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Message
Fighting with insurance over claim?
Posted on 2/7/24 at 9:29 pm
Posted on 2/7/24 at 9:29 pm
We're getting new roof & gutters due to hail damage. Insurance sent out a scope of work at $16k total for new roof & gutters. My roofer says that's too low and is blaming the estimation software insurance uses, which is Symbility. My roofer is using Xactimate which has the cost at $20k. He sent his estimate to adjuster and they came back with only $800 more, so still $3k off.
Roofer now wants me to call & fight with them. Any tips or suggestions? This is stressing me out.
Roofer now wants me to call & fight with them. Any tips or suggestions? This is stressing me out.
10
Posted on 2/7/24 at 9:49 pm to Greenie10
What insurance company?
Posted on 2/7/24 at 9:57 pm to Greenie10
First of all, don’t let your roofer know what insurance is paying. There’s always a good chance you get to keep some of your ACV and will pay for repairs without actually having to pay your deductible. If the roofer knows what you’re getting, his bill will be for that amount.
Secondly, it’s been a while since I’ve been in P&C but Xactimate was always the go-to when I was in that sector. What company is this? Wondering if Symbility is new or just some knockoff software that a fly by night insurer is using.
Secondly, it’s been a while since I’ve been in P&C but Xactimate was always the go-to when I was in that sector. What company is this? Wondering if Symbility is new or just some knockoff software that a fly by night insurer is using.
This post was edited on 2/7/24 at 9:57 pm
Posted on 2/7/24 at 10:07 pm to Greenie10
quote:
. Any tips or suggestions? This is stressing me out.
Insurance people are scumbags
Roofers are bigger scumbags
Posted on 2/7/24 at 10:49 pm to Greenie10
quote:
Any tips or suggestions?
Obtain quotes from other roofers and don't mention insurance
Posted on 2/7/24 at 11:14 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
Wondering if Symbility is new or just some knockoff software that a fly by night insurer is using.
I think it is the old Marshall Swift Boeckh (MSB) software, a handful of insurance companies use it, I learned it for a short while, but it wasn't worth learning long term and I stopped taking claims from those companies.
Posted on 2/7/24 at 11:55 pm to Greenie10
1. Is the policy ACV or RCV?
2. Insurance usually comes in a bit higher than cost (over 40% GP)
3. If this roofer knew his stuff, he would know how to approach supplements with the carrier
4. You're caught up in a game. Remember that! The insurance company is playing their game, and the roofer is playing their own game. The insurance doesn't want to pay more than they have to, and the roofer wants his profit margin to be as high as possible.
5. Roofing claims are all about who is going to get screwed over... everybody is trying to screw everybody... there are no good guys in the whole process
2. Insurance usually comes in a bit higher than cost (over 40% GP)
3. If this roofer knew his stuff, he would know how to approach supplements with the carrier
4. You're caught up in a game. Remember that! The insurance company is playing their game, and the roofer is playing their own game. The insurance doesn't want to pay more than they have to, and the roofer wants his profit margin to be as high as possible.
5. Roofing claims are all about who is going to get screwed over... everybody is trying to screw everybody... there are no good guys in the whole process
Posted on 2/8/24 at 9:04 am to Greenie10
1. Get quotes from other roofers
2. If other roofer quotes are also higher than amount insurance is willing to pay, hire a lawyer to write a letter. Depending upon what state you live in, there may be consumer protection laws that provide for treble damages plus attorney fees for unscrupulous practices by insurance companies.
2. If other roofer quotes are also higher than amount insurance is willing to pay, hire a lawyer to write a letter. Depending upon what state you live in, there may be consumer protection laws that provide for treble damages plus attorney fees for unscrupulous practices by insurance companies.
Posted on 2/8/24 at 10:01 am to Greenie10
quote:
We're getting new roof & gutters due to hail damage. Insurance sent out a scope of work at $16k total for new roof & gutters. My roofer says that's too low and is blaming the estimation software insurance uses, which is Symbility. My roofer is using Xactimate which has the cost at $20k. He sent his estimate to adjuster and they came back with only $800 more, so still $3k off.
Roofer now wants me to call & fight with them. Any tips or suggestions? This is stressing me out.
I'm a GC, and we do more roofs than anything and specialize with insurance claims. We fight with insurance companies/adjusters daily.
Symbility has better pricing than Xactimate (what we use as well) in certain areas and Xactimate has better pricing in others. It very well could be the software but I'd have to see both estimates side by side.
Your roofer needs to talk with the adjuster on the areas where the estimate needs to be higher. You are a homeowner, you don't know how to argue with adjusters and like 99%, wouldn't know how to argue with them. You could threaten them that you will file a department of insurance claim though. They hate that. And that is something that will sometimes get them off their butts.
