Insurance Company And Roofing Rant (cost, repair, damage, replace)

[Everest209]

So, I switched homeowners insurance for the first time since I bought my home. The premium is about 200 dollars less per year, good for me, right? That's what I thought. Someone came over to take some general pictures, which is a common practice from what I understand, fine, whatever.

Then I receive a letter saying my patio roof needs repair. I admit, the shingles on the end of the patio are old, and probably need repair and some point. The actual house roofing is fine. The thing that got me was the letter said I had one month to repair it or they would cancel service. They also said they need pictures, contractor license number, letter from the contractor stating what was done, etc. I don't know if I overreacted, but I thought this was ridiculous. Threating to cancel service if I didn't repair it in one month? I switched to save money, and they want me to do a repair that would cost more than the $200 saved initially.

Long story longer lol, I called them and explained I couldn't afford this repair right now, and they said fine because it wasn't part of the house roof. I'm glad they accepted my reasoning, but not starting off on the right foot, one week into my relationship with them. Anyone had similar experiences?

[golfgal]

It is very common actually. Yes, they do take pictures, or are supposed to take pictures, of every property to check for things like this. They won't cover things like you roof if they find it needs repair when you take out the policy. If you have a fire or some kind of damage to that portion of your house, they won't cover it until it is fixed. If it had been part of the house itself, they wouldn't have been so cooperative because a leaky roof could cause damage to other things in the house where if it is just over a patio, nothing under it is really "ruined".

A month is also pretty typical for the repair and asking for the contractor's license, etc. is just to ensure that it was done correctly. If you read your insurance contract you are responsible for keeping your property in good repair and if you don't and they find negligence on your part by not keeping your property up, they can deny a claim.

[Heidi60]

You can expect a patio roof exclusion to arrive shortly.

[texdav]

Like they will not replace the bad roofing if its damaged as stated.I imagine you have repalcement and that will not be covered under it. That is why they inspect what they are going to cover.