Insurances and roofs
 

Friends just bought a used house in TV.

Couldn't not get insurance due to the roof. . for whatever specific reason, unknown. .

Sellers relented to install a new roof to push the sale through.

Might be the new sales condition for sellers. .
Keep that roof in tip top condition and up to date with the insurance company!

Been that way for about year. I still see old roofs around. I don’t know how they are getting insurance? I won’t comment on why. But it’s clear why.

Well, if the roof was bad, I'm glad the buyers get a new roof out of the deal. But it's more likely that they just couldn't find an insurance company that is willing to abide by the 2022 law that forbids an insurance company from rejecting coverage due to a 15-year-old roof that has 5 years of life left in it.

But good news! There is at least one honest insurance company left -- Kin. They just wrote a policy on my perfectly serviceable 16-year-old roof at a very reasonable rate. Unlike these moronic Florida companies that insist on writing full-replacement policies on a depreciating asset, Kin depreciates the coverage of the roof as it ages, so they don't have to worry about roof scammers.

A properly installed metal roof will last 40 to 70 years. Friends of ours in Tennessee had a metal roof installed on their house. It did cost more than asphalt shingles but when you consider how long they last it is worth it. The roof was imprinted to look like regular shingles, and at a casual glance you couldn't tell it was metal. The metal roofs don't look like the silver corrugated metal used on a barn. I don't understand the resistance in TV to metal roofs. Is some one getting kick backs on roof replacements? I can't think of any other reason.

I'm not sure I'm following the logic here... so if you have a 10yo roof, Kin is only covering the value of a roof that is 10yo? If you have damage, they won't pay for putting on a new roof, only what a 10yo would be valued at? How do you put up a new roof that's 10yo? Recycled shingles?

My understanding is that your existing insurance company can’t dump you under the circumstances stated above. It doesn’t mean they have to offer coverage to a new customer. It’s only getting worse, Farmers will be sending out mandatory 120 notice letters to all existing customers with insurance through the Farmers name (not subsidiaries like Foremost) starting October first stating that they won’t be renewing ALL homeowners and auto policies in the state of Florida. So basically, everyone in Florida with a policy that renews after January 28, 2024 will be getting dumped. If they pull entirely out of the state, they aren’t bound by any laws to protect their former customers. So out goes one of the biggest insurance companies in the state, leaving countless residents looking for policies from other insurers who don’t want more exposure to that market. It’s a disaster scenario in the making, compounded by the rapid growth of the state.

At least our Farmers policy renews December first and our roof is 14 years old, so the law prevents them from dumping us until December of 2024. We are probably going to have to replace our still perfectly fine roof before then to get another company willing to offer us a policy. Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated in the new roof scam, your actions are causing us both a major hassle as well as $$$$$$.

The next angle will be that the insurance companies will write the policy on 16-20 year old roofs but, just charge outrageous premiums.

Already happening.

Just be prepared to go through the insurance hunting process again in 1 year. Kin was my former insurance company of 1 year before they increased my rate by over 100%. I now have State Farm, who insured my house with a 16 year old roof. I've owned my home for 5 years now and have had 4 different insurers.

Our house was built in 09 and we have the original roof. Still in great shape. Had no problem getting insurance thru HH Insurance in St Pete. They sent out an inspector and said we were good to go.

It's very simple. If the roof is 10 years old and has an expected life of 15 years, they would reimburse you for 1/3 the value of the roof if you had an issue. Makes sense - why should the insurance company have to replace a consumable at full value? You were going to have to replace it at full value in 5 years anyway.

PoolBrew...isn't that what you said in your first post...they pro rate it like many things that have warranty coverage. I was picking up what you were putting down.

I personally wouldn't want a metal roof in Florida, with the amount of rain we get. The metal roofs are substantially louder than asphalt roofs when it rains.

With the sound proofing insulation used on modern metal roofs you don't hear any noise from the rain. They ain't your grandfather's tin roofed barn.

This depreciation in the Kin policy ACTS like a way to keep premiums lower. Wait till the homeowner has a claim for a new roof. Will have a good case of buyers remorse.

You don't. If you have a claim for a new roof and the roof is 10 years old and the life expectancy is 20 years, your insurance will pay you 50%(10/20) Was in the insurance biz and bet there is a lot of fine print in this policy.

This has been going on for a long time. Why would an insurance company want to write a policy where in the odds of having a claim are higher. Just like health insurance. Insurance companies do not want to write policies on older people due to the likelihood that an older person is more likely to get sick.

A good hail storm does not help either.

No different than people who take 1% or 2% deductibles to keep their premiums lower.

So Kin is pays out the depreciated value of the roof, correct? Do other policies (or is it all policies) pay for the replacement value of the roof?

I've been spoiled rotten by my Chubb policy up north ... never a full roof replacement, but I did have some storm damage from a fallen tree - they covered the entire replacement and waived the deductible - the adjustor was very surprised when I told him the roof was fine except for the bottom 2-3 rows and the gutter. In some cases, honesty is the best policy!

Thanks!

God forbid TV moves to metal roofs.

I have Foremost and I've received a letter from my agent stating mine will not be renewed. Maybe he just assumed that because Farmers owns Foremost. Luckily mine was just renewed in June, so I have until June 2024.

There are many other reasons
 

Um ya, have you ever seen a metal roof get peeled by high winds. It’s better to loose a couple of replaceable shingles than half your roof which damages the next three houses down with debris. Hurricanes would be a huge factor.

