Last week I filed four lawsuits against various homeowner’s insurance companies as a result of their failure to pay, or to pay in full, for roof damage arising out of Tropical Storm Fay. Two of these roofs also involved degranulation losses due to hail damage. Over the years since the massive 1992 hail storms I’ve successfully handled 100’s of roof damage cases.
With the economy waning, I’ve seen many denials of claims that have been paid in years past. Many of the recent roof cases which I’ve filed over the past several months involve the insurance companies refusing to pay for replacement of a flat roof where the insurer has agreed to replace the shingled portion of the roof. These flat roofs frequently need to be replaced because roofers cannot get a proper and effective "tie in" without also replacing the entire flat roof. Or, the flat roof needs to be replaced because the tie in is so deep into the flat roof that more than 25% of the flat roof has to be replaced. Under the Florida Building Code, if more than 25% of a roof section has to be replaced, then the entire roof must be replaced.
In some of these cases, the insurance companies are getting their own roofers to say that they can replace the shingle roof without having to replace the flat roof. While there may be some roofers who are willing to perform repairs in this manner, beware: this is not the proper way to repair the roof. Such short cuts may work for a little while, but this improper tie in leaves the roof in a compromised position and will likely soon begin to leak. This new leaking will usually take a year or two, and once that starts, the insurance company will deny any further responsibility by claiming that the leaks are excluded as "improper workmanship.
Another problem that has been arising is the insurance companies are refusing to pay profit and overhead when there are 3 or more trades involved. Overhead and profit are owed when 3 or more trades are involved.
Interestingly, in one of my hail damage claims I was able to locate video footage of the exact hail storm on youtube.com.
Who thought roofs could be so much fun.