Skip to content Insurance restoration work is a long complicated process and can seem overwhelming. We help guide you through the process by working with your insurance company to ensure that your home is repaired correctly.
Hail and wind storms occur every year in the St. Louis region. Many times your home is hit by a hail or wind storm that does not cause enough damage from that specific storm to warrant a call to your insurance company. However, this combined damage over many years can accumulate into a large loss if it goes unnoticed. Other times the hail is so large or in such abundance that an inspection is warranted for that one particular storm.
Unless it is an extreme loss, hail and wind damage is not typically something you can see from the ground. A trained professional will walk your entire property looking for the tell tale signs of hail and wind damage to not just your roof, siding, and gutters…but your entire property.
You can have a wind storm with no hail but your cant have a hail storm without wind. Therefore hail damage is typically combined with wind damage. However, hail and wind damage your roof in very different ways.
When hail hits your roof it dents and distorts the exposed metals such as box vents, HVAC caps, chimney caps, skylights and counter flashings. The hailstones that impact your shingles cause the mat to become bruised allowing the granules to shed rapidly. This rapid shedding exposes the mat and breaks down the shingles ability to shed water causing leaks.
Wind damage can not only rip the shingles off your roof it can also lift your shingles and then lay them back down flat on the decking surface. From the ground the shingles will look flat and uniform. If your shingles have been pulled off the decking the next gust of wind will peel those sections off the roof leaving your home exposed to rain and wind.
Siding damage from hail varies per the type of siding on your home. Vinyl siding can shatter where a piece of hail has hit it. Wood siding can be dented, maring the wood grain and distorting the stain or damaging the paint. Fiber cement and Engineered siding can have their “paint” dented or cracked and in some cases of large hail break or crack the panels.
Wind damage to siding is typically limited to vinyl siding. The wind pushes and pulls the siding until the nails break away from the nail hem or pull completely out of the substrate. With the siding not properly attached to the building the wind removes the siding from the building.
When a hail storm hits your home the gutters, gutter guards and downspouts get dented from the hail distorting the metal and its ability to shed water correctly.
Wind damage is usually limited to the downspouts as the wind shakes them until the fasteners pull out of the home allowing the downspout to be blown off of from the home.
Wind and hail damage your windows in very different ways.
Hail damage is the most destructive as it dents or tears the screens and can break the frame, head, jambs, sill, jamb liner or glass rendering the window inoperable.
Wind damage to windows can tear the screens and pull them completely out of the frame. Gust of wind can put so much pressure on the window glass that it breaks the glazing losing its energy-efficiency or cracking the glass itself.
If you believe your home has been by a storm, we will schedule a free inspection to determine if you need to file a claim with your insurance company.
If we determine that your home has been damaged from wind or hail, we will provide you with the information needed to file a claim.
It’s important to have a representative at your home to point out all the damage to your insurance adjuster. We will meet with your adjuster and go over what we find in our inspection.
This is the time to pick out shingle colors and go over any upgrades that you may want. We will then order your materials and schedule your installation.
After your material has been delivered, one of our certified crews will remove your existing roof and install a brand new roofing system.
We will file the necessary paperwork to have your depreciation released from your insurance company to help fund your final invoice.
You do not need to get 3 estimates if you have suffered a loss. Your insurance company uses a program called Xactimate to arrive at a total replacement cost. Xactimate has the exact cost of material and labor per the area your loss was suffered in. This program is used to keep their cost in line with the surrounding region. The insurance companies know what they will pay to the penny for your loss.
Instead of focusing on price research a quality roofing company with the warranties, service and reviews that you are comfortable with. The insurance company does not warranty your project after its complete.
Storm chasing companies are aware that they need to look like a local company. Many storm chasers have an address, website and basic marketing in place for areas that are prone to hail and wind storms.
To verify if the company is local begin with online reviews and the date that they are written. An established company will have on line reviews dating back many years. Second ask for a local business license (there is no such thing as a general contractors license in MO). Third review their general liability and workers compensation certificate to make sure its written in and has coverage for Missouri. Finally, go to their office to sign the contract and take inventory of tale tell signs they have been there for years.
Researching roofing companies today is easier than ever. First begin with how many reviews the company has on line at Google, Angies list, Home advisors and Facebook. A company with 500+ reviews and top tier rating is preferred. Read the reviews to determine if there is any commonality with over promising, installation problems or communication.
Reputable companies will happily provide you with a Workers Compensation and General Liability certificate. Take that certificate a step further and call the insurance company to ensure the policy is up to date.
Make sure you not only focus on the labor warranty but more importantly the Manufacturer’s warranty. You should receive a written warranty from the manufacturer specifying the exact warranty that was purchased for your home and installed to the manufacturers specifications.
ACV is a payment term used by insurance companies in the process of funding a loss. The ACV acronym stands for Actual Cash Value.
For example you purchase a new patio table for $500.00. The table is kept outside and used for 2 years. It has normal wear and tear from use. This table is destroyed when a tree falls on it. If you have an RCV policy the insurance company will write you a check for the tables current actual cash value. Let’s assume that amount is $250.00 because it is 2 years old and is not new. When you purchase a new table for $500.00 the insurance company will send you the depreciated amount, in this case $250.00. If you have a ACV insurance policy, you will not receive any depreciation.
RCV is a payment term used by insurance companies in the process of funding a loss. The RCV acronym stands for Replacement Cost Value. Typically an insurance company will fund your loss for the Actual Cash Value of the property loss with the first check. Until you replace the property that has been lost the insurance company will hold the depreciation amount. Actual Cash Value + Depreciation = Replacement Cost Value.
There are many reasons an insurance company will deny your claim today but not tomorrow. Your neighbors may have had an inferior shingle to yours and the damage needed to manifest over time because is not obvious today. As human beings we see things differently, 1 adjuster may turn you down and the next authorize a large loss.
You are entitled to a second adjustment with a different adjuster. This second adjustment should be conducted with a professional roofer to point out the damage on your home.
