When a storm comes through Omaha and Des Moines it typically does a lot of damage to the roofs in the area. You need to know your rights when you work with your insurance company to file a claim for a roof installation or roof repair. Many people don’t know that your homeowner’s insurance has to give you the same quality of product that was there before the accident. What will happen if they can’t? Here’s what you should know about laws about matching.
What is the law about your roofing materials matching?
Some states have laws that are the same. This law helps make it less likely that your house will look bad. What gives? Think about this situation.
Let’s say that the insurance company agrees that it’s their job to fix the roof. But the roofer can’t match the color and type of material on your old roof with new products that are on the market. The company might have gone out of business or stopped making that color.
In states where there is no matching law, the property owner has no protection. The insurance company might try to find a similar product and use that instead. In a matching state like Nebraska, they don’t do things like that. In a state with a “matching law,” the insurance company must pay to: match the new materials to the old roof exactly as it was before the covered event.
If it can’t do that, the insurance company will have to pay to replace the whole roof.
Most of the time, the quality, size, and color of the new materials need to match the old ones so that when the work is done, it looks like nothing has changed.
How this kind of matching law can help you pay for a new roof
When fixing a roof, an insurance company will try to find the cheapest way to get it back to how it was before the event. That means that if only a part of the roof needs to be fixed instead of the whole thing, they will only pay for that.
But that doesn’t always work. Sometimes, the home’s original materials can’t be found, so the insurance company has to pay for a whole new roof instead of just making repairs.
Can matching laws help you with a roof repair?
The first thing you should do is check to see if your insurance covers the incident. Damage caused by a sudden and accidental loss is often covered by a lot of home insurance policies. Some of the most common dangers that can lead to this are:
- Fire damage
- Smoke damage
- Hail damage
- Some water damage
- Debris impact
In these cases, the insurance company will want the damage to the roof to be looked at to see if it is covered by the policy.
Remember that the insurance company doesn’t have to pay anything if the roof damage wasn’t caused by one of the things above. For example, if the roof has a lot of wear and tear from being old or not being taken care of, the insurance company won’t pay for this loss and any roof repairs or roof replacement will be out of pocket.
If the damage is covered, most insurance policies have a clause (or there may be a law) that says the company must pay to fix or replace the property with “like kind and quality” or “similar material” to what you already have if the damage is covered.
How do you know if you can get roofing materials to match?
Your roofing company will work with your insurance company to inspect the roof and figure out if it can be fixed. Then, the roofing company will try to find the same kind of roofing material you have on your home. If they can, they will buy it and fix it if they need to.
Sometimes this isn’t possible because the color or size of the roofing material doesn’t match exactly. When they can’t find a material that matches well, the roofing company will let the insurance company know. The insurance company might then do some research to see if that’s true. If that’s the case, the insurance company may decide that the whole roof needs to be replaced.
A new roof is a big plus from matching laws
Having the whole roof replaced is usually a good thing for the person who owns the house. On some bigger homes, this could be a project worth $10,000 or more. If the insurance company decides to replace the roof, you don’t have to worry about paying for a new roof for your home in the future. Most roofs will last for decades, and your home will be protected from the weather by a new roof. The insurance company will only pay for what is necessary and for the same kind of materials. You may be able to pay out of pocket for extra updates, like a better roof, if you want.
Also, keep in mind that putting on a new roof helps your home’s value. Just patching a repair could make an unsightly difference in shading or coloring, which would show that it had been fixed. That could make your home less valuable. But that won’t happen with a new roof, which could be a good selling point.
How to Get Help for Your New Roof installation
If you think your insurance company will pay for roof damage, the first thing you should do is call a roofing contractor. Let the contractor do an inspection, and then work with your insurance company to get the repairs done and make sure your home is safe. Even if a full roof replacement is not possible, it is always best for property owners to have a licensed roof professional do the roof repairs.
