I think you went to the wrong insurance company. 9 houses in my immediately area had hail damage and had roofs replaced. Non on them were insurance with State Farm. 4 houses were rejected and all were insured with State Farm, which leaves me to believe that State Farm likes to collect premiums but does not want to pay claims. I’m going to take it up with the Georgia Insurance Claims Department, who already told me they have a bunch of claims, all against State Farm!!!

Thanks for taking time to weigh in. The point I was trying to make is that there is a good bit of manipulation and defrauding of homeowner insurance companies through hail damage claims. State Farm and now All State have processes in place that help prevent roofs that are not significantly damaged by hail from being replaced on just the word of a roofing contractor that has self interest in the determination of damage. I was not trying to imply that State Farm is the best company to use to insure your home. I think consumers are wise to compare policies and quotes from a few companies before deciding which one to go with. I wish you the best with your situation. Jeff

Our house was hit by hail twice. A majority of the neighborhood got new roofs. 8 neighbors surrounding our home got new roofs.

The State Farm inspector told us that the hail damaged all vents (15 marks, but no cracks per vent) and would replace them. He said hail did hit the roof and can see the marks. But no new roof.

The standard that the inspector wanted to replace the tile was only if the tile had a hole in it.

My arguement is how is it that I have selective hail. Hail that damaged the tile will shorten the life of the tile.

My story is not new. This is the same story of other State Farm customers.

State Farm has been my company for over 25 years. No claims ever. Now when I do have a claim, they don’t want to pay out. Does State Farm understand that they are in the business of sometimes paying out?

It’s scary to be on the other side of this because although fraud is common, there are plenty of us who do not wish to file a fraudulent claim, but have stress over the idea that we’ll be accused, and not have the coverage that we need. In our area of Kentucky, we had major damage all around from the wind storm in September of 2008, but none at our home. Then came the ice storm in 2009, which has pulled the gutters loose from the house due to the weight of the ice. Then another wind storm only a week later! Today we had shingles on our lawn. Are they ours, or from a block away? We don’t know yet. But because of the current economic situation and the tendancy for the insurance companies to be self-serving, I am fearful of what might happen. We have carried State Farm insurance for auto & home for more than 20 years. We’ve made one auto claim during that time, and never any claim on the homeowner’s policy, and I deeply fear I’m about to get screwed. I called State Farm and was told an adjuster won’t do an inspection unless we file a claim, and then our rates will go up due to having a claim reported. In what universe does that make sense? Why would they not do that to protect their own interests without slamming me?

Hi Theresa, Thanks for taking time to post your experience. My article was not intended to promote State Farm for homeowners insurance but rather to point out that many roofs are currently being replaced through claims that are fraudulent. For instance in my neighborhood, many homeowners have taken advantage of insurance claims to get a new roof when only limited hail storms have hit our neighborhood. The roofs were already between 18-20 years old and near the end of there life anyway. Roof companies canvassed door to door to drum up business and in my opinion replaced many roofs that were not damaged by anything other than old age. Fraudulent claims cost everyone with higher premiums. Of course there are situations such as yours appears to be where an insurance company denies coverage when they need to honor their responsibility. I wish you all the best, Jeff

Hi Dee, Sorry to hear about the damage you recently had in KY. I have a friend in Ky and she has told me about what you all have been through there. I hope State Farm treats you right. I carry State Farm insurance on my home but fortunately have never had to file a claim. I wonder if your agent would come out for a quick look before you file a claim. I would be interested to hear how you feel State Farm treats you after they come out to inspect your damage. (I may have to write another blog about the experiences that I am hearing about from other State Farm clients) Please write back in the future if you think of it. I hope this all gets resolved to your satisfaction. All the best, Jeff

Jeff,

I appreciate the information you are providing on this. We live in Roswell,GA and are going thru a similar situation. My wife met with a contractor who was handing out pamplets in a nearby neighborhood. They then asked her to sign a contract with them to negotiate with our insurance carrier. They met personally with our insurance adjuster to inspect our roof and the insurance adjuster wrote a check for $6800 with essentially no questions asked. We have not proceeded with the work because I’m worried that this now seems to be good to be true. Do you have any additional advice on how we should proceed?

