Hail season has prompted Rick Richards, writer for Consumer Insurance Guide, to write a story about hailstorms and hailstorm coverage. Joe Brennan of Insurance Claims Group was one of three he interviewed for the story.
Parts of the full article is below. As always feel free to add comments or ask questions in our insurance advice forum.
There is no getting around hail. It hits someplace – usually several places – every year in the United States, says Joe Brennan, owner of Insurance Claims Group Inc. in Cary, N.C.
For homeowners, hail is unavoidable. “Most all policies cover hail,” Brennan says. “There is no worry about not being covered. Hail is a sudden event we can’t control. That exactly what insurance is meant for – sudden events.”
Brennan says hail coverage is different than hurricane coverage. Hurricanes are more predictable. “In Florida, you may have to buy an endorsement for wind coverage depending on where you live. Because hurricanes routinely strike Florida, many insurance companies won’t include wind damage from hurricanes in their homeowner’s policies.”
“Hail is much less predictable and can hit anywhere, which is why it is part of basic coverage in nearly all homeowners insurance policies, says Brennan.
Hail Coverage Deductible
What about deductibles? Does a deductible affect your coverage? “Absolutely, you need to secure a manageable deductible. Too many people buy insurance and lower their premiums by requesting or accepting a higher deductible. However, if your deductible is $1,000 and you don’t have $1,000 in the bank, then your deductible is too high,” says Brennan. While some policies offer a deductible that’s a percentage of the damage, Brennan doesn’t recommend it. “If you have $250,000 in coverage, with a 2.5% deductible – then you have a hail damage claim for $25,000, you’d have $6,250 out of pocket to meet the deductible. In the long run, that high of a deductible doesn’t really save you all that much money on premium payments either.”
Anyone whose property is struck by hail needs to have professionals check to make sure there is damage. Not all hail storms cause damage, Brennan says. Pea sized hail (1/4 of an inch) or marble-sized hail (1/2 inch) might not cause damage. Anything larger, say a dime or a quarter (3/4 to one inch) can cause serious damage. Golf ball sized hail is 1 ¾ inches and softball-sized hail is 4 ½ inches according to NOAA. To put this in perspective, hail has to grow to the size of a hen’s egg to dent a car and hail that is half the size of a baseball can kill birds and animals.
Brennan says roof damage from small sized hail is the most difficult to detect because it may be two or three years before the homeowners begins to notice leaks or issues with their roof from prior hailstorms. That discovery sometimes may not come until well after the time period in which the policyholder has to file a claim.
Hail Damage Inspections
“Have a professional roofer come by to take a look at your roof. It’s important to know if you have hail damage now and report your claim, because it’s not the damage done today that matters,” Brennan says. “The hail removes granules that protect the backing from becoming dried-out by the sun. When the baking dries out the shingle becomes brittle and will crack and split over time allowing water entry from other storms,” Brennan includes.
One way to check is to look if there is an inordinate amount of aggregate from the shingles in the gutters.
“Before anyone goes up on your roof, find out what their inspection includes. The inspector should make a drawing of the roof with ‘X’ marks or circles showing hail damage and they should provide you with photographs you can submit to your insurance company. This way you have evidence of your damages,” Brennan says.
“Homeowners also should check window ledges for damage and siding. In larger hail events vinyl siding, Brennan says, will have holes while damage to wood siding isn’t as noticeable. If there are nicks in wood siding it can cause splitting, which will lead to leaks.”
Brennan, of Insurance Claims Group, says that after a storm homeowners need to make sure they do a thorough inspection of their property. After the roof inspection make sure to check gutters, windows, window screens, siding and even the garage, tool shed, fences, the swimming pool and any other outdoor structures.
“People should not give up their right to claim damages they suffered. You’ve paid for protection so if the 30-year shingles you put on your roof four years ago are damaged and need to be replaced, that’s 25 years of life from the shingles that you paid for and didn’t get. That’s why you have insurance and why you should file a claim,” Brennan says.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Many hail damage claims events have engulfed the United States this past year. This has caused an increase in the amount of hail damage claims that have been reported to insurance companies. However, the increase in hail damage claims reported is not just from the claim events themselves, but rather unethical contractors as well.
You may recall an article I authored, “Insurance Appraisal And The Insured’s Integrity“, explaining an appraisal I was involved with where the insured was claiming things that occurred during Hurricane Irene that were just not possible. Well, be careful of your contractor’s integrity as well. CBS News recently ran a story where contractor’s where purposely damaging roofs after a large hail storm.
Below is video from the broadcast about Hail Damage Claims fraud:
Unfortunately, this is not the first or last time such fraud has taken place. In the video above you will notice the contractor “spinning” his hands in a circular motion on the roof shingles. In the story below a contractor was found to be directing his sales team to purposely damage roofs using a process known in the industry as “dime spinning”.
Hail Damage Claims From Dime Spinning.
