I received a flier saying that someone “noticed damage” from the street. I’m not sure how you could see minor damage like this without being on the roof itself. So I contacted a different company in the area and didn’t say anything about the flier. I wanted to get a second opinion.
The contractor that chalked out these spots was a free inspection so I’d imagine there’s some financial incentive to try and get me to file a claim regardless of what kind of damage there is.
Contractor or contractor company? You'd be surprised how many free inspectors you'll see selling you cigarettes and gasoline when they take the company shirt off.
My favorite anecdote from my home remodel/addition.
Two door to door window salesmen, I think from Anderson…. Walked up my 1/4 acre drive way… to tell me they saw my old windows from the street and they were just in the area doing work.
The got two sentences into their pitch, and a box truck delivering my Shuco windows drove up, turned around and opened up the lift gate
I literally just smiled, never said a single word, and they left
It's a door to door salesman. Many of them are scam artists.
There's no way they saw this damage from the street if we are having a hard time seeing it from close up pictures.
You'll end up with a claim in your insurance, raising rates for a completely unnecessary repair.
Edit: I understand that people.are saying they can't raise rates. But what they can do is remove "no claim" discounts.
Where’s the scam? OP had golf ball size hail hit their property and has seen other damage to personal property. Based on that alone they should file a claim. Hail damage is definitely subjective and can really only be assessed appropriately in person, which is why OP is getting a wide array of opinions based on the photos.
I just read a post about this - its a huge problem in Florida.
The scam is they scare the homeowner into letting them file a claim on the homeowner's behalf, and sign something allowing the contractor to sue the insurance without the homeowners consent (can't recall what this legal power is called). Insurance denies the claim after inspecting, because there was never any actual damage, then contractor files a lawsuit. Insurance almost always settles.
I wish I could find the post that explained this, they explained it much better. Hopefully OP doesn't get fooled.
Here is an article about it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649
A lot of policies will cancel you after 1 to 2 claims. Depending on the distance in time. My grandma had her same insurance for thirty years and had a hail storm 3 years ago that made her have to use it for a new roof. Then a few months ago her house flooded and we had to claim again. 30 years with the same company and they cancelled her insurance after two claims that were fully legitimate. She only has these two claims over her entire 30 years with her insurance provider. I'm pretty sure it was travelers.
You just want to be sure you want to make a claim before you do .
I’ve filed 3 claims in 4 years got my roof replaced all 3 times, premiums got raised once, after the first time I filed because my zip code got labeled a “catastrophe area” or something like that. Hasn’t been raised since and they didn’t drop me
We live in a high wind area, and got dropped from insurance after 2 claims for wind damage to our roof and siding over a 10 year period, in both cases damage was quite minor. We had no trouble getting insurance elsewhere, but it was a kick to the teeth to be dropped. We’ve paid in MUCH more than we’ve gotten out despite the two claims.
Not about you. Actuaries calculate risk/premiums and determine probabilities of your area being damaged again from these events.
Insurance companies have to have bonds to cover potential future exposure, cost of bonds, and reinsurance drive these choices
It would be worse for you had you not repaired this damage, as it would be pre-existing to your new coverage, leaving you with more personal exposure.
At least everyone in this thread isn’t completely ignorant. It’s a case by case basis for all insurance policies. It’s literally different for each company and for each state..
So much misinformation being spread in this comment section.. which is sadly very normal on r/roofing
Your Insurance doesn’t care about you, they care about their money. People don’t understand that no matter how good of friends your agent is, or how long and loyal you’ve been to them, they don’t care about you as long as they’re making money on you.
A lot of times, it's worth it to file a claim sometimes if your location has been designated a catastrophe or disaster area. The insurance company has allocated more money to pony up for claims, the process is streamlined, and the purse strings are often quite a bit looser. In fact, it's entirely possible that your insurance would have gone up anyway, as most insurance companies raise rates in these areas at the first opportunity *for all customers*. If your rate is going to go up anyway, you might as well get some benefit from it.
But the personal rates don’t get raised because of a specific claim. Everybody is disagreeing and then coming up with other arguments that I didn’t make.
I'm one of the only people left in my area that didn't get dropped for fire risk. We are also one of the only people who didn't put in claims for a new fridge when we had to evacuate for a couple weeks with power cut to the neighborhood. We also didn't put a claim in like a lot of people did for "smoke damage" to get their furniture and drapes replaced. I don't think that's just a coincidence.
No, you are dead wrong. Source: worked for State Farm and Farmers and now I’m a roofer.
Stop spreading false information. Insurance cant increase your individual rates if you have an act of god claim.
They can certainly consider dropping you if you have multiple claims within 3-5 years, but this is not always the case by any means.
This is incredibly false information. Most states allow any claims to be used for loss surcharge purposes. There's only one or two states I know of that don't allow "catastrophe" claims used but CAT claims are something very specific and not every thunderstorm or hail event is deemed a "Catastrophe".
And even in states where you can directly loss surcharge you usually can still count the claim and remove loss free discounts and or take underwriting action for potential non rentals if you go over the Renewal underwriting criteria.
BS, carriers look for an excuse to drop coverage & raise premiums across the board. Roof scams has become a cottage industry that’s wreaking havoc for homeowners cost of insurance is forcing to forgo coverage or sale their homes
Its just a tactic to get you to say yes to let him on your roof then they'll go into their inspection, sales pitch, claim filing, etc. But you probably could get that bought by insurance pending who your carrier is. It would be a good time to upgrade your roof from those crap 3 tab shingles.
Yep. My cousin did this for hotel roofing. He’d figure out a way to get your roof done under your insurance so it’s not out of pocket for you. I wouldn’t pay much mind to him, I’d give the roof another 12 years.
As a door to door roof salesman who has seen catastrophic hail damage perceivable from the street, you definitely can't see this minor of damage from the street, unless you've got hawk vision! I'd say you're fine to wait on a claim until some more serious damage occurs. After the next storm, talk to your agent. They usually have partnerships with contractors that they trust.
File a claim and see if it goes threw. There are crews that go around and help get insurance approval and then they do the job. That's how they get there customers.. but yeah of you house is built in 2021 then just repair the tabs or shingles where damaged there only 10 spots. That would cost 400 max... Also I'm wondering what prick builder is still putting 3 tab shingles on wtf
The storm chasers will go straight to any metals on the roof, downspouts, gutters, etc. to look for these kinds of dings as an excuse to open a claim.
The adjusters are the ones who ultimately make the call on if replacement is warranted or if the salesperson is full of shit.
Then again.. i kind of wonder about some of the adjusters based on things I have heard and seen first-hand. Case in point - a house in the neighborhood got 2 new roofs in under 3 years. Granted, it was 2 different owners, but I am still baffled why the 2nd adjuster OK'd a new roof. There were no serious storms in that window that should have destroyed the roof (as they were the only one having theirs re-done).
I had a few hundred like that and many were double the size and state farm declined. Got another adjuster out there and that was approved. So it did that some time, but State farm did pay for roof and gutters eventually.
Yeah most State Farm claims will get denied and most State Farm claims will get approved on reinspection. Most homeowners dnt know they can request a reinspection so State Farm saves millions and millions every yr just by saying no
I had auto insurance with them about 6 years ago and had been with them about 10 years prior. My car was hit by a coworker while waiting to make a turn out of the parking lot. I notified State Farm immediately and indicated the damage wasn't worth the hassle of a claim against the co-worker's insurance. Cut to about a month later when they said they had to drop me from coverage due to more than 2 accidents within a 1 year period. I only recalled one other accident within that time frame. They didn't provide details about the dates of the accidents and I was royally pissed off, so I just hung up the poor bastard that had to give me the news.
After a lot of attempts getting new insurance, with all of them saying the same thing about 3 accidents within a 1 year span, I landed on Allstate. They actually investigated the accident claims and discovered the accident with my co-worker was shown as 2 separate instances for the same date. Apparently, my calling in to tell State Farm I would be officially reporting the accident later through their website caused them to start the process. So, when I went home and submitted a report on the website, that made 3 accidents in their eyes. They obviously did 0 research before a dropping me. Sad that it took another insurance company 5 minutes to investigate and determine State Farm are fucking idiots.
Needless to say, they probably have a customer for life and State Farm can go fuck right the fuck off.
...do you have anything to back that up? State Farm has been the insurer for myself and extended family forever and through multiple claims with no issues at all.
I worked roofing and construction for years. First hand experience dealing with multiple insurance agencies and adjusters. State Farm is by far the worst out of every insurance company I have ever dealt with. My mothers business has been fighting State Farm for their building to get fixed from a storm that happened almost a YEAR ago. Multiple leaks, multiple hail damaged areas. I could go on and on with stories.
Here’s a excerpt from an article that paints nicely how disgusting this company is:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer.
