Roof replacement from hail damage!?

We had a hail storm blow through here 5 years ago and most of the houses around me got new siding and roof shingles. Except mine ... thanks Traveler's insurance!

I certainly wouldn't accept a random cold call on it.
 
First, to the comments on Florida. To be blunt, the insurance market is broken in Florida right now. The level roofing scams have reached there is beyond amazing. Even more amazing is how nobody wants to actually fix it at the moment. Every special interest has its claim that the process is working...

Moving to other places, it sounds as though the OP did the correct thing. I wouldn't allow just anyone who cold calls to go on the roof that moment, but you did your homework and verified that they were actually a legit company that appeared to do decent work. For me, that's what it would come down to - having a trusted roofer (which I have one who did some repairs for me) or doing my homework and then allowing someone to go up.

After that, everything sounds like it was on the up and up. Roofers use services that pinpoint likely areas where hail occured and then go work to drum up business. The key is avoiding the actual storm chasers and using the legit companies...
 
Insurance companies have been dealing with hail damage forever. What surprises me is someone with a 25 year old roof that is a minute away from needing replaced regardless if it got hail damage or not getting a new roof through insurance at the end of its life.

Yes, I know I'm a jerk on here often, but in real life, I'm no skeemer.

At my first house, a storm chaser got on the roof, peeled a shingle back and yelled, I see wind damage. I didn't like his attitude. The roof looked old and needed replaced regardless. I forked out $9K and had it replaced. Had shingles with algae fighting copper granules installed.
 
So is there a hail-resistant roof? Metal? Can I save on my insurance somehow?

I have a $10k deductible, and just did half a roof for $7k so, eh, who cares?
 
I've had three homes and two of my roofs have been replaced this way, I paid the deductible and they cover the rest.

On one, I had old damage and they agreed to pay half. It needed a replacement so I went ahead and paid my half, but wish I had had it looked at earlier.

A few days ago a roofer knocked on my door and said that "Carol" down the street was happy with her roof and suggested I let them inspect mine, and quote it. Since I maintain the HOA contact list for our community, I asked him which Carol he was referring to - and he had no idea. I sent him on...
 
This really isn't unusual . After a bad hailstorm it's not unusual for someone to contact you about having your roof checked . I've had my roof replaced twice in the last 18 yrs because of damage . Both times I chose the company and only paid after the work was finished .
 
So this guy shows up at our house last month and talks to my wife about our roof. He is a Project Manager from Weatherguard Roofing & Restoration and tells her about a hail storm that hit us a year ago. He shows her a map on his phone indicating we had 1.75” hail and our roof is undoubtedly damaged, which will be replaced by our insurance company. My wife asked me to talk to him, which I declined. No way, I tell her, is an insurance company going to completely replace a 25 year old roof for just our deductible as he claimed. I am suspicious of salesmen who show up unannounced, and I had her get his card so I can check him out.

Today I get a call from our insurance company telling me they have approved a payment of $22,930 to completely replace our roof and repair the shed and gutters, and will be sending me a check minus our deductible! And I can choose any contractor I wish. I am stunned!

All of this seems to be on the up & up. Do insurance companies do this? Can anyone think of any way this could be a scam?
Yes, its on the up and up, very common in southern states with hail.
I know some in my community that let the sales person up on their roofs and they got new roofs for free.
I said no but now wish I said yes and I will say yes if they knock on my door again. *LOL*
 
So this guy shows up at our house last month and talks to my wife about our roof. He is a Project Manager from Weatherguard Roofing & Restoration and tells her about a hail storm that hit us a year ago. He shows her a map on his phone indicating we had 1.75” hail and our roof is undoubtedly damaged, which will be replaced by our insurance company. My wife asked me to talk to him, which I declined. No way, I tell her, is an insurance company going to completely replace a 25 year old roof for just our deductible as he claimed. I am suspicious of salesmen who show up unannounced, and I had her get his card so I can check him out.

An online search showed that his company is legit and highly rated, and I called them to confirm the salesman who visited was indeed their employee.

He came back two weeks later and this time I agreed to speak with him. He just wanted to go up on the roof to inspect it, and I agreed after making sure he was insured. He takes pictures of some dents in the asphalt shingles and tells us he is absolutely confident our insurance company will replace the roof and we would only pay our deductible. Furthermore he says our insurance premiums cannot increase by law. I’m still very skeptical, but agreed, with his assistance, to call the insurance company and file a claim.

