Beware Allstate. My house was built in 1993 and met all building codes at that time. Now I have wind damage and they will not cover damage because the roof is not up to current code. We are simply talking about the nailing strip on a single and its relationship with the glue strip. I've had several roofers tell me that this is the way roofs were put on at the time and the code has changed since. If this is allowed then I'm not sure it pays to have insurance. I'm putting on a new roof out of my pocket and leaving Allstate and will never return.
When I was looking for homeowners insurance one insurance company refused to even quote me unless I could get my roof "certified". When I researched exactly what that means, it would require me to get a new roof. Like I'm going to replace a perfectly good roof just to get insurance??
I'll bet that insurance company would have insured you if you signed a certified, notarized legal document stating that you would never file a claim against them as long as you were insured with them.
Must be where you live. I've had Allstate for 22 years, and my house was built in the early 1800s. My house has practically nothing "to code", but I had no problem when I had a water damage claim. There was damage to the electical wires which were not "up to code", so Allstate paid to re-wire the damaged area and replace all the outlets and switches. They didn't cover the plumbing, because that's what caused the damage. They did, however, pay me thousands to repair the electric, re-plaster a ceiling, replace a wall and two rooms of hardwood floors, paint, wallpaper, etc.
Sorry tmclone for replying to your post, but Frank's post was blocked.
Frank,
Your roof is 15 yrs old. Some builder grade spec roofs do last longer, but sounds as if you want your insurance to pay for something which is regular home maintenance. Having been in the trades for 30+ years, I've seen blow offs after 10 yrs, simply because the quality used was very poor.
Quit trying to scam the insurance company. If it's time for a new roof, it should be on your dime. Most insurance companies will only repair the damage, unless your roof was damaged by a hurricane or tornado, I find it hard to believe this much damage was done by wind.
Wind can certainly peel off a roof, particularly if it isn't really nailed down well. Our code is 6 nails per shingle, no staples. I imagine the insurance companies are trying to get "windstorm" excluded from normal homeowner coverage (like flood). It already is in Florida. You need an additional windstorm policy which costs as much as your homeowners and has a bigger deductible. BTW Allstate cancelled everyone in Floridw who live within 10 miles of the coast.
I suggest contacting your state insurance oversight authority and see what they say. Keep in mind your roof is at or close to the end of its useful life (15 years?) You also may want to contact your local agent.
How long have you been insured with Allstate? Was your roof the only one in the area damaged?
Have you looked carefully at the coverage document to see if what they are saying is not consistent with what you find there?
I'm very aware of what wind can do. As I said, I have 30+ years in the trades. I also live in the Midwest, which is frequented by tornadoes. I also had many dealings with insurance, in contracting for damage assessment. I've contracted on government jobs, which involves heavy detailed specifications, including the size of a fastener head.
You'll note the OP complaining about paying for a _new_ roof. I've seen this literally probably a hundred times. People think insurance is for maintenance. I'd lay money on it, the roofers are telling the OP he needs a new roof, and probably so, because of the age, not because of the damage.
They insured you and had alot of opertunities to inform you your roof was wrong and didnt, but it wasnt when it was built, im sure there is a state board you can complain to and small claims court.
Frank wrote in news:ff32eaf7-65cb-4900-9b05- snipped-for-privacy@a23g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
So if your house burns down because of an electrical fire, Allstate said (not you, Allstate) they will not pay because you don't have (assumption) AFCI's in you panel box. I doubt that you and Allstate discussed this by chance but if your roof claim is as you say then my electrical scenario must be true.
The way you are describing your experience, Allstate wants all their customers to rip their house apart every time there is a major or local code change? Doesn't sound right to me.
[note: not an AFCI wiz bang. Just something I read in this group about new codes and using for an example]
I have Allstate Homeowners Insurance. I have a tile roof on all of my house except a second story bedroom with a flat roof with a rubber membrane approximately 18 x 25 feet. This roof and the tile were installed 21 years ago. On Jan. 4 a hugh gust of wind got under the flat roof and ripped it off completely. It went over the top of the tile roof and landed in my front yard ripping off a number of tile along the way. This same tile is no longer available. At first they were going to take good tile from the back of the house to repair the front side and find some tile similar for the back side. I objected and asked for a complete new roof. After some discussion, they agreed and replaced the entire roof.
At no time was there ever any question about the roof not being up to the current code although the replacement roof appears to me to be a much better installation than the roof being replaced. I mentioned this to my roofer and his answer was basically what you were told, the method of installation is much better today than 21 years ago. The cost to Allstate was $2,000.00 more than I paid for the house in 1970.
Several years ago I had water damage to the hardwood floor in the kitchen due to a leak from the dishwasher. They replaced the entire floor at no cost to me. My experience with Allstate in the settlement of these claims has been to my complete satisfaction.
40 yrs ago, when Sears owned Allstate a wife I had at the time...settled claims over the phone for them. If a department paid out a lower amount than the rest for the month...they were taken out to dinner. Customer satisfaction wasn't at the top of their list at the time.
What, exactly, is the issue with nailing? Not on nailing line? Wrong type of nail? Too few nails? How severe was the wind on the day it was damaged? Other damage in the neighborhood? If the code changed, what is the change?
Other roofers might be blowing smoke at ya'. If the install was bad, it should not have lasted 15 years. We had shingle problems with our condo which were evident almost immediately
- bad choice of shingle to replace concrete tiles (first mistake). Installed in January (second mistake). Insufficient ventillation (third mistake). Bad nailing (fourth, and most important mistake). We have steep mansards on portions of our goofy roof .... the city changed the requirements for tabbed shingles after problems like ours appreared. After two major reworks, and a few minor ones, tabs were glued down over most of the roof and withstood the near-hurricane winds in '04 or '05.
Through all the back-and-forth to get our roof in good shape, I studied the warranty and installation instructions for the shingles. There was a registration process for the installation to cover the warranty and the roofer had taken care of that. There was a scheduled, diminishing value applied but that may have more to do with insurance. Don't know. The warranty was, I believe, good up to 70 mph wind. More than 70 and I guess it is an insurance issue, not a warranty issue. If the installation was faulty, then it appears to be an installer problem, but after 15 years..........?
I agree. I'd examine the policy and see exactly what it says. It would seem very unusual for there to be exclusions for something not up to current code. That would mean the instant the code changed, you would no longer have coverage. And who could expect a homeowner to even know what the current code is?
But also key is the overall condition of the roof at 15 years, how high the wind was, were other homes damaged, etc. We also don't know how extensive the damage is. Unless it's extensive, the insurance company is probably only responsible to repair the damaged sections.
If the policy doesn't have any exclusion and the facts support your case, next steps are state regulatory agency and then possibly small claims court.
There are many different forms of homeowners insurance, and many different ways of covering roofs. The simplest for the homeowner is also the most expensive -- cover all roof repairs at replacement cost.
But some policies cover only the depreciated value of the old roof, even on a policy that otherwise pays replacement cost for home repairs. The company doesn't want to pay for routine re-roofing as an insurance claim.
Some policies pay only to repair or replace to original condition, and either limit or exclude the cost of complying with stricter codes. (That's not limited to roofs, it applies to any repair to the home, e.g. if you have a small fire in the kitchen but the city makes you upgrade the wiring as a condition of the repair permit, you could be on the hook for the cost of the upgrades.)
I would strongly suggest the OP read his policy carefully to see what it covers on his roof, what it excludes, what valuation methods it uses, etc. If it isn't clear, an initial consultation with an attorney is often free and well worth the price ;-)
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