PETRUS Roofing and Solar

Rock Solid Roofing and Solar in the Greater Houston Area

Conroe

Insurance Bought My Roof. Should I Get 3 Estimates?

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What happens when your insurance provider confirms that you have enough storm damage to merit a full roof replacement? First and foremost, you should rightfully celebrate, realizing that you have to pay a very minimal cost to replace something that is not cheap (i.e., your roof). Once the approval has occurred, you get to meet with your roofing contractor to finalize the shingle colors, assess the full scope of the work and all the necessary warranties, and finally prepare for build day. It is a relatively wonderful and simple process.

But sometimes…

There are those moments when a homeowner has their roof bought through their insurance provider, and then moves in a slightly different direction. Sometimes we as homeowners will turn to our contractor and say the well-known phrase:

“Can you give me a quote?”

Such a question can feel like a dagger to the heart for a roofing contractor. However, this is actually a great teaching moment and opportunity. Contractors need to be radically customer-centric, and by doing so, it allows them to better understand why homeowners would request a quote. So let’s unpack this a bit.

We begin with a simple example. Let’s say that your insurance provider agrees to offer you a full roof replacement. The replacement cost value (RCV on insurance paperwork) of your roof is $30,000, and your deductible is $7,000. So your insurance provider will send you a payment of $23,000. However, they will not send this all at once. Your insurance provider will split the payments into two separate distributions.

The first payment you will receive is connected with the actual cash value (this is the ACV line on your insurance paper work) of your roof. This first payment is your ACV minus your deductible. It would be found under Net Claim. This first payment, along with your deductible, is what you would pay to your roofing contractor when you go through the contract. The insurance company needs to see that these payments have actually been paid.

After your new roof has been built, and a certificate of completion submitted by the contractor, the insurance company will then send you the final payment. This is called the recoverable depreciation (an additional line item in your insurance scope of work). Once the insurance company receives confirmation of your roof replacement, they will send this final payment that will go to your contractor.

This is a quick snapshot of the insurance process. So let us now return to our main question: Why would you request a quote from your roofing contractor after insurance has agreed to buy your roof?

A variety of answers can be given, but we will just focus on a few.

One reason you might be asking the contractor for a quote is simply because you do not yet realize that your insurance provider has already set the price. In a real way, there is no quote to give because insurance has already provided it. In the example above, it is the $30,000 replacement cost value. That is the price! Your chosen contractor must abide by this price and build the roof according to the scope of work laid out by insurance.

An additional reason why you might request a quote is because that is how the insurance companies used to operate. After insurance agreed to replace your roof, you would be told to “get 3 estimates.” And while there might be sufficient reasons to do so, which one would seem to be the most likely reason? If you answered the one that is the cheapest, then you would be correct.

But you should ponder whether cheapest is always and everywhere synonymous with what is most valuable. When getting a new roof, you want to experience maximum enjoyment with minimum maintenance, ensuring you will be happiest in the long-run.

Perhaps the most significant reason you might be interested in a quote from your contractor in this scenario is due to a lack of trust. Your roof is the fundamental system protecting your home, and thus should not be a decision you take lightly. And thankfully, with the information readily available online, the leverage is really in your hands.

You should look at your contractor’s website and search for Google Reviews of the company. Find if they list prices for their services, and whether they are addressing your deepest fears and concerns. Thoroughly read through what others have said about working with them, both on Google and on Facebook.

We all want to work with a company that is communicating effectively, setting clear expectations, and meeting those expectations. Remember, you cannot trade in your roof if you are unhappy and dissatisfied.

Your Homeowners Insurance and Roof Claims

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This is not meant to be any sort of legal advice or insurance policy advice. You should pull out your homeowners policy and maybe even call your agent before you have any problems. You’ve heard “Knowledge is power”, but when it comes to insurance, “Education is Armor” against being taken advantage of. Read below to find out more.

Insurance Types and Products

Insurance is meant to protect our families or our assets from the unforeseen and unpredictable future. Life insurance pays out to your spouse and children if you die, protecting them from poverty. If you’ve ever heard of the Knights of Columbus, it was started over 140 years ago to provide for widows and orphans if the husband died in the factory. But there are a lot of confusing financial products in the category of life insurance, such as term life, whole life, etc. You have to navigate all of this and it can feel tedious.

Homeowners insurance is like life insurance. It can get confusing, so let me explain.

Your roof may cost $20,000 to replace when it hits the 20-25 year lifespan for the asphalt shingles. That’s a lot of money! So you get insurance to cover the replacement cost in case a couple years after your new roof was installed a hailstorm comes down like a wrecking ball and totals it. This is a protection against the unpredictable.

I know homeowners who get near the end of their roof life and ask for an inspection, only to be disappointed there is nothing wrong. They hoped hail or wind damage would mean their homeowners policy would cover the Replacement Cost Value (RCV) of the roof and they wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket. That’s totally understandable, especially if you have been a faithfully-paying customer to the insurance company.

Honesty Matters with Inspection Reports

Our free inspections report the truth of the situation. We present the facts on the condition of the roof with nothing false added. We do not exaggerate claims, falsify data, or misrepresent what we see and know. Insurance companies will send their own adjustors, anyways, to make their evaluations. After all, these companies know roofers would love to always find enough damage to warrant a whole roof replacement.

