Home insurance deductible
 

A friend showed me his home owners insurance renewal. There was a new deductible of $15k for wind damage. Looks like it's an attempt of the insurance company to limit their exposure for new roofs for wind damage that has been happening in TV a lot lately.

It will be interesting to see if this is a trend.

Yes, fraud, but lot of starving lawyers out there.

I don’t understand your post.

Insurance is for what you can not afford...........base your deductibles accordingly.

Lawyers looking for lawsuits so as to make money. This is what I think he means.

You need to read your homeowners policy very carefully. You may have as many as 3 different deductibles for wind depending on what type of wind occurs. There could be a wind deductible, a "named storm" deductible, and a hurricane deductible. These may all be different deductible amounts, even though the damage was caused by wind. You can also purchase additional coverage with different deductibles depending on what you think you need.

Most home owners have $500 or $1000 deductible. On a declared Hurricane your deductible is 2% of homes value. That what ours is.

Sounds like insurance companies trying to stay in business. Too many call 1-800 fill in the blank lawyers. Someone has to pay and that is us, the consumer.

hurricane wind deductible.

Perhaps you can answer a question for me. If I buy new shingles for my roof, they come with a warranty, perhaps twenty-five years, or forty, depending on the quality. However, that warranty is pro-rated, so if my shingles start falling apart in ten years, the maker will only pay part of the cost for replacement, and perhaps not the labor for removal or replacement.

But if you claim shingle damage from a storm, do insurance companies usually pay full replacement cost, minus the deductible, which might be only $500? So if someone is willing to climb onto your roof and certify that you have storm damage, you can file a claim and receive a new roof that might cost $25,000? You get this even though you live in a house that is 22 years old, and your shingles were 25 year shingles and were due to be replaced in the near future, paid for entirely by yourself. The damage by storm might be minimal and debatable, but maybe some lawyer is willing to threaten a law suit if your insurer won’t pay, and the insurer would rather pay than have to spend that much having its own lawyers defend it in court.

I realize that with insurance, we essentially pool our money nationwide so those in need can get paid. I realize this is legal, but getting these new roofs seems rather close to insurance fraud. It saves us a LOT of money we probably don’t have (maybe more than we have paid for house insurance in our entire lives), but actually, usually our “storm-damaged” roofs are still working fine and not leaking. Are we sort-of making false claims and passing on the costs to our neighbors? Is this moral? Does it give anyone qualms?

Ditto!
 

Our deductible is the same as posted here.

Not understanding original post either!

While I see how you can come to that conclusion, let me say our house is 12 years old. We are in an area that Owens Corning admitted to have inferior roofing products.

We have to have a new roof. When our adjuster showed up he blatantly said the roof should have been replaced several years ago. My hubby who KEEPS EVERYTHING, had the paperwork from Owens that they inspected the roof and it was fine. Evidently Owens was cherry picking homes to reroof, ours not being one. Same thing with my neighbor.
Seems to me the fraud is with Owens Corning AND the building inspectors that we pay for through tax dollars.

As far as I’m concerned my insurance company should go after Owens. One thing I know for sure INSURANCE COMPANIES DON’T PAY UNLESS THEY HAVE TO!!! So some are under the influences of the conspiracy theories that everyone including ADJUSTERS are dishonest and make big bucks off of this. My suggestion to them is to relook at who the fraudulent parties are.

Anybody remember the siding debacle? Where were the inspectors when the homes were being built. That was our area too. Had to have an inspection for that too, so far the siding hasn’t blown off the house, thank goodness.

By the way a house 20 year old home with a 25 yr roof, will not be paid for by insurance. The roof will be considered end of life.

Yes the roof business fraud is alive and well. Just check out all the roofing going on now that is being attributed to a "storm". Also the roofers will put a different amount on the bill but charge less so that they customer does not have to pay any deductible. They just tell the customer they will not have to pay any deductible and that sounds good to the customer and they say "Yes, I want a new roof". The insurance companies are getting gouged by these new roofs that do not even qualify for storm replacement. They have gone to Tallahassee to plead their case with the politicians and State attorney but to no avail. So now if you check your property insurance you will notice for the past 3 years it had gone literally through "the roof". This is so the insurance companies can pay for all the "damaged" roofs.

