Storm damage is perhaps the biggest, even costliest, challenge you might encounter as an owner of a residential property. Heavy rainfall, hail and strong winds can lead to extensive damage to your home, particularly your roof. When this happens, your property looks worse and becomes more vulnerable to water damage. In this kind of situation, you must act quickly to prevent more significant problems. It can be difficult to move on from this predicament, but the process can be much easier knowing you have experts beside you to help get your roof and your home restored to their original condition.
When severe weather takes its toll on your location, make sure to contact your roofing contractor right away so any leaks or signs of roof damage can be fixed and prevent the roof from getting worse. Of course, you must also reach out to your insurance provider so you can begin the process of filing a storm damage claim.
One of the aspects of the storm damage claim process that you need to understand is about dealing with insurance estimates. This is essential because they are prepared by your claims adjuster to itemize damages that require repair or replacement following the storm that hit your home. Here’s an in-depth look at the process that will help you get the most out of your claim.
About the Insurance Claims Process
To jumpstart your insurance claims process, you have to first assess your home and take note of all the damage. Do this once the coast is clear and the weather is conducive for conducting inspections. Keep a record of everything during the assessment; if possible, use your camera phone to take images or a video recording of your damaged home exterior and interior. Create a list of every item that requires repair and the estimated cost of repairing or replacing each one.
Before your insurance adjuster arrives to check your property for damage, make sure to call your storm damage restoration contractor ahead of time. Given the busy schedule of insurance adjusters, however, it is likely that yours may inadvertently miss something or overlook an important aspect of your claim. Both of them should be on the agreed-upon date and time so that all the damaged parts of your property and personal items are accounted for and everything goes along smoothly.
Once the home inspection is done, the adjuster will furnish you with a copy of the statement of loss or the insurance estimate either in person or via mail. At this point, you need to review everything in the document.
What Is An Insurance Estimate?
The insurance estimate also goes by another name: claim summary. It is a document that provides the estimates of the expected costs to repair or replace damage to your home. It is a collection of sectioned spreadsheets that correspond to each area of your home, including the roof and both the interior and exterior, as well as the detached structures within your property like the shed or gazebo. The document can also include personal items within the property that were damaged because of a storm, such as mailboxes and outdoor furniture.
The total of the costs indicated in each spreadsheet can be found in the summary pages of the claim summary. Apart from the total, it may also show sections listing the amount of material sales tax, overhead and profit, and base service charge. The insurance estimate total is called the Replacement Cost Value (RCV). If you are working with a contractor that charges within what it is indicated in the RCV, you’re likely to get superior materials, quality installation, and additional service upon completion of the repairs.
Calculation of Insurance Estimates
When it comes to insurance estimates, there is also the matter of depreciation, which is the amount your insurer will “hold back” to ensure all the necessary repairs or replacements are completed. It is deducted from the RCV to get what is called the actual cash value (ACV) of the claim. Then, the net claim cash value is calculated by deducting the deductible from the ACV. This equates to the amount of the insurance check given to you to get the repairs started. The recoverable depreciation will then be paid upon completion of the repairs. Note, however, that the deductible is never paid by your insurer since it is the predetermined amount deducted.
The adjuster can miss out on items or overlook some of the damage that should have been itemized in your claim. Thus, you must work closely with your storm damage restoration contractor so you can be sure that all storm-related damages are covered and paid at the current market value.
Important Things to Remember
Once the insurance estimates have been given to you in person or via mail, make sure to review them. Depending on how detailed the adjuster is in determining the extent of the damage, the document can reach up to hundreds of pages. To determine how much you will receive from the insurance company for the claim, all you need to do is add up the RCVs indicated on the summary pages of the document. Then, deduct the deductible and the depreciation amount.
From there, gather all repair or replacement estimations obtained from your contractor and give them to your insurance provider when you file the claim. Once it is approved, the insurer will adjust the part where the depreciation amount is mentioned to reveal the actual cost of the repair or replacement. Soon after, a check will arrive in your mail to cover the new amount.
You might notice that the insurance check may not be enough to cover the repairs. Most insurance companies explain this in the claim summary stating that the repair payments are broken up into two. The first one is the net claim, which is sent to you to get everything started. The rest of the funds will be released as soon as the invoice for completed work is submitted to your insurer.
For your roof restoration and replacement due to storm damage, turn to The Pinnacle Group. We have your back and will work quickly and efficiently to restore your home. We want to make sure that the storm damage restoration process is as easy as possible for you. We also work with insurance companies to ensure you get the compensation you deserve to bring your home back to its original condition.
Call (804) 368-8798 or fill out our contact form to schedule your free inspection today.