Best Insurance Claims Department
As an insurance restoration contractor, Integrity Roofing and Painting has worked with every insurance company in Colorado. Our report on several of these companies on how they respond and service their clients on an insurance claim might be helpful to a property owner. Before the annual renewal of property insurance it might be a good time to consider other insurance carriers to see what they offer and if it will benefit you. We’d like to share our experiences with a few companies.
USAA Insurance Company
U.S.A.A. – We have friends that work for USAA and they enjoy the company they work for. In today’s insurance environment, when you have employees that are actively campaigning as evangelist for the company they work for and sharing good news, you know that the community is doing something right. Culture of respect and honor for their clients and contractors prevails in this corporate structure. The following experience goes way back before we relocated to Colorado we had several offices in other locations. As of 2016 we only work in the beautiful state of Colorado.
In 1998 after the mother’s day hailstorm we were busy in the NASA, Clear Lake and Seabrook community. Several of the homes that we repaired were owned by astronauts. This is where USAA steps up to the plate and responds appropriately for these brave pioneers. Many of our NASA clients had property coverage through USAA.
During this time some of the insurers that are on our notorious list of the most difficult were denying roof replacements to those in need. I have to admit that roof replacement due to damage of a covered peril can be subjective at times. Contractors, appraisers and adjusters alike have seen storms that appear to spit hail stones selectively on one property and miss another. This storm was one of those and each roof had to be appraised without bias. Unbiased opinion or subjective analysis can become tainted by the observer or worse yet, the adjuster is sent out with a predisposition toward denying a claim. There were a few adjusters and one company that continually denied claims during this period.
The upper management in an insurance claims community relaxes or tightens claims by changing protocol and procedures. Amazingly, much of this information is verbal and has no written form. When an insurer that paid thousands of claims on Friday and in Monday’s meeting a decision is arbitrarily made to deny the payment of an item that was justified on Monday, you tell me what just happened. Many insurers are doing this today and it is the policy holder that suffers. Ask your insurer to show you in writing why they are not paying for particular roof components and follow up with this question “did you pay for that item in the past”? The typical answer is well we realized blah, blah, blah. The truth of the matter is they are cutting cost and you will get a sub standard job unless your contractor takes the hit. Tell me what is wrong with this picture. It’s like on payday when you receive your check and it’s 20% less than last week.
Now getting back to our featured insurance company USAA, these guys are rock solid. Policy holders that are fortunate enough to have USAA as their insurer get a fair shake. During our tour in NASA, Clear Lake and Seabrook every adjuster with USAA evaluated and appraised each roof appropriately. Hands down USAA gets an A rating from us.
Our experiences in Colorado are just as positive. As an insurance restoration contractor we focus on roofing and rate USAA as the number one insurance company that consistently provides a good assessment on most every roof claim.
State Farm Insurance Claims Department
State Farm- Fairness in processing claims is a great characteristic for an insurance community providing for their clients in a time of need. Today we give State Farm an A rating, however before 1999 our experiences with them would have resulted in a B or C rating. In 1998 State Farm neglected to pay for many components on a roof that were comprehensive for a roof package. Something occurred within the structure and overnight starting January 1, 1999 State Farm starting paying for all the roof components that we spent hundreds of hours debating during the year 1998. The good news is State Farm is currently doing an excellent job with paying prevailing wages on roof replacements. All of the Colorado Springs roofers and each Denver Roofer that I know give thumbs up to this company for doing a great job. The truth of the matter is that I am a State Farm policyholder, enough said.
Nationwide Insurance Claims Department
Nationwide – This insurance company is prompt and expedites roof claims quickly. Nationwide insurance adjusters are unbiased in roof assessments and we enjoy working with this company.
The truth of the matter is both insurance companies and roofing contractors want to make a profit. In every relationship give and take are needed and mutually beneficial. Today we are in hard economic times and as a result roofers should be gracious toward reasonably appraised roof replacement values. Even with giving each of these insurance companies A ratings, they still come up short in some areas. I would like to see each one of these insurance companies pay for ridge cap, valley metal, starter shingles and actual quantities for every project. Well sometimes we have to take the good with the bad nevertheless USAA, State Farm and Nationwide are excellent choices for homeowners.
Updated Informations as of June 2016
USAA insurance is our favorite insurance company to work with. Insurance companies as a whole have stopped paying for the removal of different roofing components. Hey, I know these guys are looking for ways to limit their losses. I understand this and almost agree. The truth is by not paying for the removal of components it saves all of the insurance companies millions of dollars. That’s a smart move for their bottom line, but it might hurt a property owner if the roofers only perform according to reduced profits which we’re seeing. American Family insurance in the state of Colorado is serving their clients well. We like how they’re responding in this current season. Things may change soon with any of these insurance companies. Allstate has changed their guidelines on the number of hail hits necessary for a total roof replacement. The number of hail hits are now twelve hits per square. A square is one hundred square feet or a ten foot by ten foot square. Overall most of the insurance companies and especially the adjusters act honorably when adjusting a roof claim. The cost cutting measures that I disagree with are here to stay. Several people in the insurance industry have informed us that as storms increase the adjusters rules will be adjusted according to current management standards and directives. One thing is for sure, change is always occurring in this industry. A final notable mention is that mortgage companies are taking a more active role in insurance claims.