Thanks, Mike

Hi Mike, There are only two possible downsides to accepting the the offer. One would be if they increased your premium substantially and the increase totaled more than $6800 over the time you live in the home. The only other possibility I can think of would be if you had to file another claim regarding another matter and they dropped you all together. It could then be costly to get another company to pick you up. Call your agent if you feel they would offer you an honest opinion on these questions and you want their answers.

If your roof is damaged then I would go ahead and be happy that your company covered it. After all, that is what insurance is for. The companies have to change their policies if they are getting taken advantage of and it sounds like you had real damage.

Make sure you have a reputable, local company install your roof. I have heard there are out of town outfits running around installing roofs. I would not use them because there is no one to handle service issues if you have a problem. Also consider paying the upgrade cost for architectural shingles if it makes sense in your neighborhood. Some homes look much better with that type of shingle. Don’t forget to get approval from your neighborhood home owners association if necessary. All the best, Jeff

Mike & All,

I am a victim of the latest hail/wind storms that traveled through Georgia over the past month. Several shingles (10-15) have fallen off and in one spot it is down to bare tar paper. I had someone come out and put up temporary shingles but they blew off over this last weekend. I know of at least 3 homes within 300 yards of me that have gotten new roofs. I have state farm and have an appointment with one of their adjusters within the week. I have independently interviewed local contractors for replacing my roof. My question is should I have someone (a professional) meet with the State Farm adjuster or should I meet with him myself? I want to come about this as honest as possible as I believe that is the right thing to do.

Thanks,
J

Sounds like you have damage that is undeniable. If you have a quality roofing contractor that will come over for a free estimate and they don’t mind meeting with the State Farm guy then it probably would not hurt. Please let me know if State Farm replaces the whole roof or just makes repairs to the existing roof. Best wished for a successful resolution. Jeff

Wind, and hail storms are an act of god there fore your premiums will not be increased. Everyones will go up because this area will be considered a catastrophe zone. This is my understanding of how this works

I would like to respond to the comments above.

1. Larry Bailin – Did you see the adjuster actually get on the roofs and mark the hail hits? The circles are real easy to see from the street. Also, it depends on the experience level of the adjuster and the pitch of the roof. Are all of the shingles on the houses in your neighborhood the same age? same type? same color? All of these and more varibles come into play when determing damage to the roof.
Theresa Grabowski – When a hail storm occurs the soft metal on the roof will show damage first. Depending on the size and density of the hail and direction and wind speed all come into play. It sounds like you had algae growing on your roof which would make it a maintaince issue instead of a coverage issue. Also, to the best of my knowledge pea size hail shouldn’t damage a tiled roof. How would hail that only scuffs the algae damage a tile roof? Did a roofer tell you that? Dee – Do you release that insurance carriers have thousands of policys in any geographic area? Now, just imagine if everyone of them wanted a free inspection. That would cost the insurance companies thousands of dollars for EACH storm. Guess who would be paying for it. My money is on the policy holders and not the insurance carriers. If you think you have damage call a reputable contractor that is in the phone book and don’t get lured in the storm chasers sales pitches.
Mike – Do you really think the insurance company is just handing out money? If they gave you a settlement check there is documented damage to your property. Otherwise, the adjuster would be out of a job real quick. Sorry if these answers seem harsh to anyone they are just my opinion.

This thread is not exactly correct. Insurance premiums do not go up because you make a claim that is not your fault. Premiums do not go up from “acts of god” (windstorms, hailstorms, etc.) That is why we purchase insurance to protect us from the unexpected. I have been an adjuster for 13 years. They can not raise rates on a case per case basis. They will raise your rates by the geographical area that a storm has affected. So realistically it is more intelligent to go ahead and file the claim.

I am a roofing consultant and I sell door to door. I am consistently surprised at how overly cautious so many of you are. If your neighbors are getting roofs, there is definately damage. Nobody in their right mind would write a check because some contractor said there was damage. They write a check because there IS damage. And why are so many people always backing up the Ins. companies? Google State Farm Hail. You will find that they were sued in Indiana because they denied so many legit claims that the state had to step in. Ended up paying out $275,000 on denied claims. Doesn’t sound very trustworthy to me. Get a good contractor and everything will be fine.

