exterior work with an insurance adjustor

[starcmr]

I know that no one likes to talk about pricing since it is so hard to get enough details to make a good comparision. So I will give it my best shot.

We had a bad hailstorm come thru town about a month ago. Had several clients who have asked for my advice on things that I do not normally get involved in, namely roofing, vinyl siding replacements and gutters. For the easy part. 2 of my customers have obvious damage from hail on one side of the roof and the shingles are about 10 years old. The insurance just wants to pay for part that is damaged which I can understand from their point of view. From mine, it seems that this means for the next roof you are going to need to only do half in another 10 years, the other half in 20 years and so on. That does not make sense to me. You would never get a complete new roof this way. Plus I am no hail expert but just because the storm came from one direction it was still hitting the roof maybe just not as directly and as hard. Wondering if that is a common occurance for the insurance to do that?

Second has to do with vinyl siding replacement. I was asked to look at the estimates they got from the insuance company to replace probably 40 year old 8 inch wide alumnimun siding with Mainstreet by Certainteed. It is a basic job, one story house with 12 windows to wrap, no soffit and fascia work to be replaced. The siding has to be all taken off and then new installed. By my estimates the insuarnce company is paying out $200 per square for the work which I think is way too low. I am not sure exactly how depreciation and all that works but if the siding is around $100 per square I just do not see how anyone can remove old and install new for another $100. That includes fanfold according to insurance.

Wondering what kind of pricing might be considered a fair price to talk to the insurance company about. I have not done a siding job in ages but thougt that it was close to $225 a square 5 or so years ago.

Other thing that I know has nothing to do with depreciation is the estimator says you can get a dumpster to haul things away for $125. Not sure where he is from but that aint going to happen here.

Do not need exact numbers since I know it is not possible but even a range would tell me if I am wrong and the insurance is right.

 

[starcmr]

I know that no one likes to talk about pricing since it is so hard to get enough details to make a good comparision. So I will give it my best shot.

We had a bad hailstorm come thru town about a month ago. Had several clients who have asked for my advice on things that I do not normally get involved in, namely roofing, vinyl siding replacements and gutters. For the easy part. 2 of my customers have obvious damage from hail on one side of the roof and the shingles are about 10 years old. The insurance just wants to pay for part that is damaged which I can understand from their point of view. From mine, it seems that this means for the next roof you are going to need to only do half in another 10 years, the other half in 20 years and so on. That does not make sense to me. You would never get a complete new roof this way. Plus I am no hail expert but just because the storm came from one direction it was still hitting the roof maybe just not as directly and as hard. Wondering if that is a common occurance for the insurance to do that?

Second has to do with vinyl siding replacement. I was asked to look at the estimates they got from the insuance company to replace probably 40 year old 8 inch wide alumnimun siding with Mainstreet by Certainteed. It is a basic job, one story house with 12 windows to wrap, no soffit and fascia work to be replaced. The siding has to be all taken off and then new installed. By my estimates the insuarnce company is paying out $200 per square for the work which I think is way too low. I am not sure exactly how depreciation and all that works but if the siding is around $100 per square I just do not see how anyone can remove old and install new for another $100. That includes fanfold according to insurance.

Wondering what kind of pricing might be considered a fair price to talk to the insurance company about. I have not done a siding job in ages but thougt that it was close to $225 a square 5 or so years ago.

Other thing that I know has nothing to do with depreciation is the estimator says you can get a dumpster to haul things away for $125. Not sure where he is from but that aint going to happen here.

Do not need exact numbers since I know it is not possible but even a range would tell me if I am wrong and the insurance is right.

thanks in advance for any help

 

[jhmtaylor]

I used to work in insurance (broker) and here are my thoughts.
1 shingles. The insurer is only required to pay for the damage and the fact that the other half will need to be replaced in 10 years is nothing to do with them. Perhaps the owner should consider chipping in and replacing all the shingles.

2 The siding. The insurer has to pay what the actual cost of repairs are and not their estimate. This could be a fixed price quote from a reputable builder who is prepared to do the work. Your client should get their own quote too. Be mindful that if work can't commence promptly the costs can escalate sharply.

3 The waste disposal. I agree, $125 is unrealistically low. In my area a small skip would be $400-$500 depending on how much of the waste can be recycled. Such a low estimate is an indication that the adjuster is out of their depth.

If it comes down to a dispute, complaints can be lodged with the insurance ombudsman service which is very consumer friendly and they will hold the insurers actions to a high standard.

 

[starcmr]

I used to work in insurance (broker) and here are my thoughts.
1 shingles. The insurer is only required to pay for the damage and the fact that the other half will need to be replaced in 10 years is nothing to do with them. Perhaps the owner should consider chipping in and replacing all the shingles.

2 The siding. The insurer has to pay what the actual cost of repairs are and not their estimate. This could be a fixed price quote from a reputable builder who is prepared to do the work. Your client should get their own quote too. Be mindful that if work can't commence promptly the costs can escalate sharply.

3 The waste disposal. I agree, $125 is unrealistically low. In my area a small skip would be $400-$500 depending on how much of the waste can be recycled. Such a low estimate is an indication that the adjuster is out of their depth.

If it comes down to a dispute, complaints can be lodged with the insurance ombudsman service here which is very consumer friendly and they will hold the insurers actions to a high standard.

thanks in advance so much for your suggestion