Last week the insurance company sent out some adjusters who spent a good 30 minutes inspecting and photographing the roof with the roofing salesman. They found dents in the house and shed roof shingles and some gutters. We did have some minor leaks, but mostly around the skylights which I had already resealed.

Today I get a call from our insurance company telling me they have approved a payment of $22,930 to completely replace our roof and repair the shed and gutters, and will be sending me a check minus our deductible! And I can choose any contractor I wish. I am stunned!

All of this seems to be on the up & up. Do insurance companies do this? Can anyone think of any way this could be a scam?
I’ve had the almost verbatim thing happen to me. State Farm paid out and inspected it after the roofed the house. It falls under comprehensive, so no rate increase. My roofer “paid” my deductible as well, so it cost me nothing.
 
This is definitely a thing, I used to (very briefly) work in roofing sales that only dealt with insurance replacements. I'd say less than 2% of what we did was "cash" jobs.

Here's the thing, if your neighborhood got hit by a hail storm it's truly in your best interest to have it inspected and submitted for a replacement if damage is apparent. Not because the roof will fail the next rain, but because if your roof was damaged, so too was your neighbors. So lets say your roof is not replaced but several of your neighbors did, your premium would likely still be increasing because the rates are adjusted for a geographic area (in the instance of hail) as opposed to your particular house. So if you're going to have an increased premium even if you did not make the claim, most people will make the claim as a just in case. We had one home owner that sticks out in particular, two roofs in five years were replaced just for the cost of his deductible.

That being said, be VERY careful of the contractor you're choosing. Storm chasers are definitely a reality. They'll bounce city to city following storm cells and getting checks but never perform the work.
There's a difference between filing a claim and having it approved. My story above is an example. If my premium goes up as a direct result of on the same block replacement but mine wasn't - that's dirty business and I question the legality.
 
I’ve had the almost verbatim thing happen to me. State Farm paid out and inspected it after the roofed the house. It falls under comprehensive, so no rate increase. My roofer “paid” my deductible as well, so it cost me nothing.

Here's what typically happens, the roofing company gets business and gets paid by the insurance company. The main issue is that the receiver of said roof does not know what the quality and workmanship is that they are receiving with said replacement roof. Roofing is more complex than most can begin to imagine and it is very easy to "just get a new roof" that ends up creating more future issues than it may immediately seem to solve.

These salespeople are sell someone on anxiety as much as anything and what the consumer is actually getting is anxiety relief more than say something like a good quality roof that they can expect them to last a long time without further issue.
 
Here's what typically happens, the roofing company gets business and gets paid by the insurance company. The main issue is that the receiver of said roof does not know what the quality and workmanship is that they are receiving with said replacement roof. Roofing is more complex than most can begin to imagine and it is very easy to "just get a new roof" that ends up creating more future issues than it may immediately seem to solve.

These salespeople are sell someone on anxiety as much as anything and what the consumer is actually getting is anxiety relief more than say something like a good quality roof that they can expect them to last a long time without further issue.
In my case, they went through what brands and types of roofing material was to be used. I researched the companies and material reviews and chose my product. They were actually pretty upfront about the products. At least that’s how it worked in my case, but I do see your point
 
While there is truth to “impact-resistant” shingles, the latest state of the art for those being Malarkey’s SBS-enhanced shingle and Owens Corning’s Duration Flex there’s just too many sharks wading in the roofing and solar waters. I live in CA, so we get tiny hail within the capabilities of roofing made for the region but I’d get a second opinion.

IMO, the install trumps warranty. Supposedly, Certainteed’s certification is hard for roofers to pass.
 
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First, to the comments on Florida. To be blunt, the insurance market is broken in Florida right now. The level roofing scams have reached there is beyond amazing. Even more amazing is how nobody wants to actually fix it at the moment. Every special interest has its claim that the process is working...
I follow this guy on YT, and saw this.

 
What I'm reading here is a lot of people think that everybody is a shyster out to screw you over . Sure , it happens . But in my area there are a dozen good reputable roofing companies and you are free to use whomever you want . None of them want payment up front . If you're foolish enough to do business with some out of town " traveler " then you deserve what you get . If you are forced to use someone unfamiliar then do not pay up front .
 
Just put up a no solicitation sign on your front door. Do the roof on your own schedule unless you are a completely clueless homeowner who thinks indoor rain is normal.
 
So this guy shows up at our house last month and talks to my wife about our roof. He is a Project Manager from Weatherguard Roofing & Restoration and tells her about a hail storm that hit us a year ago. He shows her a map on his phone indicating we had 1.75” hail and our roof is undoubtedly damaged, which will be replaced by our insurance company. My wife asked me to talk to him, which I declined. No way, I tell her, is an insurance company going to completely replace a 25 year old roof for just our deductible as he claimed. I am suspicious of salesmen who show up unannounced, and I had her get his card so I can check him out.

An online search showed that his company is legit and highly rated, and I called them to confirm the salesman who visited was indeed their employee.

He came back two weeks later and this time I agreed to speak with him. He just wanted to go up on the roof to inspect it, and I agreed after making sure he was insured. He takes pictures of some dents in the asphalt shingles and tells us he is absolutely confident our insurance company will replace the roof and we would only pay our deductible. Furthermore he says our insurance premiums cannot increase by law. I’m still very skeptical, but agreed, with his assistance, to call the insurance company and file a claim.

Last week the insurance company sent out some adjusters who spent a good 30 minutes inspecting and photographing the roof with the roofing salesman. They found dents in the house and shed roof shingles and some gutters. We did have some minor leaks, but mostly around the skylights which I had already resealed.

Today I get a call from our insurance company telling me they have approved a payment of $22,930 to completely replace our roof and repair the shed and gutters, and will be sending me a check minus our deductible! And I can choose any contractor I wish. I am stunned!

All of this seems to be on the up & up. Do insurance companies do this? Can anyone think of any way this could be a scam?

There are plenty of storm chasing companies like this... Living in Iowa it seems hail is almost a yearly occurrence. I agree with you OP, I was skeptical as well after we had a severe hail storm several years back. We got a new roof, gutters and down spouts for the deductible. Unfortunately this same thing happened in 2020 with another very large hail storm, but this time was siding as well... I'm sure my insurance company hates me but this is why I pay premiums IMO.

From the 2020 hail storm and the derecho our entire neighborhood has pretty much gotten new everything...

just my $0.02
 
While there is truth to “impact-resistant” shingles, the latest state of the art for those being Malarkey’s SBS-enhanced shingle and Owens Corning’s Duration Flex there’s just too many sharks wading in the roofing and solar waters. I live in CA, so we get tiny hail within the capabilities of roofing made for the region but I’d get a second opinion.

IMO, the install trumps warranty. Supposedly, Certainteed’s certification is hard for roofers to pass.

I would agree that as far as Class 2 SBS shingles go Malarkey offers the best product. Anything else as far as asphalt or SBS shingles I would only recommend the Atlas brand. Owens Corning has screwed too many people over in the past with poor product quality for me to ever trust them.

And yes installation is paramount, in fact the #1 way that warranty claims get denied is due to improper installation. What the consumers need to understand is that a manufacturers warranty only applies to defects that can be proven to be as a result of the manufacturing process, once the product is out of the factory all bets are off. That and the fact that these manufacturers have their legal departments write the warranties up in a way that can easily disqualify any warranty claim for a multitude of reasons. If you are relying on a manufacturer's warranty with construction materials you are a fool.

What I'm reading here is a lot of people think that everybody is a shyster out to screw you over . Sure , it happens . But in my area there are a dozen good reputable roofing companies and you are free to use whomever you want . None of them want payment up front . If you're foolish enough to do business with some out of town " traveler " then you deserve what you get . If you are forced to use someone unfamiliar then do not pay up front .

I operate in Wisconsin and the big issue here is that there are little to no legal consumer protection thus contractors can literally do whatever they want with little to no legal recourse for the consumer. Wisconsin has a Right to Cure law that contractors can very easily skate and don't even have to make consumers aware of, so many people get taken advantage of to the tune of very large sums of money on a regular basis. This is not to mention the countless scammers and criminal elements involved in the construction industry that troll around looking for the next sucker that they can con into giving them money.

Frankly for all the vitriol I see on this website about the car business I find it interesting how much worse the construction business is and how there is little to no awareness of it comparatively speaking.
 
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