One homeowner’s experience shows how quick and easy insurance claims can be

An April storm blowing through the Midwest is nothing unusual, but for Maria, this particular storm brought damaging hail to her neighborhood.

“It just happened to be this little pocket that got hail that was two inches in diameter in spots,” she shares.

Fortunately, the mother of three had homeowner’s insurance which quickly paid to replace her roof. Her experience is a reminder that while insurance claim horror stories may garner attention, the claims process is simple and easy for many people.

Damage after a storm

While the storm that hit Maria’s neighborhood damaged most of the houses on her street, she didn’t immediately know there was a problem with her roof.

“Of course, the roofing guys knew,” Maria says. “We had people knocking on our door.”

Contractors made the rounds through her neighborhood, offering to make free assessments of roof damage. Rather than use one of these roofers, Maria called a company that had recently worked on her in-laws’ house.

That company conducted an assessment and confirmed that the hail had caused damage severe enough to warrant a new roof.

Getting insurance approval and payment

Once Maria knew the extent of the damage, she called her insurer, who sent their adjustor out for an inspection. That person agreed with the contractor’s assessment of the roof and their estimate of the replacement cost.

From there, it was up to Maria to schedule the roof repair. Her insurer sent her half the cost upfront to make a down payment.

“Our roofing company made us sign a contract because they’ve been hosed on that before,” Maria says. In other words, people have taken the home insurance company’s money and then not paid for the work.

In Maria’s case, once the work was completed, photos were sent to the insurer and that triggered the release of the second half of the claim payment. Her deductible was subtracted from the total amount she received.

The entire process was simple, according to Maria. The storm hit in mid-April and by the second week of June, she had a new roof and had received payment for it.

“They were very good,” Maria says of her homeowners insurance company. “They were quick with their communication.”

Opportunity to replace gutters too

Because Maria was receiving money from the insurance company and paying the roofing contractor herself, that provided some flexibility in the materials used.

“We asked about a couple gutters that were dinged,” she shares.

Although the gutter damage was not considered storm-related and, therefore, not covered by insurance, her insurer said it wasn’t a problem to use some of the claim money to replace the gutters. The insurance company approved a specific amount that it would pay Maria, and she was able to use that money for repairs as she saw fit.

In her case, she used a less expensive shingle on her roof to also have money to replace the gutters.    

Advice for other homeowners making a claim

Maria says her experience with her insurance company was quick, simple and positive. However, she did run into a problem when the roofing company ruined some landscaping along the side of the house. She eventually negotiated $300 off the price of the roof with the roofing company as compensation for the damage.

Her advice to homeowners is to take photos beforehand in case a contractor causes damage while working. She also advises people to understand how an insurer pays for a claim. While her company paid her directly, that may not be the norm for all claims.

“I do know that there were people on my street who didn’t do a claim because they were worried (premiums) would go up,” she says.

However, Maria didn’t see much of a difference in her home insurance premiums after the claim. They did go up slightly, but she has her home and auto coverage bundled so she isn’t sure if the small bump in her payment amount was due to the claim or another factor.

Not every claim goes smoothly, but as Maria’s experience shows, having homeowner’s insurance can pay off when something as common as a spring storm leads to serious property damage.

Related Articles