Guide
Making a roof damage claim
A roof claim is a documentation exercise. The damage matters, but what you can prove about it matters more.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Hawaiian Gardens contractors. Free either way.
Your request is in.
We are matching it now against roofing contractors working in Hawaiian Gardens and the surrounding area.
- Today, usually within the hour. The first contractor calls or texts the number you gave us. ASAP requests go out first.
- Up to three of them, no more. We cap it at three so you can compare without your phone melting.
- They come and look. Estimates are given after somebody has been on the roof, not over the phone.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
If you do not hear anything today, check your voicemail and spam folder — contractors often call from a mobile number.
Get an independent assessment first
Filing a claim that turns out to be under your deductible costs you nothing but is on your record anyway. Find out the scale of the damage before you pick up the phone.
Photograph everything, immediately
Take far more pictures than feel necessary, including undamaged areas for comparison. Do it before the tarp goes on, not after.
Read anything before you sign it
An assignment of benefits hands control of your claim to a contractor. There are legitimate uses for it and it is also the single most common way homeowners lose control of a claim. Never sign one on the doorstep.
Know what your policy actually pays
Replacement cost pays what it costs to replace the roof today. Actual cash value pays that minus depreciation, which on a fifteen-year-old roof can be most of it. Find out which you have before you file, along with your deductible.
Stop further damage, and keep the receipts
Policies expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent things getting worse, and they generally reimburse the cost of doing so. Tarps, emergency call-outs, a temporary patch. Keep every receipt.
Mind the deadline
Policies impose time limits on reporting damage, and they are shorter than people assume. Damage found late — hail in particular — is often denied simply because too long has passed.
In short
Document first, mitigate second, file third. In that order it usually goes smoothly; in any other order it usually does not.
Related questions
What happens to my information?
Your details are passed to up to three local roofing contractors so they can quote. That is the only use. You can ask us to delete them at any time, and there is a do-not-sell page for exactly that.
What if the decking is rotten underneath?
Expect a few sheets on most older roofs. Get the per-sheet rate in the contract. Open-ended decking charges are where a fixed price stops being fixed.
Are gutters included in a re-roof?
Usually not, unless the quote says so. If they are near the end of their life, replacing them during the re-roof is meaningfully cheaper than doing it later, because the crew and the staging are already there.