Hi Chad, Good to hear from someone that is out in the field. My point is that there are contractors that are not as honest as you and the company that you work for. Many of the insurance companies are writing checks without sending their own representatives out to verify the claim. That is the problem. They set themselves up to get taken advantage of. Now of course not all insurance companies are dealing fairly with homeowners. They have their own faults. All the best, Jeff

In April, we took pictures of golf ball sized hail at our neighborhood. A neighbor had a company come out and tell them they had hail damage. They and several others got approved. We now have had two GAF Elk installers come out and say there is no doubt. We have 4 times the qualified dents in the shingles. Now State Farm says, no hail damage, just cosmetic. I have gone to GAF Elk for their information and will talk to my agent. Something seems fishy all around, but I want to get legitimate work done if it is necessary. Has anyone won an appeal with State Farm?

I also work in the hail business and let me say I am an expert in this type of field and your information is misleading. First of all your rates will not go up if you make the claim due to (an act of nature) If its a catastrophic area your rates may go up whether you make a claim or not. Second, Its not up to the contractor whether or not the roof gets approved. Its up to the Insurance adjuster. So in the end the Insurance has control over this not the contractor.

We have been covered by State Farm since 1992 on all of our insurance needs cars homes et all. After our roof was damaged by hail they sent out an estimator who did not even look in the attic. There are water leaks on the living room ceiling, and water damage to the lower level. He appeared real biased from the get go and said that he can see the whole in the tiles but not deep enough to cause leaks?
I will be getting an independent contractor estimate and take pictures of all the damage in and out. The lawyer said that we need all the evidence to sue not only for the roof but also to the internal damages to the ceiling, structure and all.
They have paid for the house across the street claim, and it just looks like they want to use any available reason to deny or reduce the payment.
It will cost them a whole of a lot more after they are ordered by the court to pay for all damages and legal fees and punitive awards.
Document everything, take pictures, have estimates. The insurance companies have big lawyers on their side and State Farm in particular appears to hire unqualified or dishonest adjusters accusing honest homeowners of making false claim when the physical evidence is supporting the case.
After all the years that we paid for insurance it is very troubling that those who are supposed to be there for us when needed, are not.
I will contact the media and post on every forum there I can find warning people about State Farm.
I am also in the process of finding a real insurance company that will be there to cover all of our needs.
Hope that other people that have had the same experiences will contact me at: drjustice454@gmail.com This may turn into a class action law suit.
Contact your house of representatives and senators local, state and federal regulatory agencies and let them know about these abuses.

Thanks for posting your experience. Consensus seems to indicate that State Farm is tough when it comes getting a hail damage claim approved. Best wishes for getting it resolved properly. Jeff

Hi Jess, Thanks for your post. Let me clarify some of what I wrote. I reread my story and see how it looks like I was saying a particular homeowner’s rate would go up if a hail damage claim was made. I was trying to make the point that rates will go up for everyone when so many claims are paid by the insurers (many of which are not caused of hail damage but natural aging). Are some roofs truly damaged by hail? Of course. Are there homeowners and roofing contractors out there making false claims? The answer again is of course. Yes, I agree with you, it is up to the insurers to put claim processes in place so they do not get taken advantage of.

Hi Molly, Judging from the posting here, it seems like people are having more issues with State Farm than with any other insurance companies. Golf ball sized hail could definitely cause some damage. Thanks for your post and best wishes with your claim. Hopefully someone will post about their experience with the State Farm appeal process.

Hi Kelly, Sorry to hear about your problems with State Farm. I never imagined that the simple post I made initially has created such a great deal of interest in insurance issues and specifically about State Farm. I have been with State Farm for many years but have only had to file a claim regarding an auto accident. I had no problem but obviously there have been many people that are not happy with State Farm and homeowners policies. Maybe I need to reconsider my homeowners policy. I wish you all the best in getting things resolved in your favor. Jeff

Hi Cindy, Wow, these stories about trouble with State Farm and hail claims keep coming in. That was not the reason for my initial blog post but obviously it struck a nerve. After hearing all of these problems I would be hard pressed to recommend State Farm for homeowners policies. You story sounds extremely frustrating. Please let us know how it turns out. The only thing I have heard that may be helpful is to keep the pressure on them and to insist that they cover their obligation. Become the squeaky wheel. All the best, Jeff

Hi Denise, Thanks so much for stopping by and lending you opinion on this topic. It sounds like good advice to me. I am not one to bash businesses but it seems that State Farm may be making things more difficult than should be for their clients. All the best, Jeff