Is it possible to post the name of the alleged insurance company. Only a rumor until you post a name to go along with your accusations

That is not true. Policies that insure the quality of homes in TV will almost certainly have "Replacement Cost Value" (RCV) meaning when you replace the damaged item it will be paid at full replacement cost ie: new. The insurance company accepted the risk of insuring a roof that is 20 years old it is on them to pay any legitimate claim.

I disagree they pay only when they "have to". The policy is a contract. If something is covered by the policy/contract they are going to pay. Otherwise it is bad faith and that cost them a LOT more than paying claims they clearly owe based on the policy.

I don't mean to come off defending Insurance companies but the reason Florida has marginal (and I'm being kind) insurance carriers is because all the lawsuits and unscrupulous contractors out there taking advantage. If writing an estimate large enough to cover your deductible isn't insurance fraud I don't know what is. Again, we are the ones paying for it in the end.

If you bought homeowners ins from the villages they charge you twice the rate with no sinkhole damage or flood. My insurance is DIRECT with Progressive who owns ASI my second renewal was $460- and I got a refund check on my car ins because I bundled ! If you get auto with progressive you don’t need AAA towing etc because that’s included

I have heard stories of people who take advantage of this insurance gimmick, or seems like one to me, to have insurance pay for a new roof. I do not know how they do it or why an insurance company would fall for it but WE are paying for that roof and seems morally questionable. That does not seem to bother people, as long as it is themselves who are profiting. Very sad if true.

Not true.

Please note, I am not defending the insurance companies or the homeowner. Just adding some insight to the conversation. For full disclosure, we had our roof replaced and the insurance company paid our claim.

We had our roof inspected at our request. It was not someone knocking on the door or leaving a door hanger. The company inspecting the roof told us there was evidence of storm damage. I am 68, with arthritis, and am not climbing up on a roof to verify what we were told. A claim was filed with the insurance company using the information and photos from the initial inspection. The insurance company sent THEIR inspector to look at the roof. He agreed with the initial report and our replacement was approved. I personally think the cost of the replacement was to much, but that is between the roofing and insurance companies. My deductible was the same (2% of house value) if the roof was $5000 or $20000.

Here is what I think is complicating the issue. At some point there was a code change from 3-tab to 4-tab shingles. Most of the roofs being replaced are 3-tab. If there is storm damage to a 3-tab roof, it cannot be repaired. You cannot replace just one shingle or one section. If the shingles are in bad shape, repairing one begets to repairing another, then another, then another, and before you know it the entire roof is replaced. Is it the insurance company’s responsibility to repair the one section, leaving the homeowner on the hook for the rest?

How can you say the insurance companies are being gouged? They have inspectors -- either it's wind damage or not. If it is, it's covered. You pay the premium, you make a claim.....

You need to check your facts. You are correct American Strategic Insurance - ASI is owned by Progressive. Bundling usually save you money.

However, what you need to check is, The Villages Insurance writes homeowners insurance with American Integrity Insurance - AI based in Tampa. From other comments and posts, AI is the company many are complaining about. Not ASI.

Sorry, but the Villages does write HO with ASI Progressive. I have had ASI for HO and umbrella for over two years. I have progressive for auto and get a discount.
Also, someone wrote previously that losses are shared nationwide. Not true. Losses are shared by state and most Florida insurance companies are a Florida only, even though they maybe a national company.

I have been in the insurance adjusting business for 40 years. What you are saying is correct. Insurance fraud is rampant especially where we now live in South Florida. Still working on claims for Hurricane Irma. Lawyers/Public adjusters are pursuing claims alleging that windows in buildings need to be replaced in buildings were damaged where in the wind GUSTS were 60 MPH+/- . We found 3-4 pieces of glass which were actually damaged in a condo complex consisting of over 200 condos.

For a frame home in South Florida and insured for $300,000 we pay $4,000 a year. Concrete block home would have cost us approximately $3000. That takes into consideration that we needed to have storm shutters or impact resistant glass(we paid $30,000 for impact resistant glass) and in the villages we are paying <$1500 a year.

If these trends continue insurance rates will continue to rise much higher than the cost of living increases.

But it is American Integrity that has a reputation of not paying roof claims and has a pending class action lawsuit against them. Not true for most insurance companies are in Florida only. You example, ASI/Progressive is nationwide. Then you have Allstate, State Farm, Nationwide, and The Travelers. These are all national companies.