Roofing Companies and Insurance

We received a phone call today from a very nice person who needed information. I wish I had been able to share better news with her. After the July 4th hail storm that hit southern Colorado, she had two roof leaks. She called a roofer who gave her a price and immediately installed her roof.
Months later, she is looking for help. Not with the roof installation, which was fine; but in retrospect, she now knows that she should have filed an insurance claim for her hail damaged roof. Unfortunately the roofer failed to share with her that she had a good reason to file insurance claim and go through the process. If he had, she would have only had to come up with her deductible instead of the full price of the roof.
It may be that he is inexperienced in insurance claims assistance or did not want to allow for the extra time to process the claim to get paid. Whatever his reason was, he did a disservice to his client. He declines to take her calls and has failed to produce photos of the preconstruction damage.
I wanted to tell her it would be fine and that her insurance would pay for it even now, but even though she has a reputable insurance company that keeps their insured’s best interests in mind, it is unlikely that they will be able to approve damages they are not given the opportunity to inspect.
If you have a hail damaged roof, it is imperative that you work with a roofer who understands the insurance process and is willing to provide the assistance you need to file and process your legitimate claim smoothly. Not every roof that has been hit by hail needs replacement. A free inspection will tell you the status of your roof.
Even if your roof is leaking, do not be pressured into replacing it before your insurance adjuster has had the opportunity to inspect it. Emergency cover ups and emergency repairs are necessary to mitigate against further loss and interior damages, but it is critical to be patient and go through the correct process to avoid paying thousands of dollars out of pocket unnecessarily. Always choose your contractor carefully. I wish I had spoken to her before her roof was replaced. I could have saved her thousands of dollars on a legitimate insurance claim!