OT?: Hail damage and State Farm settlement

[Puddin' Man]

Little brick bungalow in large midwest US city, detached garage. Scraped and shingled about 05-1996.

Big hail storm. I spring a little leak in each structure. Have State Farm adjuster out, he walks roofs, proposes claim adj.:

Total replacement cost value $6k. Less depreciation 2500 Less deductible 1000 Actual cash value payment $3k

How do they work stuff like this nowdaze? I'm not necessarily looking for a kickback, but that depreciation # is awfully hefty.

About how much might a midwest US (i.e. St. Louis) contractor get to scrape and shingle (per square)? I'll come out to something like 12 (house) + 6 (garage) =

18 total squares (actually closer to 17).

Thx, P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Steve Barker]

16 years old, you're lucky you got anythin.

[dpb]

On 5/9/2012 7:52 PM, Puddin' Man wrote: ...

...

That doesn't seem bad to me--'96 means you got 16 years out of it; that's over half even if was a 30-yr and they took 40-something%.

--

[Ed Pawlowski]

The depreciation is hefty. If I was his boss, I'd kick his ass for allowing anything less than $3200.

Assuming a 30 year roof, you are past half, if a 20 year roof, you are nearly done and $4500 would be about right. No one likes to see depreciation, but that is the way polices are written.

[Ralph Mowery]

I had two roofs replaced on the same house due to hail damage. It was by two differant policies about 15 years apart. In the first case the roof was at the end of its life anyway. Each one was for the full replacement except for the $ 500 deductiable.

[dpb]

...

I had two roofs replaced on the same house due to hail damage. It was by two differant policies about 15 years apart. In the first case the roof was at the end of its life anyway. Each one was for the full replacement except for the $ 500 deductiable.

That's a condition of the policy, though.

What would be interesting would be the difference in premiums you paid for the full replacement value coverage vs the standard and whether it made up the difference.

[krw]

Since he collected, likely not. The money is made from people who never (need to) collect. That's why it's called "insurance". ;-)

[Kurt Ullman]

I did that, too. Of course I paid more to get full replacement value.

[Ralph Mowery]

I am not sure what the differance would have been. As the total home owners insurance was around $ 500 per year I doubt the replacement cost was that much more. Surely not the ammount it took to replace two roofs.

It is still just insurance and I insured what I thought was a fair payment vers what I could loose if something hapened. Just as when I moved a few years ago, I did not get a home warrenty on the house I bought . It was about 20 years old and I made an offer on the thoughts of replacing a roof,heat pump and a few other things.

[Puddin' Man]

Well, if the SF estimates of what the contractors are getting for roof replacement (on which the proposed settlement is based) are accurate, then y'all might be right, and the settlement generous.

But that's why I asked about what the contractors are getting per square. Sometimes ins. company's estimates are severely biased, and I've got no exposure to what the contractors are doing in recent times.

Note that nobody has responded to the "per square" question. :-)

P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Douglas Johnson]

Does your policy have full replacement value coverage? I'd guess not. Without it, they will only pay the depreciated value.

Call your agent and get it. Last time I looked, it was pretty inexpensive.

-- Doug

[Douglas Johnson]

Call some roofers and get real estimates. Usenet estimates aren't worth much.

My experience is that State Farm estimates are pretty good. They've bought me 3 roofs. -- Doug

[krw]

Agreed. Without replacement coverage you could be in for a big surprise after a total loss. Also get replacement value coverage on contents. It's cheap.

[clare]

Depends where you live and what your risks are. If you are in tornado alley, or in a heavy hail zone, buying replacement insurence may well be a wise move. Then again, if you live in some parts of Florida it may be a total waste, because roofs might never last long enough to be depreciated.

[krw]

The logic is that it's not much more expensive and in a total loss you aren't out what you can't afford to replace; the whole reason for insurance.