As far as an insurance problem in a state, we could get as bad a California? Allstate and Farmers pulled out of there last month. California'''s homeowners insurance crisis is growing and spreading to car insurance | KPBS Public Media

Yeah depreciation is always a shock. Total your car and find out it is only worth half the price of a new one to the insurance company.

Roof
 

I got an old roof and have no problem with insurance. They may charge more for insurance, but you can still get it. You need to shop around.

It’s seems that they treat the roof as a depreciable asset as opposed to a full replacement cost item. This makes perfect sense to me. People have been using and abusing insurance companies for years expecting them to pay full replacement cost on several insurable assets (cars, boats, roofs, etc.) that have little serviceable life remaining.

Certainly if someone wants to pay the higher premiums for full replacement cost and the insurer is willing to accept the risk, then that’s a different issue altogether. I’d much prefer to keep my premiums lower and have the insurance company simply cover the value of the asset on a depreciated basis.

You put up the new roof and then you pay the difference in cost?

Same here, had KIN for one year before they doubled my premium and I also am on my fourth company in as many years

Think about automobile insurance. It your 10-year-old car is totaled in an accident, your insurance is not going to pay the entire bill for a new car.

Depending on area most roofs last way longer than 15 years. They don’t all sudden go bad at magic 15 years it’s under estimated guess used by insurance company’s. use rules put in place insurance lobbying state. I don’t think I can buy 15 years shingles. My roof here if Florida was 19 years old at time of the pea size hail (peas size hail don’t damage anything) and majority all around area. All sudden the roofs were damaged by peas size hail that majority didn’t even get.

One person got free roof replaced and then the word got out. Once scammers got on roof with that free inspection all sudden they were bad. I had one scammer knock on my door m y times. The last time I said leave before he could open his mouth.

So, the wild fire roof scam spread like grass fire in Kansas. So, what did we get? In the situation we are now. I bet everywhere else in country the roofs are pro rated. Is was in states I lived in.

Now some had damage due high winds for hurricane in 18 and 19? I can’t remember. out of those some could be repaired and some had to be replaced. But, the scammer’s swooped in. Results along with weak state insurance laws we are now in the situation florida in.

I had to get my roof replace to get insurance, I paid for it. The policy I had the three letters company when up 250%. Of course I shopped around and now paid less insurance this year than before. But, who knows what if will cost next year? IMO I afraid it may be impossible to get affordable insurance in Florida due to state failures and companies leaving.

Now you can but there was about year that wasn’t an option. I got letter saying they wasn’t going insure my house, Until state outlawed it. Then, exodus began and will continue IMO.

Agree, but the intense sun and summer heat in Florida really does beat the living crap out of shingles. We have 30 year architectural shingles on both our home in Florida and Massachusetts. The Florida homes shingles are 14 years old and look very old and tired and when I clean out the gutters the are packed with shingle granules. The roof will probably function as needed for another 5 or 6 years, but there’s no way it will last anywhere near 30 years. The Massachusetts home’s shingles are 17 years old and they still look like new and when I clean out the gutters I only see a few shingle granules. Those shingles should easily last 30 years.

I am a strong proponent of insurance companies pro rating roof replacement coverage based on the shingles age. It would protect insurance companies from the roofing scam and help keep them from pulling out of the Florida market and keep premiums reasonable.

I even heard some people couldn’t get Home Ins. until they also got a new Water Heater because it had some age on it. I always thought the old saying was if it’s not broken don’t fix it. It just seems like we’re being controlled by everyone but the owners. But I know sometimes owners bandaide fix things just to get rid of them!

Not all roof replacements were scams
 

I had n 11 year old roof replaced last year. Several neighbors had had theirs replaced before and I too am thinking "scam". I had had an insurance company (prior to the new law) drop my coverage due to 10 year old roof and had to search for a new company. We were thinking about selling and knew that the roof could be a sticking point so we had two companies inspect our roof and both found wind damage. We called our insurance company who agreed with the damage and to replace the roof. Not all replacements are scams! I am hopeful that new installation requirements will mitigate wind damage and the FL will somehow "fix" the insurance crisis.

The common denominator between a roof and a water heater is that if they fail the result can be thousands of dollars of collateral water damage to other parts of the home. They are not just covering the replacement value of the roof or water heater, they are covering the entire home. I’m not defending insurance companies, but they are in business to make money. If they are legally required to take on unprofitable risk they will either pull out of the market or jack premiums up through the roof (no pun intended). It’s a balancing act between protecting homeowners and keeping insurers risk and profitability at reasonable levels. Under current Florida laws it’s obvious that insurers feel their risk profile is unmanageably high or they wouldn’t be pulling out of the market.

So the buyers (or the buyers real estate agent) tried to verify insurance coverage with the current insurer or contacted Villages Insurance to verify and were told to pound sand? Was this a spelled-out contingency for the sale?

I will be in the same spot (hopefully soon) and want to know what's the best order to assure I can get insurance.

Thanks!

Aaaaa, the old wind damage, was it leaking, did you loose shingles? . O mean the corners was lifting up when they prying on them.

Kin, might be honest, but their not cheap if you roof is over 15yrs old.

For me it's the excess noise of rain against the metal roof that would be a problem.

Of course there are roof scammers everywhere, but they didn’t cause the problem with insurance companies. I’ve never in my long life been told by an insurance company that I have to replace my 30 year roof when it was only 15 years old, but that’s what Florida insurance companies did starting 2-3 years ago, thereby opening the door to scammers. The insurance companies created the problem.

Please tell me if, say, 10 years ago your insurance company said to replace your 15 year old roof or no more insurance. This was a new way for insurance companies to scam homeowners that blew back on them.