I had a couple of questions for the personal lines experts here.
The damage: The roofer tarp job cost $450. He pulled down the shingles that were dangling on my roof, but left most of it untouched at my request, since I wanted to give an adjuster the opportunity to investigate the damaged property. Even still, there is maybe a 10′ x 15′ bald patch where shingles are missing. On top of that, a few shingles went missing from the ridge cap, as well as here and another slope of the roof. The roofer said that my decking feels “thin” but that there are no signs of a leak yet. I just purchased the home in November 2017, so I feel confident that this is all new damage.
My policy: I have a Farmers/Truck Insurance Exchange policy, that carries a $1500 deductible for all perils except Windstorm and Hail, which carries a $2500 deductible. I purchased two optional coverages: (1) Replacement Cost Roof Settlement, and (2) $10,000 of Limited Matching Coverage for Siding and Roof Materials.
My questions:
(1)My policy doesn’t define windstorm. Is it correct to assume that any wind strong enough to rip shingles off is a windstorm, or does a windstorm have to be a tornado or named weather event? In other words, which deductible is applicable?
(2)Is my interpretation of the Limited Matching Coverage correct insofar that if any shingles are replaced, and the replacement shingles don’t look nearly identical to the undamaged shingles, that my carrier will pay up to an additional $10K to replace the remaining shingles?
(3)My home inspector guessed that my roof was 12 years old, with 20 year shingles. The lady (in her 80’s) that I purchased the home from couldn’t recall when the roof was replaced. If it turns out that the roof is a couple years older, could we be in for a surprise denial? The insurer did inspect the house prior to the policy issuance.
(4)I’m fairly sure the answer is no, but would insurance pay for replacing any decking?
(5)I’m also fairly certain that the answer is no, but does it make sense to call a public adjuster for what seems like a straightforward loss? Does anyone have any experience with using a public adjuster for a roof claim?
(6)I’m fairly sure that 20 year shingles aren’t around any longer. Does insurance pay for whatever the current standard shingle is (30 year I think)? If not, I’m able to upgrade and pay the difference, right?
Thank you for taking a look.
submitted by /u/GreatDeku
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