Tool
Claim it, or pay for it yourself?
Filing is not free even when it pays. Not filing is not free either. Here is how the arithmetic usually works, so the decision is yours rather than a contractor's.
This works out an answer as you change the controls, which needs JavaScript. Without it, the reference section below covers the same ground, and we are happy to talk it through.
The five terms this turns on
- Date of loss
- The date the damage happened, not the date you noticed it. Everything hangs off it, including the reporting deadline. Get it from the record rather than from memory.
- Deductible
- Your share, subtracted before anything is paid. Flat, or a percentage of the dwelling limit, and wind and hail sometimes carry their own higher one. Explained properly.
- ACV and RCV
- Actual cash value pays the depreciated amount with no second payment. Replacement cost holds back the depreciation and releases it when the work is done. The difference this makes.
- Scope
- The line-item document the adjuster writes. Missing items are normal and are fixed with a supplement, not an argument.
- Claims history
- A reported claim generally appears whether or not it pays. That is the cost of finding out by filing rather than by looking.
This page describes how the process generally works. It is not legal or insurance advice, it does not predict any outcome, and it never suggests presenting a loss as anything other than what it is. If a contractor offers to cover, waive or absorb your deductible, that is a misrepresentation of the loss and it is your signature on the claim.
The sequence that works
Establish the date
A specific date that corresponds to a recorded event is worth more than any argument you can make later.
Get it documented
Photographs slope by slope and a written condition report, before you report anything. This is what tells you whether there is a claim worth making.
Read your declarations page
Deductible shape, and the roof settlement basis. Five minutes, and it changes the decision.
Then decide
With the scope, the deductible and the settlement basis in front of you, the arithmetic is straightforward. Without them it is a guess.
The first step is the same whichever way the decision goes.
Get it documentedAll work is performed by licensed and insured local roofing professionals.