We suffered recent extreme wind damage to our roof (KY). Every quote we receive suggests we replace the shingles on the entire roof. Our insurance has a deductible of $1000 which is something we'd have to fork up in order for a roofing company to complete the work, but we do not have that money to give. So...can we take the money that the insurance gives us and just repair the roof ourselves, although the insurance payout is for a new roof? I am not interested in doing anything illegal or unethical, so please help!!!
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- Thread starter calarice
- Start date
bree4479
Expert
Typically they will pay you the ACV until the work is finished. I would just get the roof repaired right and they you won't have any future issues with the insurance company on future claims.
We specialize in Ohio homeowners insurance. You might want to ask you agent as well.
We specialize in Ohio homeowners insurance. You might want to ask you agent as well.
- 11,995
This isn't really going to help, but why is your deductible so high?
- 409
$1,000 is getting to be a lot more common Josh. I would say that $500 is still pretty much the norm on a home policy. But with the rising premiums we've seen over the last few years, a lot of people are going to the $1K because it saves them enough to make sense. Like if your home policy was $1,200 per year and you could save $200 by going with the $1K, you'd only have to go 2.5 years without a claim before you were ahead of the game.
Of course the other very important consideration to make when deciding on a deductible is, could you come up with the money if you had to?
Of course the other very important consideration to make when deciding on a deductible is, could you come up with the money if you had to?
Wow, must a be regional thing. $1000 is very normal for a home deductible where I'm at. In fact, I'm surprised when I run into a $500 deductible. I'm seeing a lot more $2500 deductibles.
Usually, it makes no sense filing small homeowner claims. You usually don't file them that often. You are much better off with a higher deductible and putting the difference in premium aside in case you need it. I do ask people if they can write the check if they needed to though.
I even wrote a policy the other day with a $7500 deductible. Of course, it was a multi-million dollar house and the guy insisted he could write the check if he needed to.
Back to the OP.... yes, you can do the repairs yourself. Usually the checks will be written in 2 steps. One for the actual cash value (AC V) at the start (it should pay for the material costs, but no guarantee, depends on the shape of your roof) and one after the repairs are done correctly. Of course, this will depend on your policy, whether you have replacement coverage or ACV coverage on your roof.
Check with your adjuster to make sure they will accept you doing your own repairs and what the requirements are to do this. Not all will accept it without some future consequences, so make sure you ask first.
Another alternative is to hire a small contractor and then work for the contractor through the course of repairs. Yes, this means basically he pays you to haul the shingles up to the roof, do all the grunt work, while he does the actual repair. You might be able to 'earn' the better part of the $1000 doing this, but be aware there can be some tax consequences (you make money) to this solution.
Dan
Usually, it makes no sense filing small homeowner claims. You usually don't file them that often. You are much better off with a higher deductible and putting the difference in premium aside in case you need it. I do ask people if they can write the check if they needed to though.
I even wrote a policy the other day with a $7500 deductible. Of course, it was a multi-million dollar house and the guy insisted he could write the check if he needed to.
Back to the OP.... yes, you can do the repairs yourself. Usually the checks will be written in 2 steps. One for the actual cash value (AC V) at the start (it should pay for the material costs, but no guarantee, depends on the shape of your roof) and one after the repairs are done correctly. Of course, this will depend on your policy, whether you have replacement coverage or ACV coverage on your roof.
Check with your adjuster to make sure they will accept you doing your own repairs and what the requirements are to do this. Not all will accept it without some future consequences, so make sure you ask first.
Another alternative is to hire a small contractor and then work for the contractor through the course of repairs. Yes, this means basically he pays you to haul the shingles up to the roof, do all the grunt work, while he does the actual repair. You might be able to 'earn' the better part of the $1000 doing this, but be aware there can be some tax consequences (you make money) to this solution.
Dan
- 561
Same here...we write mostly $1000 deductibles (and higher) in our agency. Most cases it makes financial sense to the homeowner.
If you save $75 a year on the premium in 6-7 years with no claims you begin putting money back in your pocket.
In our area the average homeowner has a claim in a much longer time than 6-7 years. It's closer to 20 years.
If you save $75 a year on the premium in 6-7 years with no claims you begin putting money back in your pocket.
In our area the average homeowner has a claim in a much longer time than 6-7 years. It's closer to 20 years.
It's very much a principal of buy term and invest the difference, to an extent. You can either spend low and save the difference for a claim, or pay more over time and then not worry about a huge amount of money paid when the claim happens. It's different for each person, since I'll bet you the 75 bucks a year that someone isn't going to set aside the difference in premium for a claim.
I usually write 1k but that is out of habit more than anything else. In NC claims are happening more frequently than before so there isn't the whole 8-10 years without a claim thing for many people, but I also am a believer that a HO policy is for a catastrophic issue, not for just willy nilly issues you should pay on your own.
I usually write 1k but that is out of habit more than anything else. In NC claims are happening more frequently than before so there isn't the whole 8-10 years without a claim thing for many people, but I also am a believer that a HO policy is for a catastrophic issue, not for just willy nilly issues you should pay on your own.
G
Guest
Guest
I bet 95% of my clients have $1000 deduct...........
- 409
In WA you can still get homeowners policies low enough that the saving between a $500 and a $1,000 can be very little. Although over the last couple of years with the increases we've been seeing that isn't the case as much as it used to be, so the $1,000 is getting to be a lot more common. A lot of my clients are making the switch at renewal now.
I have one client that has a $10,000 deductible, and it's note even on a very expensive house. They insisted though. Apparently they saw some financial show somewhere that told them it was a good idea. The difference between the $10K and the $2,500 is only like $30 per year in premium though... The company has them sign something every year that confirms that's still what they want and I try to talk them out of it every year. I never would have written this policy, I inherited it from an agent that left the company.
I have one client that has a $10,000 deductible, and it's note even on a very expensive house. They insisted though. Apparently they saw some financial show somewhere that told them it was a good idea. The difference between the $10K and the $2,500 is only like $30 per year in premium though... The company has them sign something every year that confirms that's still what they want and I try to talk them out of it every year. I never would have written this policy, I inherited it from an agent that left the company.
- Thread starter
- #10
I really appreciate your help.
