Don't blame insurance, blame the roofers pushing "we eat your deductible" and homeowners getting a new roof every 3 years instead of just repairing a section.

If it makes you feel any better, I am in the business and found out accidentally that I had an ACV policy on my own roof. When I renewed, I skimmed everything, signed the papers and moved on. That could have cost me a ton if I needed it.

The roofer deductible game should be a lot more difficult now than it used to be. I often collect one check for a deductible, one for the ACV, and one for the depreciation because the carriers won't release the money unless I prove to them my customer paid their deductible exclusively. Of course, if you just get a cheap guy to toss on a roof for half the cost then you can do what you want.

Premiums are going up no matter what so, my advice has always been to select the coverage that you are comfortable with. I would personally keep a 2%-5% and then make sure I had the money saved for deductibles or roofing as needed.

I'm doing a lot of roofs now that are "we have to replace them because they are 15 years old and my insurance is dropping me if I don't." So, the carriers are doing what they can to make the roofing side of your home be your burden to bear one way or another.

I'll be the first to admit that there are a lot of bad roofers. Ive met some real gems on the street and I've met customers with really bad stories.

1.) Roofers that request money up front and then run off with it.
2.) Roofers that eat deductibles and help owners be complicit in insurance fraud
3.) Roofers that give separate contracts to owners and insurance and make owners complicit in fraud.
3.) I read about a roofer that would put meal worms under the shingles and tell homeowners they were infested and needed to get it replace right now. They'd show photos and videos of wriggling worms UNDER their shingles. Old people were the target. Pretty dang crappy.

But, in terms of blaming the roofer for the insurance companies and too many replaced roofs, the roofer doesn't make that call. I can tell 100 Ags to make a claim on their roof from brand new to worn out and some of those are going to get replace through insurance, but I don't force the carrier to agree or pay that out. The adjuster does.

In my opinion, what we see going on now is in fact related to the extreme amount of weather related losses we've had for 10 years. The other issues are the nuances of why people end up with their roof replaced during storms due to age or maintenance which I think is where the insurance companies are trying to fix.

Roofing is a maintenance item for your home. At the very minimum, every 5 years, someone should be checking the roof for failure, leaks, resealing, damaged pipe boots, etc. Some warranties require you to pay for this annually if you want to keep it valid.

I like to compare roofing to tires on my trucks. I pay for tire certificates through discount tire. Those are like little insurance policies against catastrophic hazards that end the life of my tire too soon. I have gotten toward the end of life on my tires and then had two mesquite thorns in my sidewalls. That's a lucky break! Two new tires for 25 bucks each and I only have to buy two additional tires! Fantastic! I got lucky. But a lot of times that doesn't happen and i just have to eat a new set of tires. This is where I see a lot of roofing claims....people wait and wait and wait for hail and before long they have a 18 or 25 year old roof without grains, cracked, missing, leaking, etc. in other words, they are running around on bald dry rotted tires hoping for that mesquite thorn. Roofing is not cheap and I get that.

Insurance companies are now trying to force that burden onto the homeowner. That's why you see the mandatory 10 year replacement. That is not ideal as a roof may not be bad at that time, but if they make you replace it sooner than later then they have limited their liability of leaks, failure, and even hail damage. New roofs perform better than old ones. If you don't maintain a roof for 10 years and then have to replace it to keep your policy, odds are decent that it will last long enough and not create a claim of any kind for the carrier.

I think the insurance thing is just a result of a perfect storm of several factors. Personally, I encourage making sure you have enough money to cover your deductible or full roof replacement and keep that deductible high for catastrophic losses, and not low just in case you need a roof every 6 years.

Can't speak for other states but in Texas for the first 24 years of my life I can count on 1 hand how many times we had damaging hail in BCS that actually damaged roofs/autos. From 2018 to 2026 we have had 2x those events. Throw in Ike and Harvey and i can see why the algorithms that figure premiums have gotten caught so off guard. Also I don't think shingles are as durable as they used to be. Pre 2000 a lot of houses were still using 3 tab and you still didn't see the kind of granule loss you see on modern architectural shingles today. So what changed ? Almost seems like they are engineered to fail sooner to create more sales revenue. Maybe the roofers are bribing manufacturers now

Foamcows said:

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curious, are metal roofs, one and done? is that a way out of the perpetual cycle?

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Generally one and done. But you have to weigh the cost vs. the return. If you are living in your house for the next 30 years, it's a good deal. If you are moving next year, it might not be unless you account for the cost in the sale price.

As stated, standing seam will dent. But, it depends on how it is installed and the slope. Mine is installed over skip decking that was used for original cedar shakes. So, much of the metal is unsupported. It dents easier. If your roof is low sloped, it will dent easier. Steep slopes like 7 or 8/12 and steeper don't tend to take dents as easy. It also depends on the gauge of the steel.

Also, as stated, not all carriers will replace for cosmetic damage. Some will.

Metal is not just about aesthetics to me.

Here is how I worked out my math...on the back of a napkin as they say. As I have said before, I keep a high deductible and deal with dents. If I get 5 2" hail storms on a standard asphalt shingle over 10 years, it will cost me $150,000 if I eat every asphalt roof out of pocket, 5% for a deductible which won't help me here as it exceeds the cost of replacement for any roofing product, or spend $70,000 out of pocket ONE time and let that hail keep falling. It can hail 5 times, 10 times, 20 times and it still only costs me that one time.

These numbers do not account for increase in home value and thus increase in deductibles, or increases in labor and materials costs over a 10 year period.

So, it's a long game kind of thing and everyone has to weigh costs, benefits, risk tolerance, and finances to figure out what is best for them.

ravingfans said:

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Jason_Roofer said:

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If I get 5 2" hail storms on a standard asphalt shingle over 10 years, it will cost me $250,000 if I eat every asphalt roof out of pocket

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I'm assuming you meant $25k? just trying to follow your numbers...

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Yikes...maths not mathing. Apologies.

I changed it, i think. I modified my example and forgot to change the cost. My point with it all is that there are several ways this can cost money in relation to time, so you need to think it through and make sure it aligns with your financial situation.

If you can eat a 60k metal roof and you're going to live there for a long time, and you live in the hill country where it hails every single year, it makes sense. If you are tight on cash and don't need a roof to last you 10 years, then that wouldn't make sense financially, and a Class IV or III shingle will be serviceable and be a smarter choice.