He was a nice looking young man about 22 years old. He reminded me of a nephew of mine. He was tall and drove a mid-90's sedan.
"Did you know your hail damage is covered under your insurance?"
Evidently during the night of July 18, there was a hail storm and many homes in the area had damage to their northsides. Some had roof and eave damage as well.
He had a no risk contract. If our insurer did not agree to evident damage, we were not obligated to their services which were residing, roofing, and eave replacement.
With snow still covering the ground along the northside of our big red house, we stood at the curb while he pointed out irregularities in our old oxidized aluminum siding. He convinced us we probably needed to replace our siding.
It didn't sound right to me although Bob was ready to sign. No obligation. I read the small print. There was an obligation if the insurance company agreed that we needed repairs. We were obligated to this company to do all the repairs.
I asked if he had siding samples. I had already checked out some siding companies on line. I knew red was a difficult color to find these days.
We sent this young salesman with stars in his eyes away with the promise we'd be home Saturday. He would come back with red siding for our approval before we would sign.
I spoke with our insurance company. There had been a rash of these door-to-door sales calls last fall. They were back as the weather begins to change.
Our insurance company was there if we had damage. That's why we have the policy; however, would you not want a reputable siding firm to do the work? Did we realize that claims do affect our premiums?
When our Mr. Goodwin returned yesterday afternoon with his red samples, we simply turned him down.
If it doesn't feel right, don't sign. Investigate. This company has not registered with the Better Business Bureau. I had no luck finding them listed on line anywhere in Illinois.
Buyer be ware.
'til later
Bargain Barb
- Bargain Barb
- Naperville, Illinois
- Greetings! I have years, no decades, of financial experiences to share. I have a passion for education. I am a control freak in that I need to know where my $ goes. I continually ask myself do we need that, what risks are we taking with that investment, how/when can we get at our $, and just how much does Uncle Sam demand of our every earned $. Stay tuned to my life choices now and my references to life choices/experiences from my past.
1 comment:
I would like to offer a bit of insight into the letter written above. First and foremost, I would like to note that I was an Insurance Adjuster for major home insurance company and dealt with companies such as this homeowner had for over 4 years. Currently, I now work for a company which replaces roofing, siding and gutters due to hail damage. What I would like everyone to be aware of is my non-biased opinion on the matter. Your home insurance company does in fact cover "hail" damage to your residential home. You may review your policy and look under "Perils Insured Against". Those are the items your policy protects against. Wind, hail, lightning, theft, ect..
With that in mind, when was the last time your insurance company called you and said "where you aware there was a hail storm in your area?". I can answer that...NEVER. Most homeowner's aren't aware of the damage hail can cause to their property. Companies which come knocking at your door are there to do just that. Its a business same as any other. We are well aware of the fact that door-to-door sales aren't a pleasent experience but it's the tool we have to make you aware. If the insurance company did that, we wouldn't have to. Most homeowners feel that "filing a claim" with their home insurance company will make their rates go up. However, the reality of it is that your insurance companies Underwriting Department is going to take a look at area's as a whole. They'll determine that X amount of claims were filed for TOWN X and that X amount of dollars were paid out in claims for that Town X. What will happen next is that everyone with home insurance in TOWN X will likely have their rates raised as a whole. So, while you may not have files a claim, your rates will go up regardless. Now you'll be the person(s) in your neighborhood with the old siding, roofing, ect while many of your neighbors have upgraded your home. The best part, you will likely pay only the cost of your deductible which is $500 to a $1000 on average. The cost to replace roofing, siding and gutters out of pocket has an average cost of $14,000+ to a homeowner. Think of it this way, if your car was in an auto accident and sustained thousands of dollars in damage, you would file a claim since its covered by your policy. Not to mention you would obviously be aware of that damage. This is the same situation except you likely weren't aware of the damage.
I strongly recommend any homeowner filing a hail claim with their insurance company have representation from a remodeler present when the insurance company comes out to inspect. Why? Well its simple. Not every adjuster is fully trained and "seasoned" in what hail damage truely is. Even I at one time was fresh out of basic insurance claim training and was sent on hail claims without having had my hail training class yet. Second, adjuster's can be having a bad day like anyone else. A moody adjuster can at any time let personal feelings or attitude play a role in their decision regarding your claim. Perhaps, you weren't pleasent with him when he came to your door, he may even deny you for those reasons. Having a remodeler there acts as a second set of eyes when looking for damage, keeps the adjuster in check to make sure he is doing a fair assesment and most importantly is representing you just as your insurance company is. "Two heads are better than one" is certainly applicable when ascertaining potential damage in the thousands.
Finally, there is one point she made which couldn't be more true. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, check your company with the Better Business Bureau!!!! Ask for reference lists, research their creditials. A reputable company and trust me, there are many out there, will be more than happy to provide all of the documention necessary to put you at ease.
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