I own an Independent Agency so I'm right in the thick of this mess.

To the OP, State Farm might very well be in the right here but not enough info to judge either way. I know for a fact there are a large number of homes with roofs that are 15-20+ years old and in bad shape due to the age of it. This is wear and tear and should be replaced at the owner's expense and not by insurance. Again, this might not be the case with you at all but what you are experiencing probably needs to happen more not less. A big part of the reason home insurance is in the mess its in right now.

But if I was you, I would have a 3rd party company come out to try and provide documentation to dispute. Definitely worth a shot.

The last couple of years I don't think any of the major home companies were profitable. Most combined ratios were 120% or more. We are talking about significant financial losses. Around 85% of those claims were driven by wind/hail claims.

Moving forward you will see large rate increases, minimum 2% Wind/Hail Deductibles, limitations on how old a roof can be to even get coverage, depreciated claim pay out on roofs, etc.

And if your home is: High value, old roof, rural area, Houston or DFW, coastal or any other unusual circumstances about it you are going to be drastically limited on who will even offer a quote.

What do you mean "moving forward"? My deductible in Harris County has ALWAYS been 2% for wind and hail, and I've lived here 11 years. I'm hearing that they want to raise it to 3%.

They are already denying coverage to homeowners with roofs solder than about 15+ years, and I'm hearing they want to quit covering anything more than 10 years old.

In 11 years, my premium has about doubled. I haven't gotten an increase every year, so the increases I have seen have been significant (about 25% just between last year and this). And I know part of that increase is due to the fact that my house - and roof - are over 10 years old.

I've been a State Farm customer for 20 years (three different houses) and never filed a claim against my homeowners insurance until now. I don't pretend to know all the is and outs of homeowner's insurance, but it is disingenuous to raise premiums as houses get older and then deny claims because the roof is "too old".

The roof is by far the most likely part of a home to have damage resulting in a claim. Because of the weather where I live, every roof is going to sustain damage from a storm at some point (beyond "wear and tear"), likely from more than one major weather event.

I'm at a critical point where, I know if I wait too long, insurance won't cover my roof at all. Does it absolutely need a new roof right now? I don't know…it's not leaking. But I know it has damage. When a significant number of houses on my street have gotten a new roof it seems foolish to NOT file a claim at this point, considering how much I've paid in premiums (that will only continue to increase) and when I know I could end up on the hook for the entire replacement cost if I wait much longer.

I would be content to leave the roof the way it is and repair it if I have problems over the next few years. However, that's not how this "game" works. And I call it a game - one that's being played by insurance companies, roofing companies, and homeowners.

Agilaw, the difference is if a roof is old and deteriorating due to wear and tear that is not covered. Same with anything on your house. If something is old and needs to be replaced bc its old that is not an insurance claim.

There is definitely a lot of grey area in there though which makes it tough. And as a homeowner I would 100% advise anyone to fight back and try to provide as much documentation as they can to dispute a denied claim.

As far as replacement cost goes on your roof, this varies from one company to the next but most of them will change your coverage to actual cash value once the roof reaches 15 years old. But again that has nothing to do with a claim being denied for wear and tear.

I'm a home owner too so this stuff sucks for me too, but I am just giving you all some perspective from the insurance side of things. A lot to blame here as to why Texas is in this situation but if we have a bad storm season this summer/fall we are going to be close to government intervention. The insurance companies are here to make a profit and they are currently losing $100M's, its simply not sustainable.

Agilaw said:

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. Isn't it disingenuous to say that because a roof is 10-20 years old, the homeowner should pay to replace the roof in the event it is damaged in a storm after paying for a RC policy?.

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Who said this?

Had to report back to say I just had a fantastic experience with my State Farm adjuster.

I won't go into the details, other than to say he is writing me an estimate and it was absolutely no hassle whatsoever. His service was extremely customer-oriented.

He is a SF employee, not a contractor. He also wrote an estimate for my neighbor directly across the street today.

My roofer also said that State Farm and Allstate are the two most difficult companies to deal with, and this was the best adjuster he's encountered in probably 2 years.

Txmoe said:

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I've paid premiums for 35 years and never filed a major claim with SF. But now they are refusing to cover obvious hail damage on my roof. (They are calling it "normal wear and tear.") I'm about to go through mediation with them but I'm wondering what else I can do to fight this.

This is not a rant about my local agent who has been very helpful through all of this. This fight is with the claims department. Appreciate any advice.

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Before mediation, I would get an independent third party inspection of the roof.

I have been with Germania since 1975 and have had three roofs replaced on homes and two fires and never had an issue getting good service.

I'm glad to see this update. We're in Colorado now and many companies are pulling out of not writing new policies. State Farm was by far the best rate, and by bundling auto we could still get .5% for wind/hail. Stinks they're no longer offering $1000 or $2500 hail deductible.