Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and visited South Florida, some HOAs are still fighting it out with their insurance companies over roofing damage. The fault can, in most cases, be evenly distributed between the HOA and the insurance company, with the state backed Citizens Property Insurance leading the way in back claims.
Although most homeowners associations were quick to repair their roofs following the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, some still have work to do. Others have only recently begun the process of re-roofing, whether as part of a maintenance program, or simply to improve the aging roof.
Insurance companies are looking to limit or deny payout on roof damage claims. Many causes of roof damage, including foot traffic, high winds, and hail among others, are covered by most insurance policies. However, many of these legitimate claims are rejected or only partially paid for by the home owners insurance company because of poor documentation or incomplete roof inspection. That is where a roof consultant can end up saving the homeowner hundreds of thousands of dollars in roof repair costs.
One recent Paramount client was initially awarded a $1500 claim to patch their roof that had been damaged by high winds. After Paramount had a chance to access the total damage it was discovered that the roof patch that the insurance company had recommended was an inadequate solution and had in fact led to mold growth within the structure.
Steve Slepcevic’s team of insurance claim consultants re-filed the claim documenting the original damage along with the additional mold damage and won a settlement of $380,000 for the client. This paid for the mold removal and a complete roof replacement. Without the help of Paramount roof consultants the client would have had to pay those costs completely out of his own pocket.
For a homeowner, commercial building owner, even Homeowners Associations the roof damage insurance claim process can be an overwhelming experience. In order to make the process easier Paramount is launching three new web sites, www.roof-damage.com, www.calshake.com, and www.cemwood.com. Roof consultants can save property owners hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless headaches. Now Paramount has made the process even easier with three new web sites designed to provide the information and resources needed to get your roof fixed right.
Since the filing deadline for Hurricane Wilma is fast approaching, there will undoubtedly be other companies that spring up looking for your roofing business.
"We are still finding associations that had valid claims and didn't pursue them because they were misinformed or bullied by one member of the board into thinking their rates would be raised or coverage cancelled if a claim was made" stated Donna D. Berger, Esq., Managing Partner, Katzman Garfinkel & Berger, and webmaster of the Community Associations Network. "As a result, many of these communities specially assessed their members for repairs so their owners got hit twice! Once to pay for pricey premiums and again to pay for repairs. It's no wonder that owners in some communities are losing their homes to foreclosure when previous bad board decisions weakened them financially."
As noted in one of my earlier pieces, there are unscrupulous contractors out there trying to take advantage not only of individual homeowners, but of entire HOAs. The best advice is to get more than one estimate, and make sure that you are dealing with a fully licensed and insured company when doing any sort of repair on your home.
Some information for this story was obtained from PRLog.org, a press release service.
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