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 Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: Home hail damage claim |
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Hi! I've a question for you all 
We recently have a hail storm in our area which has caused huge damages to many of the houses in the locality including mine. We have both damaged siding and roof. Though the claim with the roof went well, the problem occurs with the siding. The insurance company is replacing it with a color that is not matching with the remaining part of the home. We have complained it to the adjuster but he isn't ready to budge since the insurance company is only responsible to replace it with a same quality material. What can we do in this situation? Can we ask the insurance company to replace the entire siding to match it with the rest?
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hail_damage
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Can we ask the insurance company to replace the entire siding to match it with the rest? |
Well you can ask, but not how that will go...is it a case of the new/replacement siding will eventually fade to the same as the rest of the house? It depends on your policy language, I would certainly not want totally mis-matched siding on my house either...contact them as the adjuster about this, then go to that adjusters supervisor if you don't get a good answer. climbing the ladder rarely hurts anything...it may be too that you can get them to replace the siding on the 'side' of the house that is damaged. Is it (for instance) just the siding on the front? or is it randomly the entire house?
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Lori
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Something similar happened to someone I knew. The insurance company told him that the style of siding that he wanted was no longer available. So , eventually, he settled on a siding that blended, but in his case the difference was that he was getting it done himself and the insurance company paid the replacement and the labor minus the depreciated amount. I agree with Lori about going higher up to find if you can get them to match the same quality material. |
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Unicorn
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| OP, why is the color not matching? Is it that the same color is not being made or the siding on your home is faded? I can say that the insurance company is not responsible for the above-mentioned conditions so they won't pay to replace all of the siding on the home. At most, they will sometimes agree to replace a larger section, say, up to a corner of the home if it's not too large. |
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tcope
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| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:33 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | OP, why is the color not matching? Is it that the same color is not being made or the siding on your home is faded? |
The situation is just what you have mentioned. According to the insurance company the exact color of the siding is no longer into production, but does that mean that I've to accept whatever they are proposing us? Not only it would affect the look of my house, but will also affect the valuation of the property. I'm planning to sell it within the next few years.
Unicorn, are you suggesting that I should pay for the repair out_of_pocket and the insurance company would only pay a lump sum towards it? I don't have the money neither the intention to pay for it. What is the purpose of keeping insurance if you can't use it at the time of need? After all, I'm not committing a hail damage fraud here.
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hail_damage
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| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| HI Hail, I can understand your frustration, but the insurance company will only pay for the damaged part. What exactly is written in your policy paper? I don't know of an insurer who would replace the entire siding just to match the colour. They are responsible to repair only the damaged portion. |
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RupertWBradson
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| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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OP, what 'part' of your house siding is damaged, like, 'front' the back, one side, or side and front etc....also is this vinyl or alumn. siding, and did you have it put on or was it there when you bought the house...also what state are you in and what policy form do you have (ho3?)
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Lori
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| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | The situation is just what you have mentioned. According to the insurance company the exact color of the siding is no longer into production, but does that mean that I've to accept whatever they are proposing us? |
On this type of claim, that is what is owed. Many carriers will try to work with you a little, if possible, but in many cases there is not much they can do. If the damage were to cover almost an entire side of a home they might pay a little extra to get that entire side to match or perhaps replace up to some type of break, such as a door or window in order to minimize the change... something like that.
You may also want to pay out of your pocket to have a larger section replaced so it's less noticeable. Have the carrier pay based on an estimate and then perhaps see if the siding company would give you a better price if you have a larger section replaced.
Yes, it might make if difficult to sell the home and that an unfortunate. Hopefully most people will understand that the siding will match more and more each year as it fades. |
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tcope
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:08 am Post subject: |
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Sorry about not responding to ya'll early this claim business is taking too much of my time. Anyway, Lori, its vinyl siding and was there when I bought the house just before the market crash. The real estate price is already so low in this area that I'm not hoping to get any value for this property. Wrong investment, I know 
The worst part of this whole business is that its the front and one side of the house is affected. Tcope, how much this mismatched siding would affect the price of the house? would I ever be able to get anything from it? Do I still have to make the mortgage payment?
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hail_damage
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:28 am Post subject: |
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geeeze where did this come from? | Quote: | | Do I still have to make the mortgage payment? |
Only if you want a place to live and them to not repo your house and ruin your credit....a claim and making your mortgage payments don't have anything to do with each other at all.
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Lori
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| No one can say how it will affect the purchase price of the house. That really depends on the buyer and what the house looks like when it's bought. As time goes by, the new siding will fade and more closely match the existing siding. If possible, you may want to see if the siding can be replaced up to a break point on the home. Such as a door or a window as to minimize the area where the old and new siding meet. If this would make it look better, most adjusters would be willing to work with you on this. |
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tcope
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| Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Something you can look into is line of sight. Would you be able to stand at the corner of your house near the street and see the different colors of siding. I have seen some carriers bend to the line of sight rule in some states and pay for total replacement. |
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Dasfuk
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| Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:27 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I have seen some carriers bend to the line of sight rule in some states and pay for total replacement. |
You have added a whole new angle to the discussion I've never heard of this theory before, so am curious to know more about it. What kind of policy would actually allow this? Is it a provision under the standard replacement plans? |
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JeremyHolter
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| Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:59 am Post subject: |
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| Its not in any policy. I've worked for carriers that follow this rule. Its not that I agree with the line of sight rule as it goes against how the policy is written, but then again I didn't make those calls. I've been involved when it has been to both shingles and siding. |
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Dasfuk
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| Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:34 am Post subject: |
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The carrier I have all my insurance with does this...if you can stand on one side of the house (or corner) and see the difference they make that uniform...again this isn't in the policy and an adminstrative claims decision.
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