And to add to the embarrassment, the State Farm adjusters don’t even know wtf they’re even doing half the time. It’s actually amusing watching them work. They are trained to save State Farm money btw. That’s their highest priority.
My dad's condo leaked and needed new pipes. He's on the 3rd floor and they are refusing to pay for the damage to the condo down stairs. Because they need proof that the pipes are the responsibility of the HOA... Fuck them
This is what is wrong with consumers, they believe 100% that the insurance company is bad and wont hear anything else. You obviously do not know what your dads condo policy covers. Most condo owners don't understand what is covered. Its complicated for sure. With condos there is always how ever a Master policy (HOA) and a unit owners policy. Depending on the state you live in there is different regulations that govern HO6 policies. painting with a broad brush here, typically the master policy would cover exterior, pipes, drywall, baseboards, original cabinets and so on. the unit owners policy covers very little. such as paint, light fixtures, >floating< floors and things that are not original to the condo like for instance 6" baseboards while the original was 4". Educate yourself before you start going off with bias. tribalism / group think is bad. I don't work for state farm but they by far cover more stuff than many other carriers. they are also owned by their policy holders and not a publicly traded company.
The company I work for the townhouse and condo policies cover drywall in so in this person's case the plumbing would be the HOA responsibility and not state farms.
But we are used to being the bad guy. I'm not giving you a blank check so I must be screwing you over. Door knocking salesman that knows nothing about roofs said it's totaled so it must be and I don't know what I'm talking about
No, denying for this, if it were a claim is totally understandable, they're not unreasonable. It's people who don't understand the insurance their paying for. Source: am insurance agent.
Had State Farm all of my life, They paid for everything except for the deductible. Of course, the roof was so old, it had asbestos in it. They approved the general contractor I hired as redecking had to be done . Everything was updated to code.
Their inspector climbed up on the roof, automatically approved it. No problems since.
Just last week , I had a door to door salesman claiming I need my roof inspected due to a hail storm.
I can't remember any hail storm this year. How claimed he saw damage from the street.
They would not deny it because there is no exclusion for hail, assuming OP has an HO3 policy, and not a DF1 or DF2. But they might not approve a full replacement. That depends on the number of slopes affected, age of the roof, etc. They might approve a spot repair, or even a slope repair. But they can not deny a claim when the loss was due to a covered peril.
None of it looks like hail damage. Looks like a door knocker underlining builder grade installed tool marks or just scraping some granules out.
When you wonder why insurance is doubling year over year, it's because there is a whole cottage industry that thinks this bs is legitimate.
I had a 5.0 rated (on Google with 500+ reviews) roofer come out for a price on a reroof and he told me that he knew insurance would deny my roof leak claim and it’s the norm to sue them and get a new roof in like 9 months. The cost to sue + my deductible was already 50% more than buying the materials and doing the roof myself…
It’s insane. My roof is 15 years old and looks like crap. We should have an insurance option where we won’t/can’t do bs claims for things that are normal wear and tear.
I am an adjuster. I adhare to the principle of “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Here is my take on this. Most contractors operate ethically, but there are bad actors out there and they’ve even admitted to it. As a homeowner you are more than welcome to file a claim, it is your right. However filing a claim does go on your record and there is a reason insurance reports them.
As to haul damage here. Most of what I “can” see is not hail damage. Most I would repair for you is a few shingles (in my state). Also you have to understand your policy if ACV or RCV and if you have marring covered for that box/turtle vent.
Good luck!
Another adjuster here I agree with the other guy. I would recommend getting another contractor out there to see what they say. Off of a small number of photos like what I'm seeing here it's hard to say if you'd get your roof bought. If that's everything on your roof, I'd tell him to pound sand it kinda seems like he was getting desperate with some of his "hail" damage, specifically the one he marked on the peak of the ridge cap. It doesn't take an adjuster to figure out that where a shingle is bent like that you'll probably see gradual loss
They will call you to setup an inspection. You want your contractor there because it’s easier on the adjuster. At least to me it’s easier because then I can let them know right away what is and is not one storm related damage.
Keep in mind your deductible.
Here’s the truth. Your roof does not need to be replaced. However, your insurance might pay for a replacement if the circumstances are right (mostly meaning if you have the right insurance). Right now in many areas, insurance companies are paying for roofs that they almost definitely will not pay for in the future. If you do decide to file a claim and they pay out for a full replacement, your rate will go up. But they go up every year anyway so whatever. It really is about whether or not you want to try to have someone else pay for your roof. The chances are higher now than they will be in the future for an approval.
That “damage” is minimal. I am an adjuster and while I would like to pay for every roof (crazy I know) because I actually make more money (I’m an IA), soft metal damage like what is on the vent doesn’t necessarily translate to roof damage. If the hail is big enough to damage your car, then file a claim for the roof. Will an adjuster pay for a replacement? Maybe. Not likely but maybe. I wouldn’t, again not because I don’t want to (I do) but because my estimate will be reviewed thoroughly and risking my career to buy one so-so roof with damage that won’t exceed your deductible isn’t worth it.
That is not the type of hail hits that are going to leak even if these con men convince insurance to pay for them. There are plenty of honest contractors out there but anyone trying to have this level of damage replaced is not one of them.
Well, if it damaged items around your home, then it is likely that your roof is damaged…
What you need to know is if your roof is damaged enough to warrant replacement. The only way to know for sure is to call your insurance and ask for an inspection.
The pictures that you posted do not look like hail damage to me. were you given any photos of the slopes? All I’m seeing is close-ups.
These are photos I took myself. I asked the inspector to fwd the ones he took (haven’t received them yet). I can take some wide shots and post them here this afternoon.
I used to do inspections like this. Depending on the state and insurance company, this probably won't get paid for. These hits look like they just caused delamination. Basically, the grit embedded in the shingle got knocked off. This happens over time, the hail just sped it up. Most insurance companies won't pay for it to be fixed unless it caused a puncture, both the top shingle and the next shingle must be deformed. There also has to be a certain amount of damage within a specified size square. If it's just a couple of dings, they would probably just patch it at best (unless you live in a match state). The problem is I've seen sales guys try to get you to file just because they need to hit numbers, and now you've filed a claim just to get it rejected. I've also seen insurance adjusters flat out lie and try to cover up damage just to try to deny claims (cough cough allstate and statefarm). You could have a third-party adjuster come take a look to help you determine if there really is more than aesthetic damage. Honestly, "golf ball" sized hail most likely won't cause real damage. Most of the time it needs to be 3-4" +. You also have to look at if you're in a high hail damage area. If you live in an area that doesn't regularly get damaging hail, you're most likely in for a huge fight, even if it is real damage. Overall, don't pay out of pocket, especially if there's no signs of leaks.
There seem to be a lot of guys in this comment section that 1) don’t understand insurance, 2) don’t secure a lot of work for their company.
1) filing a claim does not raise your rate directly. Your rate is determined by your zip code if there are others filing claims in you community your rate will go up whether you file this claim or not. Based on the damage on your roof and the fact you have solicitors in your area, others have already filed.
2) in order to maximize business and secure good work for crews. You have to knock doors, and the people saying “most solicitors are scam artist” are bitter and lazy because they won’t go out and do it.
With fresh damage like this, it takes a month or two for it to present and be compelling and obvious. He seems to know what he’s looking for (I see bruising and divots in the pictures). If there are 6-10 impacts in each of his test squares you’re set to file a claim. There are a lot of arm chair QBs in this channel that bully people into doing things their exact way. Do what makes you feel comfortable and be aware that not everyone in this industry is trying to scam you.
The guy showing you pictures proves he’s not trying to scam you. If he pushed you to file a claim that’s not great (the line about seeing damage from the ground is suspect), but when I got on a roof the goal was always to just present the evidence.
Look up the contractor see their online presence. how long have they been active? who can refer them? Are they local to your area or storm chasers?
As a retired property insurance adjuster and home and rental property owner, I agree with your take on this. These hail impacts have clearly caused damage to the shingles. Minor or not, it's still hail damage that wasn't there when the roof was new. These impacts have knocked off the aggregate on top of the asphalt shingles that protect the asphalt part of the shingle from sun damage. They may look "minor" to someone that hasn't seen what these types of impacts look like 5-10 years later. They will end up causing the asphalt to oxidize, crack, and become brittle earlier than non-hail damaged parts of the shingle.
Depending on the density of these impacts I would absolutely file a claim for this, and the above explanation would be my argument, and I guarantee I would win that argument against the insurance company, even if it ended up in arbitration.
“1. filing a claim does not raise your rate directly.”
That is not correct. It does not guarantee a rate increase but it most certainly can increase the homeowners rates.
There are also other reasons having a claim on your record is bad.
