Texas hail damage insurance claims alone account for more than 20% of the national total. With Texas topping the list for total number of hail events nationwide, chances are you may have to file a hail damage claim in your life. Hail causes all sorts of damage to homes and property but it can be especially brutal to your roof. If your hail damage claim has been denied or you have been offered a fraction of what you deserve, you need an experienced attorney to pursue the damages you are entitled to.
Why You Need an Independent Inspection
- Hail damage can have lasting damaging effects. The extent of your hail damage may not always be immediately noticeable, especially to the untrained eye. Rust, rot, and roof leaks can form over time if the hail damage is left unrepaired.
- Insurance companies make their money by not paying out claims. They will do their best to deny your claim for any number of reasons. The common reaction following a damaging event is to contact the insurance company; they will then send someone to survey the damage. This is strongly discouraged. Inspectors sent by the insurance company have been directed to find the least-expensive solution to minimize the claim amount.
- You need your own value assessment. Our office can, at no charge, place you in contact with an independent inspector so that you may go in to your claim armed with more information. It is important to have an insurance expert on your side when filing a claim for hail damage – someone trained to look for and spot hail damage – if you want to increase the chances of your damage being covered.
Why Hail Damage Insurance Claims Are Denied
Claims are wrongfully denied all too often. Most of the time insurance carriers deny claims by taking the position that there is no actual damage, or that the damage caused was insignificant, keeping it below the deductible. They will label your claim as having “no structural damage” or claim the damage was “cosmetic only”. An insurance attorney will stop them from treating your claim with such disregard, and work to get the compensation you are fairly entitled to.
Even when insurance companies do pay out they will try to cut corners wherever possible to limit their expense. One of the common practices insurance companies use in hail damage claims is to replace individual roof shingles, rather than replacing the entire roof. Companies do this to keep claims under the deductible amount even when the policy states the entire roof should have been replaced!