Hail Damage - The Insurance Industry's Dirty Little Secret

Anything getting hit by baseball size hail probably isn't standing after the storm, but baseball size hail is a catastrophic event and was not the point of your article. Borderline cases was your point, yes?

I live in Dallas and work the North Texas area. The Insurance companies call this the hail capital of America. They have paid more hail claims in Dallas and Tarrant counties than anywhere else in America.

Personally, I have only experienced golf ball sized hail and it was few and far between. I have lived in the same house since 1980. This area had a small storm in 2000. You could barely tell the damage if any. Yet, half the houses got new roofs. I have roofs that went thru that "storm" and are now 20 to 25 years old.

I rarely do a roof that isn't paid with insurance claims. I have plenty of hail insurance claim experience. And I can tell you without a doubt that those roofs have little or no damage by hail or other storms. The problems are caused by workmanship.

The truth be told, insurance claims is a racket.

Natty, you probably don't live in the hail belt. I have seen roofs get up to baseball size hail 3 years in a row. Regardless if a roofer's kill, baseball sized hail generally demands a new roof.

I hope it catches on and that it gives honest roofers a tool to use when adjusting hail losses.

I seriously doubt there is any honor left in the roofing business/insurance claims industry. Your point seems to be- the wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the most grease?

The "dirty little secret" is, "we are here to help you".

The truth is-and it is called the hail damage racket- that it all depends on your particular bias.

1. Roofing CONtractors: "we slap 'em on as fast as we can sell 'em." 2. Adjustors: "I get paid more for total losses." 3. Insurers: "as long as I collect more in premiums than I pay out in claims, who cares?" 4. Property owners: "I want that free roof."

Even I have a bias as an "honest" roofer. I am damn proud of my work and there ain't nothing I hate more than tearing off my own work, or seeing storm chasers steal some of my old jobs. I have roofs that have been on over 25 years while houses in the same area have been re-roofed 4 times through insurance claims.

Insurance is a crutch designed to enrich the few at the top and fraudsters. Properly designed, insurance should and can only cover catastrophic losses which are few and far between.

After all these years dealing with the insurance fiasco, I finally found a way around it all.

I QUIT DOING INSURANCE WORK ALL TOGETHER! ;)

Thanks Tim. I was afraid I was hijacking your thread :)

AMEN Twill

twill59 Said: Youd think the respectable roofing organizations would have some influence, but if you look at membership rosters, it becomes apparent that the tail wags the dog (no offense to any members here)

I mean nowadays, if you are as green as the grass and wanted to be a Legit Pretend Roofer, of course the 1st things youd do is join the BBB and start buying organizational plaques, while chasing Insurance Work.

B)

Twill, that's why wrote this. I hope it catches on and that it gives honest roofers a tool to use when adjusting hail losses.

My favorite comment from the Ex-Agent turned Adjuster last month:

"Well ALL businesses have overhead" she told me. "And" I replied, " They MUST pass it on through their pricing."

All this did end was end the conversation as she discovered I was not stupid or dis-honest. Not exactly her kind of CON Tractor.

This was about the time she told me that she had never heard of "cut up" and it could not possibly affect the price of a job.......

Oh well. At least she was not one of clueless college kids I seem to get recently. She wast just a clueless middle aged adjuster

You'd think the respectable roofing organizations would have some influence, but if you look at membership rosters, it becomes apparent that the tail wags the dog (no offense to any members here)

I mean nowadays, if you are as green as the grass and wanted to be a Legit Pretend Roofer, of course the 1st things you'd do is join the BBB and start buying organizational plaques, while chasing Insurance Work.

B)

Well we all know that Insurance Work is based on numbers flowing out of Utah and not based much on actual business and construction truths.

What do you want Tim, an argument with accountants? :dry:

I used to try to be honest with adjusters. But when it is all based on lies and BS, I just now go with the flow. I recently got $700 to tarp a roof section........yet they only pay a few pennies to actually replace it.

Que Sera Sera