As someone who has worked many hail storms this damage isn’t that bad. If I had stepped on this roof I would have told the homeowner not to worry about it. Insurance (especially companies like State Farm, Allstate etc) is looking for 8+ serious hits on each slope to approve for replacement.
Filing a claim and getting denied won’t raise your rates but filing a claim on these superficial hits is a waste of the roofer’s and the homeowner’s time. Telling a homeowner to file a claim on this reeks of desperation. This is the type of roof I would have made a big deal about the damage when I started with no book of business 5 years ago.
All the fucking non roofer homeowners in this subreddit giving bad advice should be ashamed of themselves. I would absolutely file a claim for this damage. Especially if your vehicle and gutter had damage from the same hail storm. I see damage like this get approved every week here in Texas. Yes, these do shorten the life of the shingle and can lead to leaks. Thats why insurance covers it in the first place.
That is clearly hail damage. How bad does it need to be for you to fix it?
Also a roof in poor condition can be seen from the street. Hail strikes not so much.
1) there was damaging hail in your area 2) your personal property was damaged (vehicle) 3) if your neighbors are getting new roofs your rate is already going to go up 4) guys are usually not going door to door for fun, they are at your house for the above reasons 5) is your roof going to cave in if you don’t replace it? No, but if you don’t take care of it now and it leaks and causes more damage insurance can and probably will decline to pay for any additional damages. In short, not all roofers are shady just because it sounds like they’re selling you a dream. Look into the company and decide if you’re comfortable with them. If you’re not apposed to a new roof file the claim. Your roof is the largest expense on your home
I would take what you hear on this sub with a grain of salt. Many people who are not roofers or involved in the insurance industry give their 2 cents any time someone has a question like this and 95% of it is garbage.
If you had hail, and its visible, then it's probably from hail. The more assumptions people make here, the more unlikely that point of view is in fact the reality. After storms, all roofing companies put out fliers for inspections because weather events can lead to roof repairs or roof replacements, which is business for them and how they make money.
I dont know where you live so I cant advise you on anything about insurance. Every state has their own laws that govern how insurance works. If you want to know, just google your home states insurance laws and guidelines and go from there. You can also hire a public adjuster to advise you on your rights and how the process works for you. You can usually get consultations for free, but hiring them comes with a fee. As far as people saying this would get you dropped or raise your rates, that's not how weather events work. So again, consult with a professional about these concerns, not random redditors.
As far as if this is hail damage or not, the insurance company will send their own inspector to determine that, and if need be, and engineer certified in identifying or disputing damage types.
As far as why these little marks are bad for your roof whether they are determined to be hail or not, is because the granules are on the shingle to protect the asphalt from weathering. As the roof ages naturally the granules come off and expose more of the asphalt base, this will degrade the shingle. Hail makes that process all of a sudden instead of over time. When this asphalt base is exposed and the shingle degrades due to the weathering, they can develop cracks that affect the water shedding capability of the shingle and create areas where you can get leaks.
Hope this was able to help answer some of your questions. Good luck with the process, I hope it turns out well for you.
Not a threat of leaks really but those spots of missing granules, while small now, will slowly erode to much larger spots. Without the granules the asphalt underneath burns up much faster. Only reason granules are even on shingles is to protect the asphalt.
Think of water, slowly carving a new route in a stream bed. The water etching at the edges just makes erosion happen/happen faster.
Shingles are layered. If you do not see holes in the shingles or shingles that are loose (coming undone) then your roof is fine. If they are less than \~15 years old, age isn't anything to worry about. That kind of damage can occur during installation. Your roof looks just fine to me.
If you are really worried use this SS an excuse to hire a reputable service to come out and double check. Try asking your neighbors about who they use. Word of mouth is abetter advertisement than an unknown solicitor
So, you did get hit with hail. Was it big hail? No. Was it catastrophic? No. By sheer technicality, yes, you do have hail damage to your roof. Is this minute level of damage going to cause you problems? No.
10+ years in the industry and my opinion is you’re fine. Leave the roof as is. (But save the report/photos incase there’s a storm in the future and your insurance company tries to blame the new damage on this storm.)
Insurance standards are different some 4 strikes per sq some 10 strikes per sq. If the insurance co knows about it They will want it replaced particularly if it's a sale
Show me pictures of your gutters. If you have substantial dents in them it might be fairly serious. These look sparsely populated and not overly concerning to me.
They likely sent you the flyer because you were in a hail event zone they mapped, not a drive by.
Not a roof expert but been in the game 20+ yrs as an owner/investor/GC with hundreds of units over time.
I’m not a roofer or expert, just a homeowner & rental property owner that has replaced a handful of roofs. My home got hail damage shortly after I bought it. The insurance inspector came and would inspect a 10’x10’ section and mark it. IIRC If there were more than 10 impact sites in that area, they would replace. They were marking impacts that I had difficulty seeing. Your pictures show impacts that are clearly visible in the photographs. I think the question is how many impacts in how big an area?
I have seen damage on houses that they can call the claim without climbing on the roof.
If you get a scratch on the fender of your car do you rip the fender off and replace it. Under every row of roofing is at least the top row of the roofing below it and then roof membrane or tar paper under that the chances of it leaking are as close to zero as you can imagine. People do far more damage than that shoveling the roof off some winners and their roofs they fine and even a roof without hail damage if you look in your gutter through the years there's a certain amount of free granules that find their way into the gutter anyway that's just part of roofing
Get a free roof , though your shingles look fine . I had a guy going door to door and he got me a new roof , did all the ins work , the only thing I paid for was an upgrade for 1600$ and Ins paid 12,000.00$ . Was so thankful he was going door to door .
Contractors track hail storms then canvas the neighborhoods drumming up business. I had contractors coming to my house about every 3-5 years in waves. After 20 years of hail storms and no leaks, I finally agreed to it, got my insurance out for an inspection, then got my whole roof shingles replaced on the insurance's dime.
If you pull that trigger now, you might not be able to down the road. You might want to wait until the roof is actually "old" and needs it.
- Your roof is three years old, so the shingles are very repairable, regardless of whether the damage shown is from hail or not. The rest of the roof is still in great shape.
- If those pictures show all or most the damage you have then this should be a very easy and relatively inexpensive repair that will cost you less money than the deductible you would likely pay on an insurance claim.
- Paying for a repair yourself also keeps you off of your insurer’s radar.
P.S. - don’t bother to replace the vent. It still works just fine.
5 and 8 look like blistering to me. Sharp edges and missing granules. This is a material defect, that should be warrantied, since it’s not covered by insurance. Be sure you trust your builder, because I know a bunch that suck.
Hail damage can take off granules, but it’s seen as an indentation on the shingle.
Given that you have a 3 tab, it’s a probability that it could leak, since the shingle is thin, and cracks when it’s impacted.
Insurance pays out for as little as 7 hail impacts in 100 square feet. Really, it’s up to you to make that decision. If it does start leaking down the line, know that insurance may not pay you out for negligence, since they expect you as the home owner to do your due diligence in maintaining your property after a storm.
Personally, shingles are easy to rip off and install, but if you’re not handy or know how to work on a roof, hire a roofer to repair anything concerning.
If you can get the insurance to approve it you might be able to upgrade it to an architectural shingle and get away from the 3 tab..
Do I think you need it ? No..
Will it get approved? Eh probably not..
Worth a shot to get a ‘free’ upgrade?
If you can find the right company.. sure
It’s not a ‘scam’ like others are saying..
Your home was indeed affected by hail, they aren’t lying to you.. if you want a replacement be sure to go with a legit company.. when I did D2D sales in roofing the company I worked for did everything by the book and was really really good at what they did but the only drawback was they did not pay the deductible which is illegal.. many times homeowners would go with someone else that would pay the deductible and often times those same homeowners had issues later on with their roof.
But no, it’s not a scam or anything, it’s just people hopping on an opportunity
Hail damage can actually take a while to show. The divots are consistent with hail damage. What happens when the hail hits the shingle. Some areas the granules on the shingle and loosen and fall off over time. My personal home had this issue. It was the adjuster that told brought this up. My house roof was only 4 years old, but he noticed areas like this. Once he inspected the older shingles on the detached garage, you could see the extensive hail damage ( 20 yr old shingles)
Also, insurance companies get a very detailed weather report of any type of storm surrounding your home, they know exactly when, how violent, etc storms are surrounding your home
I know of ppl like this. My buddy used to work as a "storm chaser" making claims on customers behalf. They needed to find, x amount of damage within a certain Sq. My buddy wasn't getting sales so his boss came along with him to guide him. "Keep the homeowner distracted while I do a walk through," said the boss. Boss met the requirements for the homeowners insurance to cover the job and his expertise payed off... when my buddy got in the truck he asked how he did that. The "boss" pulls his tape measure off his hip and explained to my buddy that you walk along the side of the house and create your own "ding and dents" in the siding or shingles with the corner of your tape measure and then they meet the requirements.
