Filing hail/wind claim on old roof

[Pete B.]

I’m in Florida and have a 17 year old roof, so my premium just went way up on my insurance. One of my neighbors just got a new roof put on, it turns out we had a hail storm last year and his roof was covered by insurance. So I had a roofer come out and he found hail and wind damage on mine too, and thinks mine will be covered as well.

An insurance broker I’d talked to recently on quotes touched base with me, so I told him about the roof situation. He told me never to file a claim on an old roof just to get a new one, and the claim will follow me and hurt me for years? But if I have legitimate damage, why not?

[Jason Bott]

@Pete B. I don think that agent did a great job at laying out the situation clearly for you.  I personally advise to breakdown the #'s and see if it makes financial sense.

It is true that if you file a claim, that claim will follow your account for 3-5 years.  The amount of the claim payout will have a negative impact on your premiums.

Let's assume you pay $1,000 per year for your policy, and you file a roof claim.  Maybe your premiums go up to $1500-$2000 per year for 2-3 years.  That will be an extra $1500-$3000 in insurance premiums you will pay because of the claim.

If your roof is $5000 to replace, and you have a $2500 deductible, you are actually could lay out more over the next few years.  If your roof is $10,000 to replace, then you could actually come out ahead.

Each claim and investor situation is unique and plays out differently.