Hail damage and insurance issue

[Betty Cruz]

Hi San Antonio investors! Hope someone can help with this challenge - I had a property under contract that I was going to rent out. It had extensive hail damage. I asked the owner to file a claim with his insurance company during our option period and he refused. I  asked why (through the realtor) and he responded it would take too much time to get the work done. I responded that it wouldn't because I had a roofer ready to do it as soon as the claim was in place. (The process is you make a claim, the insurance company sends an inspector, then they notify you of the result. If they "buy" the roof, you get a roofer to replace the roof and the insurance pays for it.) My insurance company told me they would not insure a property with hail damage. Since we had those huge storms in April 2016 many properties were affected. Has anyone come into this problem? Any ideas of a solution?

[Tyler Roicki]

@Betty Cruz I'd submit a repair request to the seller... No need to specify that they have to make an insurance claim, though they might find doing so to be their best option. Ran into the same issue representing both buyers and sellers in the areas hit by the storm. Sometimes the damage isn't apparent until the inspector finds damaged shingles while conducting the inspection. My clients were able to get everything taken care of while under contract, without any delay on closing.