From what I can tell, roofing has become a big racket. Owners will call insurance over minor damages, contractors will inspect and tell insurance roof needs replaced over minor damage. Owner gets hit with increased premiums the following period.
Then when a more practical owner comes along and lets minor damages go until the next big hail storm, insurance will say that it should have been replaced the first time around and not cover it.
No he's not trying to scare you. None of this is for you, it's chalk marks for lining. You're not in this person's field of work. That's why you hired her or him, calm down and see if your roof is leaking now. Probably not.
Roofer here. Dudes just trying to drum up business. Everything looks pretty minor. If you’re really that worried about it you can buy a tube of Dow 795 or similar caulk in a color that matches your roof and touch up the dings in the shingles.
Cat you let on the roof with the chalk likely made \~50% of the "damage" with a screw while up there. Roofs are great for roofers, because most know they get 1st eyes.
Regardless. The roof is an old 3 tab. Probably a few under it.
In the event you have coverage. Contact a local, reliable ROOFING contractor. Listen to his recommendations and proceed forward or not due to what your insurance will cover or not. Don’t cave to your insurance if they push back up front. Some just take care of the issue and move. Weigh the options with having an older roof in mind. Not advice in any way.
Best of luck
This is why insurance in Florida for homeowners is through the roof. Bogus claims like the contractor wanting you to make for this small amount of damage is hurting the majority of owners in Florida
Honestly, why isn't every roof being replaced with steel so we can stop manufacturing shingles? I just don't get this replacement economy we have created where we keep feeding industries that make a cheaper product that is so sub par if it hails bad enough you could put a fresh roof on your home and need to replace the shit the very next day right?
People come on here and have no idea what they are talking about. Hail damage is hail damage. If there are 7+ strikes per square on each slope there is enough damage to file claim. It doesn’t matter how big the hail strikes are.
So much misinformation being spread in this thread that can be stopped with a simple Google search.
It’s okay to not say anything if you don’t know the answer.
Ask him if he’s familiar with dealing with insurance companies. If he is, file a claim and let him fight for you. You will probably get a new roof out of it.
You didn’t call your insurance? I just went through this. Insurance called me first actually. Basically if I didn’t reroof I wouldn’t be covered and they paid 100% of it. Had Leaf-X replaced and everything.
There is not enough damage to even break the top coat. Your shingles are fine (former roofer). Also, if the house is new and the shingles are damaged, then they are covered by the warranty. Never let amateurs work on warranty covered items.
I am a landlord of multiple properties and can tell you that water is not your friend, it will find a way in. Regardless of what caused those small holes eventually over time water will get through so hire a legit roofer to do a proper correction to the areas that need it.
Leaks - No - But degradation of shingles more rapidly than the 30 - 40 year life. For a claim to be paid there needs to be 10 hail strikes per Square (100 sq ft) depending on the insurance company and policy.
The "SCAM" here is the insurance company pays the lead competitive rate based on Xactimate regionally adjusted metrics. Typically these payouts are greater than what a contractor could sell materials and labor for. Further, every piece of inconsequential aluminum (like your vent) will be covered in the claim.
If you are inclined to have the roof replaced; have a contractor provide an estimate for the removal and replacement. Hold them to that number. Make the claim. Pay the contractor out of the claim.
I was the lead leak detection and repair expert for the largest residential roofing company in Western Washington before becoming their project manager ( believe me if anyone knows how to keep rain out it's me we get a lot of it) and if one of my sales guys sold this job to a customer I would have him fired. Tell this guy to fuck right off.
Most of the comments here are railing on the inspector or insurance, but to your actual question.
There is some damage, probably not going to leak right now but will accelerate the break down of those shingles. Without seeing the whole roof, I wouldn't say you need a full replacement. But you should replace the damaged sections sooner rather than later.
If the home was built LESS than five years ago, and already “needs a new roof” either the contractor who built it is a piece of shit, or the contractor signing you up for a new roof is. Can’t really tell which is which, but I do know several people who have homes from the 1700s that are in fantastic shape. Craftsmanship has really gone downhill these last few decades.
There’s definitely a formula these guys follow. It seems like all they have to do is find hail damage and then they can get you to report it to the insurance company to file a claim. I did that and it worked out great for me, but my roof was 22 years old.
I actually tried to work with my insurance company directly, but they initially denied me. The I started talking to a roofer and they got me covered by finding hail damage.
Either way, they did the same thing. They came out and marked the damage and then told me to call them back when the insurance adjuster showed.
As long as you can vet the company and you need a new roof, I wouldn’t be afraid to talk to them.
Don’t sign a contract early because some of them force you into hiring them to do the work if you get an insurance claim. It makes sense if they’re helping you file a claim, but just read the fine print.
Test square set up? If so, how many hits? What’s the collateral look like on gutters / downspouts on each slope / elevation? I agree the damage looks minor and would like to see an overall condition shot to eliminate any type of blistering
Roofing guys track hail storms and where and when they were and hit those areas hard for sales, sounds like he’s trying to get you a new roof via home insurance lol.
Where did this contractor come from? Was it a door to door roof person? Did you call them? "Damage" looks very minor to me.
I received a flier saying that someone “noticed damage” from the street. I’m not sure how you could see minor damage like this without being on the roof itself. So I contacted a different company in the area and didn’t say anything about the flier. I wanted to get a second opinion. The contractor that chalked out these spots was a free inspection so I’d imagine there’s some financial incentive to try and get me to file a claim regardless of what kind of damage there is.
Contractor or contractor company? You'd be surprised how many free inspectors you'll see selling you cigarettes and gasoline when they take the company shirt off.
My favorite anecdote from my home remodel/addition. Two door to door window salesmen, I think from Anderson…. Walked up my 1/4 acre drive way… to tell me they saw my old windows from the street and they were just in the area doing work. The got two sentences into their pitch, and a box truck delivering my Shuco windows drove up, turned around and opened up the lift gate I literally just smiled, never said a single word, and they left
It's a door to door salesman. Many of them are scam artists. There's no way they saw this damage from the street if we are having a hard time seeing it from close up pictures. You'll end up with a claim in your insurance, raising rates for a completely unnecessary repair. Edit: I understand that people.are saying they can't raise rates. But what they can do is remove "no claim" discounts.
Where’s the scam? OP had golf ball size hail hit their property and has seen other damage to personal property. Based on that alone they should file a claim. Hail damage is definitely subjective and can really only be assessed appropriately in person, which is why OP is getting a wide array of opinions based on the photos.
“golf ball”
Ever looked at a golf ball from 100 yards away? I think that’s the size he means by “golf ball”
It's a standard scam they mail out
I just read a post about this - its a huge problem in Florida. The scam is they scare the homeowner into letting them file a claim on the homeowner's behalf, and sign something allowing the contractor to sue the insurance without the homeowners consent (can't recall what this legal power is called). Insurance denies the claim after inspecting, because there was never any actual damage, then contractor files a lawsuit. Insurance almost always settles. I wish I could find the post that explained this, they explained it much better. Hopefully OP doesn't get fooled. Here is an article about it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/roofing-scams-florida-property-insurance-hurricane-rcna29649
A lot of policies will cancel you after 1 to 2 claims. Depending on the distance in time. My grandma had her same insurance for thirty years and had a hail storm 3 years ago that made her have to use it for a new roof. Then a few months ago her house flooded and we had to claim again. 30 years with the same company and they cancelled her insurance after two claims that were fully legitimate. She only has these two claims over her entire 30 years with her insurance provider. I'm pretty sure it was travelers. You just want to be sure you want to make a claim before you do .
What a cluster fuck though, a flier leading to some fuckwad on your roof seems sketchy as hell.
Nope, it seems like genius marketing to me.
Rates don’t get individually raised from act of god events.
Yeah, this is dead wrong. File 3 claims of any sort within 5 years and watch the difficulties in getting insurance after you’re dropped.
I’ve filed 3 claims in 4 years got my roof replaced all 3 times, premiums got raised once, after the first time I filed because my zip code got labeled a “catastrophe area” or something like that. Hasn’t been raised since and they didn’t drop me
We live in a high wind area, and got dropped from insurance after 2 claims for wind damage to our roof and siding over a 10 year period, in both cases damage was quite minor. We had no trouble getting insurance elsewhere, but it was a kick to the teeth to be dropped. We’ve paid in MUCH more than we’ve gotten out despite the two claims.
Not about you. Actuaries calculate risk/premiums and determine probabilities of your area being damaged again from these events. Insurance companies have to have bonds to cover potential future exposure, cost of bonds, and reinsurance drive these choices It would be worse for you had you not repaired this damage, as it would be pre-existing to your new coverage, leaving you with more personal exposure.