Now, please understand, not all contractor’s that are out educating homeowner’s that they may have valid hail damage claims are fraudulent. If you are skeptical about a contractor visiting your home, get their business card and advise them that you’d like them to inspect your roof with your insurance company adjuster present. If you are physically able, you can inspect the roof with the contractor.
As always, if you have a covered loss, the insurance company should pay, if you do not, then they should not pay! As in my last article mentioned above, “It’s bad enough suffering a loss, and for many people having to battle with their adjuster for a fair settlement. Please, do not compromise your integrity by making false statements about your claim in an effort to profit from a loss. It’s illegal, your entire claim can be denied due to fraud, and your family will be left without you for the next few holiday seasons while you’re serving your prison sentence. Insurance Appraisal is in the policy for the benefit of both parties, to resolve claim disputes using a less costly and less time consuming process…don’t abuse it!”
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
March 2011 a tornado wreaked havoc in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (PA). The tornado first touched down in Sewickley Township. Now, almost 7 months after the tornado ripped through the area, Jamie & Denny Cerilli have been notified by their insurance company, Allstate, that their tornado claim dispute will need to be settled via the insurance appraisal clause within their homeowners policy. Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
The NC Department of Insurance gives Hurricane Irene information and claim help for you to stay away from potential fraud and also to process claim issues after the hurricane strikes.
Hurricane Irene Claim Help: NC state inspectors warn that many policyholders will unknowingly be unaware of the following hardships: Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
A Parks Police helicopter inspects for earthquake damage to the Washington Monument shortly after an earthquake struck Washington, DC August 23, 2011. One of the strongest earthquakes to strike the US east coast in decades rattled offices Tuesday in downtown Washington and caused panicked evacuations from skyscrapers as far away as New York. The Pentagon, the US Capitol and Union Station in the nation’s capital were all evacuated after the 5.9-magnitude quake, which was shallow with its epicenter only 0.6 miles (one kilometer) underground.
The big question on most peoples minds from VA here in the next few days when earthquake damages begin to show will be,
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Tornado Damage Claim Assistance (NC, SC, VA, GA, AL, MS): Early springandsummer seasonthunder stormswill frequentlycause tornado damage claims throughout many southeast US states. Most recently, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginiasufferedoverwhelmingdestruction on April 28, 2011 and April 16, 2011. Our thoughts and prayers are out to those who have suffered damages and loss of life during such a difficult time. As of noon on April 17, 2011, 22 deaths are confirmed from 62 tornadoes, in 20 counties in NC alone. Not to mention the horrific death toll that continues to rise from the April 28, 2011 storms… 335+. It’s heartbreaking. Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
In most cases insureds, property owners and even contractors may need support in organizing data for home owners insurance claims. They will often have issues or will need advise on certain parts of a home owners insurance claim estimation or the accompanying damages to the household.
Even worse, numerous property owners may find themselves within a dispute with their insurer. Most phone and ask us if there is any approach to challenge their home owners insurance claim with their insurance company adjuster. Yes, you can contest home owners insurance claims against your insurance company. Not all claims arrive at an agreed price. You will find there’s a provision named Appraisal in many property insurance policies that enable both parties of the policy to reconcile their issues by using a less costly, less time consuming, course of action without the need to settle the dispute in a court of law.Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Many of my articles, posts, webpages, etc. start off with “Most people believe…”. I’ve tried to think of other ways to explain to people that things are not always as they seem – or appear as they should. Well, with insurance policies, insurance claims, and the insurance industry – many people find themselves scratching their heads with disbelief when they finally suffer damage to their property.
So, here I go again… Most people believe that when they buy insurance, they will be taken care of when, and if, a tragedy occurs. It’s really quite simple.
We purchase insurance.
We have been paying for coverage for over X-amount of years.
When we have a claim the insurance company will be eager to help us and fulfill there part of the bargain.
(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Insurance Appraisal: It seems lately as more and more claims enter into appraisal, the clause is being invoke without merit. To actually qualify an insurance claim for the appraisal process there first must be a dispute over the “amount of loss”. However, only after the parties have exhausted negotiations. Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Insurance Appraisal: As an independent insurance appraiser resolving insurance disputes as an impartial party, I often see that insurance companies are missing items in their estimates to return damaged properties to pre-loss conditions. Most of the time it’s because insurance adjusters are overloaded with claims, getting pressure from upper management, or most often the adjuster is just simply not qualified to review the damages in the first place. Now, there are some very experienced adjusters with backgrounds that qualify them as experts in the type of losses they adjust. You’d be fortunate to actually get one to visit your property in your time of need. Read Full Article »
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(C) Joe Brennan is President and owner/operator of Insurance Claims Group, Inc., a national independent adjusting, appraisal, and umpiring firm. We will answer your claim questions FREE as part of our FREE Insurance Advice and Insurance Claim Consulting Services.
Hail Season Is Upon Us