They would laugh if you threaten to get a lawyer. 1. No lawyer will take a case where he has to fight a major insurance company (that he will lose) for the potential for only winning a few thousand and 2. you will be paying a few thousand to a lawyer in hopes that you get a few thousand more from your insurance company. Not even remotely worth getting a lawyer for a $3,200.
People that haven't had good experiences with roofing companies will say don't let your roofer see your estimate but if you have a good roofer it 100% is for your benefit. It actually sounds like yours has wrote a decent estimate if he's higher than the insurance company because they are always shorting homeowners and not paying for enough.
Taking the 16,800 and getting quotes from other roofing companies is not great advice. It's great advice if you want the cheapest roof possible and a contractor that is going to cut corners so he can do the roof cheap. If insurance is paying for your roof, you want the nicest roof possible, so a higher estimate is typically a good thing.
II love the "I found a roofer that did it for $2,000 cheaper than the guy I had originally come out." Well, sure, but that roofer also didn't put drip edge on your roof so it's not up to code, didn't pull a permit, is reusing pipe boots that will leak in a year, didn't re-do your chimney flashing so that's also going to leak real soon, used a cheaper felt, and probably a cheaper shingle. So congratulations, instead of getting a nice roof, you got a cheap one. One that insurance was paying for anyway.
Posted on 2/8/24 at 10:09 am to TheArrogantCorndog
quote:
5. Roofing claims are all about who is going to get screwed over... everybody is trying to screw everybody... there are no good guys in the whole process
That's just a distorted view. To say there are no good roofers/local business owners is just ridiculous. Yes, insurance companies are 100% trying to screw you over. but that doesn't mean there aren't contractors out there that aren't looking out for the best interest of the homeowners. That's ridiculous.
We are finishing up a job now where a massive pecan tree fell on a brick house and basically split it in two. The insurance came out and wote an estimate for around 20k. The tree company alone was close to 10k. So they had 10k to do basically half a house rebuild. We came in and fought with the insurance on their behalf and got it up to close to 80k. What is should have been/what it cost to re-buiild half of her house. Yes, we got a big job out of it, but she has basically a brand new house inside and out and has been thanking us non stop throughout the process and talks about the tree falling on her house being a blessing
But yes, we're the bad guys and I guess we were trying to screw her over. 
Posted on 2/8/24 at 12:42 pm to Greenie10
We had our roof done after Ida and had to deal with both parties. However, our roofing company helped with "adjusting" things. In the end, most times you pay your deductible and it's up to the roofing company to get money owed from the insurance company. Or at least that's how it was explained to us.
Posted on 2/8/24 at 8:45 pm to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
Yes, insurance companies are 100% trying to screw you over. but that doesn't mean there aren't contractors out there that aren't looking out for the best interest of the homeowners. That's ridiculous.
Baw, if you dont believe this isnt a game between insurance and roofers, that has homeowners trapped in between, then I cant help you
I truly believe that there are good roofers out there. I was one. However, you know as well as I do, that it's a business built on one party trying to screw over the other party. Hell, sometimes homeowners get a bit too big for their britches and enter the mix. If you're in the industry, then you know that is reality.
The whole point is that there are 3 parties involved, and all 3 are trying to get paid.
I agree that there are homeowners who need a contractor to represent them to their insurance (I'm looking at you State Farm and Allstate
) However I also understand it's a game to the insurance companies as well as most contractors out there. There is a reason out of approximately 6200 industries in the US that Roofing contractors come in at #1 with customer inquiries and #43 at customer complaints with thr BBB.. hell the top 10 are all contractors, except for #6 which are used cares salesmen (some jokes wrote themselves)... in fact the #1 most inquired industry in Canada is also Roofing Contractors... see a pattern? A good, honest roofer is worth his pay. I truly believe that, however to OP's point, this roofer doesnt know shite from a hole in the ground
OP... ask for a line item detail from this contractor and go item by item against your SOL to see where the discrepancy lies... majority of the time insurance will not pay for metal flashing that has not been damaged ,(i.e. chimney flashing, roof to wall flashing, transition flashing, etc.)
OP have this contractor go line item by line item against the SOL and figure our where he is off... is it 3 tab to Architectural?.. is it flashing?... is it carpentry?
Heck, post it here, and we'll tell you exactly where the discrepancy is
Posted on 2/9/24 at 9:34 am to Greenie10
Find a different roofer. What’s the scope of work? Is it all a one to one comparison?
Posted on 2/9/24 at 1:23 pm to Greenie10
Get multiple quotes. Tell the roofing company you're looking at getting a replacement. Do not specify how much insurance is covering.
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