Today the insurance agent came out for a meeting with my husband and the contractor. We are getting a complete re-roof, power wash on the deck railings and some other little fixes.
The problem is with our vinyl siding. The front and back are missing chunks.
The insurance agent was prepared for a re-side until he spotted a one-inch spot in the back. It was caulked four years ago.
My husband explained that a piece of our siding had blown off in a storm four years ago. We found the piece of siding in our yard, undamaged, and we did not file a claim. The builder of our home, out of the spirit of being a good guy, sent out a crew to put the piece of siding back on the. When the crew was here, they noticed a lower ding on the siding and asked me if I wanted to have it caulked. I said yes (husband wasn't home) and it was no big deal as it's hidden behind the AC unit and behind a shrub. No one ever sees that area. Well, the insurance adjuster did.
To boil it down, he said they would only pay to reside the front and back of the house as the caulk job showed we will accept some damage. The problem is our siding is likely discontinued. It will have to come out of pocket to re-side the north and south side of our home to make it match.
The contractor says it's BS. Of course, I realize he wants to make a profit, but this just seems like getting dinged by the insurance company. Ideas, opinions anyone? I need advice. The insurance company is AAA.
I call BS on your insurance company. Fight them on this one.
How ridiculous. The value of your house will drop by many thousands of dollars unless it is returned to the pre-storm state. I used to have AAA until they left the state because they were going broke from paying claims. I have no advice other than to kick it up above your adjuster. All the way to the state commissioner’s office if need be.
Arrrgh! Now I know why I don’t post articles, let alone vanities. Let the chips fall where they may.
I’ll begin. A moose bit my siding, and the sister I don’t have. And can I have a pancake on my roof instead of on a bunny?
I'll let insurance adjusters weigh in but I believe you have the right to conduct emergency repairs to prevent further damage, and that is NOT a waiver of liability. In this case, caulking that could be said to prevent further water damage until a proper repair could be completed.
Hire a local attorney who understands consumer and insurance law.
I deal with adjusters every single day. Whether you will “accept some damage” is irrelevant. Your policy most likely covers hail and rain and wind damage. Demand that the ruling go to a higher level and do not sign anything releasing the insurance company from damage discovered in the future. Besides, a reputable insurance company will re-open a claim even months after it was closed.
When Hurricane Andrew blew through Louisiana (yeah it did) it blew a bunch shingles off my roof. The State Farm adjuster said they would only replace and repair what was missing. I got another apprasier to look at the roof and he said the whole roof needed reshingling. We hashed it out with State Farm and they relented and replaced all the roofing.
I am an insurance adjuster (ducking) so I’ll try to give you some guidance from this side of the claims process.
As a standard rule, the company will owe to replace the damaged sides only, assuming the product is still available. The normal lifespan for vinyl siding is 7-8 years, then it falls off the market.
When the situation arises that the contractor cannot match the siding, we will take a small sample from your home and send it off to a siding match company that will provide all the specifics of the sample and verify its availability. They will also tell you if there is an equivalent match that might be made by a different manufacturer.
If your company refuses to address the issue for you, you can always go to appraisal. The claim will go before a mediator and you will split the cost of the mediator with the insurance company. You will likely win if the siding isn’t available.
Keep in mind, you haven’t given us the specifics of your policy and most states don’t have any mandate that requires companies to “match” siding. It is usually based on company policy.
Hope that helps.
My sympathies. I hope you can renegotiate this with your ins co. They will probably be nasty as hell to you as all ins co reps are when it comes time to part with their money. Good luck with it.
It may be true that the other sides of the house that were NOT damaged and will not be covered. They should only cover the damaged parts. They shouldn't be responsible for the siding that wasn't damaged even if it is discontinued. What you could do it work out a deal with the contractor to do the whole thing. I suspect the contractor may want the work and may be reasonable.
Here is what you needed to say. You may still be able to appeal using this.
“I had the siding caulked to prevent further water damage to the house. This was an immediate action to reduce the liability of my insurance company as a good policy holder. This was only done to prevent further damage to the house.”
This has always worked for me and this is what my Dad told me to do if I tried to make any repairs what so ever when damage occurs.
In my experience, it’s not unusual at all, even for reputable insurance companies to low ball their first offer. I’ve had them cave simply when I said no to their first offer.
On my last claim, big hail had wrecked a very expensive wood shake roof. They did some kind of song and dance about there not being enough dings per square foot or some such, and I made them come back and pointed out other damaged parts of the roof they had failed to consider. They relented, but were still trying to low ball me on other issues, and I refused their first couple of offers. Bottom line, they caved and did everything they should have in the first place, and I got a new $30,000 replacement roof, though I chose to go with steel for the replacement, rather than wood shakes again. And this was from State Farm, one of the more reputable companies.
Many adjusters really do try to get the amount as low as possible. I had some fairly minor damage to my cars bumper, fender etc.
The adjuster found the lowest price in his town for each of the jobs done separately. He then added them up. I went by a local auto body shop and asked what he thought. He said the adjuster was way off. He said no shop would have done it for that. I called the guy who hit me’s insurance company and to my surprise they let me get a local shop to get an estimate. They then paid for it.
Contact your state’s consumer protection office at the Department of Insurance. They should be able to explain your options and offer help.
This happened to us. Our siding was discontinued (aluminum) and the insurer wanted to use vinyl on two sides of the house. I said no way and they finally gave in. I compared it to having a car with one door painted a different color.
A neighbor did go ahead and get vinyl on one side only of his house. If you look you can tell, but most people don’t examine siding that carefully, except maybe when buying!
Don’t allow the insurance agent to purposefully decrease the value of your home.
Try to find out who made your vinyl siding. Just about any kind of siding has some type of warranty. The warranty may not cover the cost of labor, but might give you replacement siding at no cost to you.
My husband has been dealing with AAA, and our case has been referred to four different people. Nice way to shuffle the deck, cretins. Latest guy tried to tell us we had to pay for the two sides that wouldn't match the other two sides. When he asked which state we were in (Minnesota) he said he guesses we are in for a total reside.
Frickin' nuts! My issues - Get on it. We are not that far away from snow season. I do not want a compromised roof a month from now. Geesh! The Minnesota Insurance Board only takes complaints "in writing."
Get outta here!