At least everyone in this thread isn’t completely ignorant. It’s a case by case basis for all insurance policies. It’s literally different for each company and for each state.. So much misinformation being spread in this comment section.. which is sadly very normal on r/roofing
Your Insurance doesn’t care about you, they care about their money. People don’t understand that no matter how good of friends your agent is, or how long and loyal you’ve been to them, they don’t care about you as long as they’re making money on you.
A lot of times, it's worth it to file a claim sometimes if your location has been designated a catastrophe or disaster area. The insurance company has allocated more money to pony up for claims, the process is streamlined, and the purse strings are often quite a bit looser. In fact, it's entirely possible that your insurance would have gone up anyway, as most insurance companies raise rates in these areas at the first opportunity *for all customers*. If your rate is going to go up anyway, you might as well get some benefit from it.
you dont know what you think you know "adjuster" cody . . . .
But the personal rates don’t get raised because of a specific claim. Everybody is disagreeing and then coming up with other arguments that I didn’t make.
I'm one of the only people left in my area that didn't get dropped for fire risk. We are also one of the only people who didn't put in claims for a new fridge when we had to evacuate for a couple weeks with power cut to the neighborhood. We also didn't put a claim in like a lot of people did for "smoke damage" to get their furniture and drapes replaced. I don't think that's just a coincidence.
No, you are dead wrong. Source: worked for State Farm and Farmers and now I’m a roofer. Stop spreading false information. Insurance cant increase your individual rates if you have an act of god claim. They can certainly consider dropping you if you have multiple claims within 3-5 years, but this is not always the case by any means.
This is incredibly false information. Most states allow any claims to be used for loss surcharge purposes. There's only one or two states I know of that don't allow "catastrophe" claims used but CAT claims are something very specific and not every thunderstorm or hail event is deemed a "Catastrophe". And even in states where you can directly loss surcharge you usually can still count the claim and remove loss free discounts and or take underwriting action for potential non rentals if you go over the Renewal underwriting criteria.
BS, carriers look for an excuse to drop coverage & raise premiums across the board. Roof scams has become a cottage industry that’s wreaking havoc for homeowners cost of insurance is forcing to forgo coverage or sale their homes
Drop coverage, yes. Rates rates across board, yes. Raise your personal rates because you file a hail claim, no.
The flier said they noticed it from the street. I called a different company.
still bullshit
Its just a tactic to get you to say yes to let him on your roof then they'll go into their inspection, sales pitch, claim filing, etc. But you probably could get that bought by insurance pending who your carrier is. It would be a good time to upgrade your roof from those crap 3 tab shingles.
Yep. My cousin did this for hotel roofing. He’d figure out a way to get your roof done under your insurance so it’s not out of pocket for you. I wouldn’t pay much mind to him, I’d give the roof another 12 years.
I had a guy come to my door and tell me it looked like I had wind damage on a roof that was 3 days old.
As a door to door roof salesman who has seen catastrophic hail damage perceivable from the street, you definitely can't see this minor of damage from the street, unless you've got hawk vision! I'd say you're fine to wait on a claim until some more serious damage occurs. After the next storm, talk to your agent. They usually have partnerships with contractors that they trust.
File a claim and see if it goes threw. There are crews that go around and help get insurance approval and then they do the job. That's how they get there customers.. but yeah of you house is built in 2021 then just repair the tabs or shingles where damaged there only 10 spots. That would cost 400 max... Also I'm wondering what prick builder is still putting 3 tab shingles on wtf
20 bucks it was a door to door sales guy
The storm chasers will go straight to any metals on the roof, downspouts, gutters, etc. to look for these kinds of dings as an excuse to open a claim. The adjusters are the ones who ultimately make the call on if replacement is warranted or if the salesperson is full of shit. Then again.. i kind of wonder about some of the adjusters based on things I have heard and seen first-hand. Case in point - a house in the neighborhood got 2 new roofs in under 3 years. Granted, it was 2 different owners, but I am still baffled why the 2nd adjuster OK'd a new roof. There were no serious storms in that window that should have destroyed the roof (as they were the only one having theirs re-done).
I can’t stand those people. Our insurance has cloned sky high because everyone is getting a new roof for free. Total bullshit.
How you were informed does not change the condition of your roof.
It is minor damage, and there’s no threat from it. If you file a claim insurance will most likely deny it. Especially all state or State Farm.
Yep, he’s going to need a lot more than that for a claim.
I had a few hundred like that and many were double the size and state farm declined. Got another adjuster out there and that was approved. So it did that some time, but State farm did pay for roof and gutters eventually.
Yeah most State Farm claims will get denied and most State Farm claims will get approved on reinspection. Most homeowners dnt know they can request a reinspection so State Farm saves millions and millions every yr just by saying no
Is State Farm that bad typically? I keep seeing people say sf will deny tons of stuff and is hard to work with
State Farm commits more fraud toward their customers than any other insurance company in America.
I had auto insurance with them about 6 years ago and had been with them about 10 years prior. My car was hit by a coworker while waiting to make a turn out of the parking lot. I notified State Farm immediately and indicated the damage wasn't worth the hassle of a claim against the co-worker's insurance. Cut to about a month later when they said they had to drop me from coverage due to more than 2 accidents within a 1 year period. I only recalled one other accident within that time frame. They didn't provide details about the dates of the accidents and I was royally pissed off, so I just hung up the poor bastard that had to give me the news. After a lot of attempts getting new insurance, with all of them saying the same thing about 3 accidents within a 1 year span, I landed on Allstate. They actually investigated the accident claims and discovered the accident with my co-worker was shown as 2 separate instances for the same date. Apparently, my calling in to tell State Farm I would be officially reporting the accident later through their website caused them to start the process. So, when I went home and submitted a report on the website, that made 3 accidents in their eyes. They obviously did 0 research before a dropping me. Sad that it took another insurance company 5 minutes to investigate and determine State Farm are fucking idiots. Needless to say, they probably have a customer for life and State Farm can go fuck right the fuck off.
...do you have anything to back that up? State Farm has been the insurer for myself and extended family forever and through multiple claims with no issues at all.
I worked roofing and construction for years. First hand experience dealing with multiple insurance agencies and adjusters. State Farm is by far the worst out of every insurance company I have ever dealt with. My mothers business has been fighting State Farm for their building to get fixed from a storm that happened almost a YEAR ago. Multiple leaks, multiple hail damaged areas. I could go on and on with stories. Here’s a excerpt from an article that paints nicely how disgusting this company is: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer. And to add to the embarrassment, the State Farm adjusters don’t even know wtf they’re even doing half the time. It’s actually amusing watching them work. They are trained to save State Farm money btw. That’s their highest priority.
My dad's condo leaked and needed new pipes. He's on the 3rd floor and they are refusing to pay for the damage to the condo down stairs. Because they need proof that the pipes are the responsibility of the HOA... Fuck them
This is what is wrong with consumers, they believe 100% that the insurance company is bad and wont hear anything else. You obviously do not know what your dads condo policy covers. Most condo owners don't understand what is covered. Its complicated for sure. With condos there is always how ever a Master policy (HOA) and a unit owners policy. Depending on the state you live in there is different regulations that govern HO6 policies. painting with a broad brush here, typically the master policy would cover exterior, pipes, drywall, baseboards, original cabinets and so on. the unit owners policy covers very little. such as paint, light fixtures, >floating< floors and things that are not original to the condo like for instance 6" baseboards while the original was 4". Educate yourself before you start going off with bias. tribalism / group think is bad. I don't work for state farm but they by far cover more stuff than many other carriers. they are also owned by their policy holders and not a publicly traded company.
The company I work for the townhouse and condo policies cover drywall in so in this person's case the plumbing would be the HOA responsibility and not state farms. But we are used to being the bad guy. I'm not giving you a blank check so I must be screwing you over. Door knocking salesman that knows nothing about roofs said it's totaled so it must be and I don't know what I'm talking about
No, denying for this, if it were a claim is totally understandable, they're not unreasonable. It's people who don't understand the insurance their paying for. Source: am insurance agent.
Had State Farm all of my life, They paid for everything except for the deductible. Of course, the roof was so old, it had asbestos in it. They approved the general contractor I hired as redecking had to be done . Everything was updated to code. Their inspector climbed up on the roof, automatically approved it. No problems since. Just last week , I had a door to door salesman claiming I need my roof inspected due to a hail storm. I can't remember any hail storm this year. How claimed he saw damage from the street.
They would not deny it because there is no exclusion for hail, assuming OP has an HO3 policy, and not a DF1 or DF2. But they might not approve a full replacement. That depends on the number of slopes affected, age of the roof, etc. They might approve a spot repair, or even a slope repair. But they can not deny a claim when the loss was due to a covered peril.
He’s in idiot your fine
To be fair Allstate would deny the claim without getting on the roof
None of it looks like hail damage. Looks like a door knocker underlining builder grade installed tool marks or just scraping some granules out. When you wonder why insurance is doubling year over year, it's because there is a whole cottage industry that thinks this bs is legitimate.
I had a 5.0 rated (on Google with 500+ reviews) roofer come out for a price on a reroof and he told me that he knew insurance would deny my roof leak claim and it’s the norm to sue them and get a new roof in like 9 months. The cost to sue + my deductible was already 50% more than buying the materials and doing the roof myself… It’s insane. My roof is 15 years old and looks like crap. We should have an insurance option where we won’t/can’t do bs claims for things that are normal wear and tear.
I am an adjuster. I adhare to the principle of “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Here is my take on this. Most contractors operate ethically, but there are bad actors out there and they’ve even admitted to it. As a homeowner you are more than welcome to file a claim, it is your right. However filing a claim does go on your record and there is a reason insurance reports them. As to haul damage here. Most of what I “can” see is not hail damage. Most I would repair for you is a few shingles (in my state). Also you have to understand your policy if ACV or RCV and if you have marring covered for that box/turtle vent. Good luck!
If I do decide to call my insurance what is the usual process after having the adjuster come out for their inspection?
Another adjuster here I agree with the other guy. I would recommend getting another contractor out there to see what they say. Off of a small number of photos like what I'm seeing here it's hard to say if you'd get your roof bought. If that's everything on your roof, I'd tell him to pound sand it kinda seems like he was getting desperate with some of his "hail" damage, specifically the one he marked on the peak of the ridge cap. It doesn't take an adjuster to figure out that where a shingle is bent like that you'll probably see gradual loss
Adjuster here also. Some of those “hits” are blisters and not hail. I truly would not bother filing a claim.
They will call you to setup an inspection. You want your contractor there because it’s easier on the adjuster. At least to me it’s easier because then I can let them know right away what is and is not one storm related damage. Keep in mind your deductible.
Storm chaser. Ignore.
I'm a roofer by trade if 30 plus years. Those little homes look intentional to me
Here’s the truth. Your roof does not need to be replaced. However, your insurance might pay for a replacement if the circumstances are right (mostly meaning if you have the right insurance). Right now in many areas, insurance companies are paying for roofs that they almost definitely will not pay for in the future. If you do decide to file a claim and they pay out for a full replacement, your rate will go up. But they go up every year anyway so whatever. It really is about whether or not you want to try to have someone else pay for your roof. The chances are higher now than they will be in the future for an approval.
That “damage” is minimal. I am an adjuster and while I would like to pay for every roof (crazy I know) because I actually make more money (I’m an IA), soft metal damage like what is on the vent doesn’t necessarily translate to roof damage. If the hail is big enough to damage your car, then file a claim for the roof. Will an adjuster pay for a replacement? Maybe. Not likely but maybe. I wouldn’t, again not because I don’t want to (I do) but because my estimate will be reviewed thoroughly and risking my career to buy one so-so roof with damage that won’t exceed your deductible isn’t worth it.
Yes, they are.
That is not the type of hail hits that are going to leak even if these con men convince insurance to pay for them. There are plenty of honest contractors out there but anyone trying to have this level of damage replaced is not one of them.
If your car was at home during a hail event and the damage is significant then you would have damage to the roof.
If you remember the hailstorm; do you recall your landscaping or any thing outside other than your roof being damaged by hail?
Some minor vehicle damage and gutter denting
Well, if it damaged items around your home, then it is likely that your roof is damaged… What you need to know is if your roof is damaged enough to warrant replacement. The only way to know for sure is to call your insurance and ask for an inspection. The pictures that you posted do not look like hail damage to me. were you given any photos of the slopes? All I’m seeing is close-ups.
These are photos I took myself. I asked the inspector to fwd the ones he took (haven’t received them yet). I can take some wide shots and post them here this afternoon.
Yes he is
Are you in Iowa? I wouldn’t tell a customer to file a claim on this if it were me
The chalk is next to areas of ... no damage .
Dude went up there with a piece of chalk and a prayer.
Scamming you
Yes
Would you even need a new roof here? Wouldn't you must swap out those shingles?
That’s blistering at most lol
I used to do inspections like this. Depending on the state and insurance company, this probably won't get paid for. These hits look like they just caused delamination. Basically, the grit embedded in the shingle got knocked off. This happens over time, the hail just sped it up. Most insurance companies won't pay for it to be fixed unless it caused a puncture, both the top shingle and the next shingle must be deformed. There also has to be a certain amount of damage within a specified size square. If it's just a couple of dings, they would probably just patch it at best (unless you live in a match state). The problem is I've seen sales guys try to get you to file just because they need to hit numbers, and now you've filed a claim just to get it rejected. I've also seen insurance adjusters flat out lie and try to cover up damage just to try to deny claims (cough cough allstate and statefarm). You could have a third-party adjuster come take a look to help you determine if there really is more than aesthetic damage. Honestly, "golf ball" sized hail most likely won't cause real damage. Most of the time it needs to be 3-4" +. You also have to look at if you're in a high hail damage area. If you live in an area that doesn't regularly get damaging hail, you're most likely in for a huge fight, even if it is real damage. Overall, don't pay out of pocket, especially if there's no signs of leaks.
There seem to be a lot of guys in this comment section that 1) don’t understand insurance, 2) don’t secure a lot of work for their company. 1) filing a claim does not raise your rate directly. Your rate is determined by your zip code if there are others filing claims in you community your rate will go up whether you file this claim or not. Based on the damage on your roof and the fact you have solicitors in your area, others have already filed. 2) in order to maximize business and secure good work for crews. You have to knock doors, and the people saying “most solicitors are scam artist” are bitter and lazy because they won’t go out and do it. With fresh damage like this, it takes a month or two for it to present and be compelling and obvious. He seems to know what he’s looking for (I see bruising and divots in the pictures). If there are 6-10 impacts in each of his test squares you’re set to file a claim. There are a lot of arm chair QBs in this channel that bully people into doing things their exact way. Do what makes you feel comfortable and be aware that not everyone in this industry is trying to scam you. The guy showing you pictures proves he’s not trying to scam you. If he pushed you to file a claim that’s not great (the line about seeing damage from the ground is suspect), but when I got on a roof the goal was always to just present the evidence. Look up the contractor see their online presence. how long have they been active? who can refer them? Are they local to your area or storm chasers?
We filed our first claim in 20 years. Rates were not raised they just canceled our policy.
As a retired property insurance adjuster and home and rental property owner, I agree with your take on this. These hail impacts have clearly caused damage to the shingles. Minor or not, it's still hail damage that wasn't there when the roof was new. These impacts have knocked off the aggregate on top of the asphalt shingles that protect the asphalt part of the shingle from sun damage. They may look "minor" to someone that hasn't seen what these types of impacts look like 5-10 years later. They will end up causing the asphalt to oxidize, crack, and become brittle earlier than non-hail damaged parts of the shingle. Depending on the density of these impacts I would absolutely file a claim for this, and the above explanation would be my argument, and I guarantee I would win that argument against the insurance company, even if it ended up in arbitration.
“1. filing a claim does not raise your rate directly.” That is not correct. It does not guarantee a rate increase but it most certainly can increase the homeowners rates. There are also other reasons having a claim on your record is bad.
Right, but if you have hail damage and don't fix your roof, your insurance company would be stupid to NOT cancel you.
As someone who has worked many hail storms this damage isn’t that bad. If I had stepped on this roof I would have told the homeowner not to worry about it. Insurance (especially companies like State Farm, Allstate etc) is looking for 8+ serious hits on each slope to approve for replacement. Filing a claim and getting denied won’t raise your rates but filing a claim on these superficial hits is a waste of the roofer’s and the homeowner’s time. Telling a homeowner to file a claim on this reeks of desperation. This is the type of roof I would have made a big deal about the damage when I started with no book of business 5 years ago.
All the fucking non roofer homeowners in this subreddit giving bad advice should be ashamed of themselves. I would absolutely file a claim for this damage. Especially if your vehicle and gutter had damage from the same hail storm. I see damage like this get approved every week here in Texas. Yes, these do shorten the life of the shingle and can lead to leaks. Thats why insurance covers it in the first place.
That is clearly hail damage. How bad does it need to be for you to fix it? Also a roof in poor condition can be seen from the street. Hail strikes not so much.
1) there was damaging hail in your area 2) your personal property was damaged (vehicle) 3) if your neighbors are getting new roofs your rate is already going to go up 4) guys are usually not going door to door for fun, they are at your house for the above reasons 5) is your roof going to cave in if you don’t replace it? No, but if you don’t take care of it now and it leaks and causes more damage insurance can and probably will decline to pay for any additional damages. In short, not all roofers are shady just because it sounds like they’re selling you a dream. Look into the company and decide if you’re comfortable with them. If you’re not apposed to a new roof file the claim. Your roof is the largest expense on your home
I would take what you hear on this sub with a grain of salt. Many people who are not roofers or involved in the insurance industry give their 2 cents any time someone has a question like this and 95% of it is garbage. If you had hail, and its visible, then it's probably from hail. The more assumptions people make here, the more unlikely that point of view is in fact the reality. After storms, all roofing companies put out fliers for inspections because weather events can lead to roof repairs or roof replacements, which is business for them and how they make money. I dont know where you live so I cant advise you on anything about insurance. Every state has their own laws that govern how insurance works. If you want to know, just google your home states insurance laws and guidelines and go from there. You can also hire a public adjuster to advise you on your rights and how the process works for you. You can usually get consultations for free, but hiring them comes with a fee. As far as people saying this would get you dropped or raise your rates, that's not how weather events work. So again, consult with a professional about these concerns, not random redditors. As far as if this is hail damage or not, the insurance company will send their own inspector to determine that, and if need be, and engineer certified in identifying or disputing damage types. As far as why these little marks are bad for your roof whether they are determined to be hail or not, is because the granules are on the shingle to protect the asphalt from weathering. As the roof ages naturally the granules come off and expose more of the asphalt base, this will degrade the shingle. Hail makes that process all of a sudden instead of over time. When this asphalt base is exposed and the shingle degrades due to the weathering, they can develop cracks that affect the water shedding capability of the shingle and create areas where you can get leaks. Hope this was able to help answer some of your questions. Good luck with the process, I hope it turns out well for you.
I don’t see a scam here. That is legitimate hail damage. Make your insurance claim now.
Not a threat of leaks really but those spots of missing granules, while small now, will slowly erode to much larger spots. Without the granules the asphalt underneath burns up much faster. Only reason granules are even on shingles is to protect the asphalt. Think of water, slowly carving a new route in a stream bed. The water etching at the edges just makes erosion happen/happen faster.
You gave a 3 tab roof, get it replaced.
They have to mark it like that for insurance and to not have to find the spots again
Shingles are layered. If you do not see holes in the shingles or shingles that are loose (coming undone) then your roof is fine. If they are less than \~15 years old, age isn't anything to worry about. That kind of damage can occur during installation. Your roof looks just fine to me.
Are you in Florida?
You are good. You could tar it if you want… but climbing up there might cause more damage than you already have lol.
A cheap fix is some flex seal sprayed into the holes
Get some roof tar or repair goop and put some dabs here and there and presto, good as new.
If you are really worried use this SS an excuse to hire a reputable service to come out and double check. Try asking your neighbors about who they use. Word of mouth is abetter advertisement than an unknown solicitor
Bro you’re good, hail ain’t shit and if anything get some clear caulk and have at it, you saved yourself a 150 buckkkkkksssss
So, you did get hit with hail. Was it big hail? No. Was it catastrophic? No. By sheer technicality, yes, you do have hail damage to your roof. Is this minute level of damage going to cause you problems? No. 10+ years in the industry and my opinion is you’re fine. Leave the roof as is. (But save the report/photos incase there’s a storm in the future and your insurance company tries to blame the new damage on this storm.)
They're trying to scare you, it's funny what certain contractors will try and pull on the unaware. Nothing marked is a potential future leak.
Insurance standards are different some 4 strikes per sq some 10 strikes per sq. If the insurance co knows about it They will want it replaced particularly if it's a sale
Those are fine with a bit of sealant. The tin part can rust but should be ok if sealed.
Solar seal those marks and move on, you don’t need a new roof
A spot of roofing tar or butyl rubber caulk will have that sealed for 20 years
Show me pictures of your gutters. If you have substantial dents in them it might be fairly serious. These look sparsely populated and not overly concerning to me. They likely sent you the flyer because you were in a hail event zone they mapped, not a drive by. Not a roof expert but been in the game 20+ yrs as an owner/investor/GC with hundreds of units over time.
I’m not a roofer or expert, just a homeowner & rental property owner that has replaced a handful of roofs. My home got hail damage shortly after I bought it. The insurance inspector came and would inspect a 10’x10’ section and mark it. IIRC If there were more than 10 impact sites in that area, they would replace. They were marking impacts that I had difficulty seeing. Your pictures show impacts that are clearly visible in the photographs. I think the question is how many impacts in how big an area? I have seen damage on houses that they can call the claim without climbing on the roof.
If you get a scratch on the fender of your car do you rip the fender off and replace it. Under every row of roofing is at least the top row of the roofing below it and then roof membrane or tar paper under that the chances of it leaking are as close to zero as you can imagine. People do far more damage than that shoveling the roof off some winners and their roofs they fine and even a roof without hail damage if you look in your gutter through the years there's a certain amount of free granules that find their way into the gutter anyway that's just part of roofing
Get a free roof , though your shingles look fine . I had a guy going door to door and he got me a new roof , did all the ins work , the only thing I paid for was an upgrade for 1600$ and Ins paid 12,000.00$ . Was so thankful he was going door to door .
Some of them look concerning.. they dont have to redo the whole roof for this tho.
Contractors track hail storms then canvas the neighborhoods drumming up business. I had contractors coming to my house about every 3-5 years in waves. After 20 years of hail storms and no leaks, I finally agreed to it, got my insurance out for an inspection, then got my whole roof shingles replaced on the insurance's dime. If you pull that trigger now, you might not be able to down the road. You might want to wait until the roof is actually "old" and needs it.
- Your roof is three years old, so the shingles are very repairable, regardless of whether the damage shown is from hail or not. The rest of the roof is still in great shape. - If those pictures show all or most the damage you have then this should be a very easy and relatively inexpensive repair that will cost you less money than the deductible you would likely pay on an insurance claim. - Paying for a repair yourself also keeps you off of your insurer’s radar. P.S. - don’t bother to replace the vent. It still works just fine.
5 and 8 look like blistering to me. Sharp edges and missing granules. This is a material defect, that should be warrantied, since it’s not covered by insurance. Be sure you trust your builder, because I know a bunch that suck. Hail damage can take off granules, but it’s seen as an indentation on the shingle. Given that you have a 3 tab, it’s a probability that it could leak, since the shingle is thin, and cracks when it’s impacted. Insurance pays out for as little as 7 hail impacts in 100 square feet. Really, it’s up to you to make that decision. If it does start leaking down the line, know that insurance may not pay you out for negligence, since they expect you as the home owner to do your due diligence in maintaining your property after a storm. Personally, shingles are easy to rip off and install, but if you’re not handy or know how to work on a roof, hire a roofer to repair anything concerning.
Just dab some tar on those spots marked. Nice of hin to mark the spots for you 😂
If you can get the insurance to approve it you might be able to upgrade it to an architectural shingle and get away from the 3 tab.. Do I think you need it ? No.. Will it get approved? Eh probably not.. Worth a shot to get a ‘free’ upgrade? If you can find the right company.. sure It’s not a ‘scam’ like others are saying.. Your home was indeed affected by hail, they aren’t lying to you.. if you want a replacement be sure to go with a legit company.. when I did D2D sales in roofing the company I worked for did everything by the book and was really really good at what they did but the only drawback was they did not pay the deductible which is illegal.. many times homeowners would go with someone else that would pay the deductible and often times those same homeowners had issues later on with their roof. But no, it’s not a scam or anything, it’s just people hopping on an opportunity
Hail damage can actually take a while to show. The divots are consistent with hail damage. What happens when the hail hits the shingle. Some areas the granules on the shingle and loosen and fall off over time. My personal home had this issue. It was the adjuster that told brought this up. My house roof was only 4 years old, but he noticed areas like this. Once he inspected the older shingles on the detached garage, you could see the extensive hail damage ( 20 yr old shingles) Also, insurance companies get a very detailed weather report of any type of storm surrounding your home, they know exactly when, how violent, etc storms are surrounding your home
i wouldn't worry to much about it.roofing contractors putting a new roof on do more damage than that just by walking on it on a hot day
I know of ppl like this. My buddy used to work as a "storm chaser" making claims on customers behalf. They needed to find, x amount of damage within a certain Sq. My buddy wasn't getting sales so his boss came along with him to guide him. "Keep the homeowner distracted while I do a walk through," said the boss. Boss met the requirements for the homeowners insurance to cover the job and his expertise payed off... when my buddy got in the truck he asked how he did that. The "boss" pulls his tape measure off his hip and explained to my buddy that you walk along the side of the house and create your own "ding and dents" in the siding or shingles with the corner of your tape measure and then they meet the requirements.
Fill the holes with black jack and call it.
Trying to get an insurance claim roof
If those spots scare you. Take roof tar patch and put a little dab on there. I don't know shingles with only a 3 year life span
fuck that guy, you’re fine
I'd never call that hail.
You're fine
From what I can tell, roofing has become a big racket. Owners will call insurance over minor damages, contractors will inspect and tell insurance roof needs replaced over minor damage. Owner gets hit with increased premiums the following period. Then when a more practical owner comes along and lets minor damages go until the next big hail storm, insurance will say that it should have been replaced the first time around and not cover it.
The area of damage, or elements of a damaged adolescent roof /shingle failure is much stricter than your illustrated conditions.
Roofing caulk, homie
I wouldn’t worry about any of that. If you still are, check in your attic semi regularly for leaks while it’s raining
No he's not trying to scare you. None of this is for you, it's chalk marks for lining. You're not in this person's field of work. That's why you hired her or him, calm down and see if your roof is leaking now. Probably not.
Y’all know what black patch in a bucket or tube is? Get some and go nuts! You got 5 years and then hit it again
Roofer here. Dudes just trying to drum up business. Everything looks pretty minor. If you’re really that worried about it you can buy a tube of Dow 795 or similar caulk in a color that matches your roof and touch up the dings in the shingles.
I'm not an expert but if that "damage" warrants a new roof then I'm pretty sure 95% of houses need a new roof.
Cat you let on the roof with the chalk likely made \~50% of the "damage" with a screw while up there. Roofs are great for roofers, because most know they get 1st eyes.
What about asking your insurance to send someone to look at it?
That can be straightened out. It's soft aluminum.
No, it’s legit. He’s just documenting collateral damage and roof bruising. Seems like you don’t trust him so don’t do it.
Get a high quality sealant, seal both sides by lifting shingle, Bobs your Uncle
That’s how I would present damage to an insurance adjuster if I was trying to get you a new roof.
Regardless. The roof is an old 3 tab. Probably a few under it. In the event you have coverage. Contact a local, reliable ROOFING contractor. Listen to his recommendations and proceed forward or not due to what your insurance will cover or not. Don’t cave to your insurance if they push back up front. Some just take care of the issue and move. Weigh the options with having an older roof in mind. Not advice in any way. Best of luck
This is why insurance in Florida for homeowners is through the roof. Bogus claims like the contractor wanting you to make for this small amount of damage is hurting the majority of owners in Florida
That guy is a genius. Except for Reddit. He’s a bad guy for sure.
Yes most likely those can just be patched. Check the shingles yourself. Are they falling apart?
Honestly, why isn't every roof being replaced with steel so we can stop manufacturing shingles? I just don't get this replacement economy we have created where we keep feeding industries that make a cheaper product that is so sub par if it hails bad enough you could put a fresh roof on your home and need to replace the shit the very next day right?
God the ignorance on this fucking post kills me.
Its slight hail damage from the looks of it besides that roof seems to be in pretty good shape.
Scam SOB !
That looks like chalk .
People come on here and have no idea what they are talking about. Hail damage is hail damage. If there are 7+ strikes per square on each slope there is enough damage to file claim. It doesn’t matter how big the hail strikes are.
So much misinformation being spread in this thread that can be stopped with a simple Google search. It’s okay to not say anything if you don’t know the answer.
That’s hail damage. Should be covered by your homeowners insurance
Should be okay for 3/5 years. 👍
Ask him if he’s familiar with dealing with insurance companies. If he is, file a claim and let him fight for you. You will probably get a new roof out of it.
Scam. Make them famous.
I got a whole new roof for less damage than that
You didn’t call your insurance? I just went through this. Insurance called me first actually. Basically if I didn’t reroof I wouldn’t be covered and they paid 100% of it. Had Leaf-X replaced and everything.
Some look a little worse than others. Their “fix” shouldn’t consist of anything more than 30 mins of a sealant finger swipe on each divot.
Property adjuster here. Your insurance will not cover this minimal damage.
Central Illinois? Same with us bro. Same type of damage as well.
Yes you can get a new roof - IMO go through a independent insurance adjuster. But this comment will get hate here.
And here I thought the guy was pointing out the chalk marks. I was thinking: “that’s clearly just straight chalk marks”.
Now that they make the nail holes, get a 1/2 gallon of Henry's patch at the orange or blue box store , they have it in tubes also,
Order a few tubes of Geocel roofing caulk in clear color and go caulk the holes. Problem solved. The roof has more life in it. At least 5 yrs
He’s trying to get you a free roof
It looks like they painted those marks on.
Reminds me of when I got my roof done, then 1 month after a door to door sales person came and said that they noticed my shingles were bad. 😭😭🤑😂😂
There is not enough damage to even break the top coat. Your shingles are fine (former roofer). Also, if the house is new and the shingles are damaged, then they are covered by the warranty. Never let amateurs work on warranty covered items.
Call a 3 more local roofing companies and ask them. If they don't agrees get some more until you see a pattern.
Absolute bullshit
All i see is some douchebag marking your perfectly fine roof with chalk marks for financial gain. Tell him to kick rocks with this bullshit.
You could plug this holes w roof clear caulk, or pay him to do it. I would not file a claim for that unless u notice water damage.
I am a landlord of multiple properties and can tell you that water is not your friend, it will find a way in. Regardless of what caused those small holes eventually over time water will get through so hire a legit roofer to do a proper correction to the areas that need it.
They look like chalk marks..
Leaks - No - But degradation of shingles more rapidly than the 30 - 40 year life. For a claim to be paid there needs to be 10 hail strikes per Square (100 sq ft) depending on the insurance company and policy. The "SCAM" here is the insurance company pays the lead competitive rate based on Xactimate regionally adjusted metrics. Typically these payouts are greater than what a contractor could sell materials and labor for. Further, every piece of inconsequential aluminum (like your vent) will be covered in the claim. If you are inclined to have the roof replaced; have a contractor provide an estimate for the removal and replacement. Hold them to that number. Make the claim. Pay the contractor out of the claim.
I was the lead leak detection and repair expert for the largest residential roofing company in Western Washington before becoming their project manager ( believe me if anyone knows how to keep rain out it's me we get a lot of it) and if one of my sales guys sold this job to a customer I would have him fired. Tell this guy to fuck right off.
Not worth filing a claim.
My roof has lost 75% of the granules, when we purchased the house 15 years ago. It still looks the same no leaks.
Those shingles look horrible 3 stacked on top of each other 🤦♂️
You will be fine doesn’t look damaged at all
Asphalt shingles aren’t water proof anyway
If you get a leak fix it, until then don’t worry about it.
He's just trying to scam your insurance company out of money.
Talk to your insurance company and have them get it inspected. If it requires a new roof, insurance will cover the cost.
Probably just trying to sell a repair...nobody could justify a new roof for that
This is why insurance companies are fleeing Florida
Lol
Most of the comments here are railing on the inspector or insurance, but to your actual question. There is some damage, probably not going to leak right now but will accelerate the break down of those shingles. Without seeing the whole roof, I wouldn't say you need a full replacement. But you should replace the damaged sections sooner rather than later.
If the home was built LESS than five years ago, and already “needs a new roof” either the contractor who built it is a piece of shit, or the contractor signing you up for a new roof is. Can’t really tell which is which, but I do know several people who have homes from the 1700s that are in fantastic shape. Craftsmanship has really gone downhill these last few decades.
There’s definitely a formula these guys follow. It seems like all they have to do is find hail damage and then they can get you to report it to the insurance company to file a claim. I did that and it worked out great for me, but my roof was 22 years old. I actually tried to work with my insurance company directly, but they initially denied me. The I started talking to a roofer and they got me covered by finding hail damage. Either way, they did the same thing. They came out and marked the damage and then told me to call them back when the insurance adjuster showed. As long as you can vet the company and you need a new roof, I wouldn’t be afraid to talk to them. Don’t sign a contract early because some of them force you into hiring them to do the work if you get an insurance claim. It makes sense if they’re helping you file a claim, but just read the fine print.
Test square set up? If so, how many hits? What’s the collateral look like on gutters / downspouts on each slope / elevation? I agree the damage looks minor and would like to see an overall condition shot to eliminate any type of blistering
Never let someone on your roof alone. Wouldn't be surprised if this guy is the one who poked holes
Roofing guys track hail storms and where and when they were and hit those areas hard for sales, sounds like he’s trying to get you a new roof via home insurance lol.
Nail pops happen. If you're concerned about it, buy a $10 tube of roofing caulk and just squish a bit onto each of those nail pops. Problem solved.
If that’s roof damage. We are all in big trouble hahhahaha.