I have a roof which needed replacing before we had a storm. Do I make a claim since the storm took a shingle or two off? My house is a modest single family site built and it's paid for. I've owned it for 15 years and never made a claim. (State Farm insurance).
Also, in general I have a separate but related question about how often to make claims. Clark Howard seems to think you should max out your deductible and only make a claim if the house explodes, then pay out of pocket for non-catastrophes. However, another person who's opinion I respect says to use it whenever you have a legit claim. This person has been a home owner for 30 years and owns 17 rental houses.
Clark's comments:
"Unless your mortgage company prohibits it, Clark would like you to boost your deductible to $2,500. Most people have a $500 deductible, but that is not a good idea. Why? First of all, you pay a lot more in insurance costs. Secondly, if you make a claim against your homeowner's insurance for a small amount of money, the insurer may treat your horribly. Sure, they'll pay the claim. But they may fire you after. So, you only want to use homeowner's insurance for catastrophes."