Roof Claims from Storm Damage in Texas

Texas storm damage roof repair

If you own a home in Texas, chances are good that you will eventually make a weather damage claim to your homeowners’ insurance company.  It is important that you read and understand what is covered by your insurance policy and what is not.  If you don’t understand policy provisions, ask us.

Some policies are for “Actual Cash Value” which means the damaged item is worthless accumulated depreciation.  This usually results in an insurance payment that is insufficient to cover the damages.  Other policies (and the ones we highly recommend) call for “Replacement Cost” which means the insurance company must pay for the current cost of replacement of the item without deduction for depreciation.  For example, your roof is 15 years old and suffers a total loss.  The current cost of replacement, no matter what the amount, is the obligation of your insurance company.

The exclusions section of your policy will outline the things that your policy does not cover.  Usually, there will be a section excluding windstorm, hurricane or hail damage to personal property contained within a building unless the direct force of the wind or hail makes an opening in a roof or wall and rain, snow, sand or dust enters through this opening a causes damage.  This particular clause is one area that some insurance companies use to escape liability for damages to personal property in your home.  Also, understand that flood damage is excluded from your homeowner’s policy.  That requires a second and separate policy under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA.

According to one Austin Roofing Company, a tactic some underhanded insurance companies use to deny damage claims to your home is the exclusion relating to wear and tear and deterioration.  For example, the insurance company may assert that your roof was in such bad shape that any minimal wind or rain would cause the damage, hence no coverage.

It is important that you know that Texas law provides that a suit for breach of contract must be filed within 4 years of the breach, however, many insurance contracts shorten this time to 2 years.  So you must be keenly aware of the deadlines and not let them pass thus barring your claim.

We have many years of experience dealing with insurance contract provisions and the law relating to coverage issues.  We also have many years of experience negotiating fair settlements with insurance companies and suing those that resist payment.  You paid the premiums for all those years, now it is the insurance company’s time to pay up.

Texas “Bad Faith” Claims Denial

It is unfortunate, but also true, that some insurance companies either “low ball” their insured’s storm claim or deny the claim altogether without any legal basis to do so. We have some powerful tools to use against any such unscrupulous insurance company, such as the Texas Insurance Code and the Texas Consumer Protection – Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Texas common law also provides remedies for the unlucky person whose storm claim is not fully paid by his insurance company.

It is unfortunate, but also true, that some insurance companies either “low ball” their insured’s storm claim or deny the claim altogether without any legal basis to do so.  We have some powerful tools to use against any such unscrupulous insurance company, such as the Texas Insurance Code and the Texas Consumer Protection – Deceptive Trade Practices Act.  The Texas common law also provides remedies for the unlucky person whose storm claim is not fully paid by his insurance company.

What is Catastrophic Weather?

“Catastrophic Weather” is usually understood to be weather occasions that exceed their predicted amounts of severity or cause tremendous levels of damage inside a defined physical area. You’ve probably experienced a minimum of one catastrophic weather event if you have resided in Texas for just about any period of time. Texas storms really are a regular occurrence. Catastrophic weather is understood to be any single event that triggers a lot more than $25 million in insured property deficits, based on Risk analysis firm ISO. We’re dedicated to standing for the privileges of Texas homeowners who sustain substantial property deficits consequently of catastrophic weather.

Catastrophic weather occasions happen to be recognized to the cause way over $25 million in deficits. Sandy, Katrina, along with other recent severe weather has triggered vast amounts of dollars’ price of damages to houses and qualities.

Texas has experienced seven official catastrophic weather occasions throughout the year, based on the Insurance Council of Texas. A few of these occasions are:

  • Tornadoes and hail triggered by two massive thunderstorm complexes in April and June within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
  • The low Rio Grande Valley was hit having a major hailstorm at the beginning of spring
  • And lots of other thunderstorm and flooding related occasions throughout Texas

The economy is significantly influenced by the weather. The all-inclusive costs of those seven occasions in Texas found a lot more than $2 billion. Not remarkably, homeowners’ insurance providers are frequently unwilling to meet their obligations to spend on weather-related claims.

If your roof or home sustains damage in a catastrophic weather event, Contact Us. We will defend your rights and ensure that you receive the compensation that you deserve.

Texas Hurricanes

Severe weather is large storms of tropical origin, indicated by high winds, soaking rains, and effective seaside storm surges, They are able to span 100s of miles and affect huge numbers of people at any given time. Severe weather may also spawn other kinds of tornados, including tornadoes, hail, and lightning. Flooding rains and tornadoes can spread far inland, although hurricanes’ most powerful effects are usually felt close to the coast.

Hurricane Harvey damage
Hurricane Harvey, Houston TX 2017

Severe weather typically attacks the condition in the warm waters from the Gulf in Texas. These storms cause seaside flooding, beach erosion, high winds, along with other problems. Severe weather that stalls over Texas after making landfall can establish soaking rains, harmful hail, and harmful tornadoes for several days on finish. Texas severe weather, including Carla, Rita, and Ove, have each triggered vast amounts of dollars in damage to property over the condition.

Serious harm to roofs, siding, home windows, exterior structural features, garages, outbuildings, automobiles, along with other insured property is triggered by Texas severe weather. Regrettably, many homeowners insurance providers use unorthodox guidelines to prevent responsibility for having to pay on legitimate claims.

If your home sustains hurricane-related damage, Contact Us at your earliest convenience. We will aggressively fight on your behalf and ensure that you receive just compensation for the damages to your property.

Tornado Damage

Tornadoes are among the most violent and pricey weather occasions on the planet. These quickly-spinning posts of air form around localized regions of low pressure inside the atmosphere. Like the posts of air around which water spins inside a draining sink, tornadoes spin faster and faster until this underlying section of low pressure has dissipated.

Many regions of Texas are situated in the center of “Tornado Alley,” a place of high tornado prevalence that spans from northern Texas to North Dakota. This area of the country has got the world’s greatest tornado-formation rates.

Although tornado damage is frequently apparent, many insurance providers will claim that it’s the consequence of homeowner negligence or perhaps an existing problem prior to the tornado struck. Homeowners insurance providers that be employed in tornado-prone regions of Texas happen to be recognized to employ deceitful practices to prevent responsibility for having to pay legitimate claims.

Whether your home or property sustains a direct hit or glancing blow from a tornado, the damage is likely to be extensive and costly. If your property experiences such damage, Contact Us as soon as possible. We will aggressively advocate on your behalf and secure the claim amount that you deserve.

Damage from Tropical Storms

Tropical storms are large tropical weather systems that leave high winds, rains, surges, along with other hazards. Like severe weather, they form over warm waters and may track far inland in the seaside regions where they initially come ashore. In Texas, most tropical storms approach the state’s Gulf shoreline and convey beach erosion, seaside flooding, and soaking rains that may last for days.

Throughout history, these tropical storms have with each other exposed Texas homeowners and business proprietors to a lot of vast amounts of dollars in insured deficits. For example, Tropical Storm Allison inundated the Houston area and triggered extensive ton harm to most of the city’s storied institutions.

Particularly devastating tropical storms to possess hit the condition include Tropical Storm Allison, Tropical Storm Frances, and Tropical Storm Hermine. Particularly, Hermine’s direct assault on Dallas and Austin demonstrated that tropical storms may cause serious flooding almost anywhere within the condition.

To complicate matters, many insurance providers used misleading tactics to prevent having to pay on storm-related deficits.  If you have experienced tropical storm damage, