Roof Damage: Top Reasons You Should Always File a Claim If a Contractor Finds Damage
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Insurance Premiums Will Not Rise Because You Used Insurance
By Minnesota Law, an Act of God (hail or wind storm) cannot raise premiums for individual homeowners who choose to use their insurance to file a claim. Entire zip codes/areas may rise in unison, but that is independent from if you use insurance to pay for a replacement roof. Insurance is a service you pay for, and these occurrences are the reason and the time to utilize it.
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Short Time Window
Depending on your insurance policy, you may only have 1-2 years from the date of the loss (damage) to have the claim approved and work completed.
Insurance companies have access to all of the same storm data that roofing contractors do, so they know when your home was hit with the storm that damaged it. If the last recorded storm with the right size hail was from outside the claim window, you will not be approved and you will have a compromised roof that you are responsible for paying for out of pocket!
If you are planning to sell your home in the future, having a damaged roof will have a considerable impact on your home’s value. A buyer will not want to be responsible for a full roof replacement out-of-pocket, so this could lead to low or no offers on your home.
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Future Loss & Liability
If your roof is damaged by a hail or wind storm so severely that the shingles are not functionally protecting your house, there is the risk of interior damage (leaking into your home or rotting decking underneath shingles) that could take place. Your insurance would not cover this damage since it resulted from a damaged roof that was not addressed.
There are clauses in all insurance contracts which state that the insured will take reasonable measures to prevent future losses. Similar to how if you had a broken pipe, you would have it replaced immediately, versus continuing to use it and expecting insurance to cover all future damages from the broken pipe.
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Roof Prices are Rising
Roofs are the most expensive and most important part of a home.
The cost historically rises 10% each year (which doubles every 10 years!), and has started increasing even faster with inflation. You do not want to sit on a damaged roof!
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Lifespan Compromised
Most shingles have an average actual lifespan of 18-22 years. When damaged by hail and combined with the rapid heating/cooling in the Midwest, the functional lifespan of the shingles diminishes rapidly.