Working with insurance companies is hard work. Some are great and some are soulless bureaucracies who “deny, delay, and defend“, hurting the homeowner. This is why we believe in ethical roofing because our credibility with homeowners requires workability with insurance adjustors and agents. Saying we are on the level and letting our actions follow our words means we build a reputation with insurance companies that we are rational and fair to work with, which helps us get more done on behalf of the homeowner.

When a significant storm event hits your area, a lot of homes will be damaged and filing claims to their agent. A hailstorm or hurricane is an “Act of God”. Humans are not liable for such events. Liability car insurance covers the damage a person might inflict on others because they were texting while driving or some other negligent behavior. Their premiums increase because their poor decisions resulted costly accidents.

This is not exactly how homeowners insurance works. Too many homeowners are scared to file a claim because they fear their premiums will go up and it is already expensive in Houston. The reality is that after many major storm events everyone’s policy might go up because the area is seen as increasing in risk to the insurance company.

If your policy is going to increase, you might as well get a new roof out of it!

So pull out your policy, blow the dust off of it, and look for the section on your roof to see if it says “Replacement Cost Value” or RCV. It may say instead “Actual Cost Value” or ACV. The differences are important and can differ by thousands of dollars.

Residential Insurance: RCV and ACV

Here’s an excerpt from the Texas Office of Public Insurance Council on the matter.

“Actual Cash Value (ACV): ACV is the amount to replace or fix your home and personal items, minus depreciation. Depreciation is a decrease in value based on things like age, or wear and tear.”

“Replacement Cost Value (RCV): RCV is the amount to replace or fix your home and personal items. Even if you purchased coverages that pay RCV, some types of property may only be paid at ACV. These may include:

  • Roofs
  • Other building property – appliances, wood fences, structures that are not buildings, awnings, carpeting, outdoor antennas and equipment; and
  • Personal property – antiques, collectibles, memorabilia, items that cannot be replaced, and obsolete property that is stored or not being used.”

GAF Conference for the Win!

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We are a GAF Certified installer. We love them, work well with them, and are trained in all their products for our Texas roofs. When we visited their factory in Ennis, Texas last week and then attended their roofing contractor conference in Conroe, Texas a couple of days ago (Tuesday, February 13), we sure are glad we went with them.

image of the roofing conference agenda with talks circled at various times.

What Makes a Good Business?

When we talk about “good businesses” there are a few principles you’d want to know about: are they professional and competent? Can they answer technical questions? etc.

But there is ONE METRIC I’m looking for more than any other: HOW LONG HAVE THEIR OWN EMPLOYEES WORKED THERE?

Think about it. If the company is only about the bottom line and chasing short-term dollars at the expense of long-term craftsmanship, then there would low morale, high turnover, and you’d meet a lot of employees who were hired within a few years.

Time after time and in department after department we met people who had worked there for 20, 30, and 40 years. I don’t think anyone in the Petrus Team met a single person who was less than 15 years. THAT’S IMPRESSIVE!

The benefit of working for a smaller the company is that individuals feel more integrated to the overall organization and appreciated by management, because you are seen and known. The bigger the organization (usually around 150+), the harder it is to feel like you belong there and the easier it is to go unseen by management. Big companies have their advantages, but maintaining high employee retention usually isn’t one of them, especially in manufacturing.

GAF was different.

Here is a big company, an old company, an established industry-leading player, that is filled with strong, happy, long-term employees. We loved it.

The factory tour was interesting. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a high-end factory, but it gives a person the distinct impression that it is alive. Conveyor belts and machines working in symphony with skilled pros to replicate an incredible product (Timeberline UHDZ shingles are the show-stopper) at such speeds it would make your head spin. We got to dive into the science of their shingles, but also the science of the manufacturing processes they have developed in house over the decades.

You Need to Attend a Conference

That was last week. This week the whole Petrus team headed to the GAF conference for South Texas roofers. This was my first conference. Sort of.

I am a traveling speaker as my side job and have talked to audiences of thousands of high school and college students and adults. But to be at an industry show for professional contractors who want to grow their knowledge, skills, and relationships was great.

I was like a kid in a candy store, taking every handout, pamphlet, flyer, button, and sample I could. I’m new to the roofing industry so I’m hungry to learn as much as I can in as short a time as possible. After every talk I ran up to the presenter and peppered him or her with more questions, soaking in the free advice as aggressively as I could manage.

The Petrus team regrouped at lunch to download our various breakout sessions and share what new knowledge we gained. I’m a nerd. Always have been. But to be at a company of people who geek out about things as much as I do is a blessing.

We debated finer points, applications to our customers, and future-of-the-business approaches. Conferences help companies have those “Important, but not Urgent” conversations that get neglected when you’re doing the daily grind. We had a lot of those conversations.

At the end of the conference, I became friends with a GAF representative, got to know a handful of solid roofing contractors in Austin, and learned a heck of a lot about the roof systems, installs, and what Petrus is doing right and what we could be doing better.