As you may already know T-lock shingles are not available any longer. There was a time when an obscure lumber yard had a few squares of T-lock shingles in their yard. This roofing product has not been produced for a while. If you have a missing T-lock from the recent windstorms in Colorado or old hail damage this is a good time to have a professional contractor inspect your roof.
Most property and casualty insurance policies for a Colorado home have coverage for wind and hail damage. Colorado policies typically have a deductible based upon a percentage of the replacement cost of the dwelling. When someone thinks of replacement cost they typically would consider the real estate market value of the property. The real estate value of the property isn’t the replacement cost. The second response is generally the tax value for the property. The tax value isn’t the right dollar amount. The replacement cost would be the pre-determined value to rebuild the property. This value is based upon total square footage, type of structure and local building cost. Colorado hail and windstorm deductibles are typical 1-2% of the RCV of the dwelling. If the property is insured for $300,000 and the deductible is 1% than the insured has a $3,000 deductible. We have many clients with 2% deductibles in Colorado. If the property is insured for $300,000 with a 2% deductible than the insure will pay $6,000 out of pocket.
Colorado deductibles are generally not separated whereas in other states you have two to three different deductibles based upon the peril. Some states may have a different deductible for a hurricane than a hailstorm. Coverage for fire and theft are a different deductible than wind and hail in the many states. Now Coloradans are used to a simple deductible for all perils and that coverage is coming to an end. We are beginning to see deductibles in Colorado @ 1-2% for hail and windstorm coverage. I project that the day of the $500 – $1,000 deductible in Colorado will end in a couple years.
This year we had frantic homeowner’s contacting us about underwriting letters that they received. They were instructed that they had to replace their old roof in order to continue insurance coverage. Every home that we looked at had T-Lock shingles on them. Many of these properties had wind or hail damage dating back to an occurence for when the policy covered the roof. Great news for the homeowners because we were able to replace these roofs through their insurance company.
The trend that we are seeing and will occur is that roof coverage for T-lock shingles is changing rapidly. Not only does it appear that T-locks are being targeted for non coverage until they are replaced out of the homeowners pocket, we have been told that some companies might increase a deductible for T-lock shingles to $5,000.
Since the T-lock shingle is no longer manufactured and your current policy states that under a damaged peril it is the responsibility of the carrier to repair or replace the damaged property. Since the damaged property is no longer available it appears that the roof should be totalled for replacement. This would indicate that if one shingle is beyond repair than the entire roof would be replaced. This was the case until recently. There are some carriers that are only paying for a repair when we don’t have any T-lock’s to work with. This practice is unfortunate for any homeowner. Soon coverage will be very expensive for a roof with T-lock shingles. Some people that read this post will receive a denial letter because they have the old T-lock on their house.
The reality is that if your policy states one thing and the carrier does another than the insurance company is acting in bad faith. It is their fiduciary responsiblity to perform to their contract with you. Your written agreement is all that you have. Once that agreement is changed for the term, than there will be nothing that can be done. When one company makes a financial gain by decreasing their liability than others will follow suit.
The time is now to have your roof inspected and replaced if you have one missing shingle. If you wait until next season it might be too late. The things that I have projected are coming to pass. Don’t be surprised that when your policy renews that your hail and wind deductible or even T-lock deductible increases to $5,000.
Integrity Roofing and Painting will be available for T-lock roof inspections. This is a good time to get your free roof! The only thing you pay is your current deductible. Do this before the deductibles increase.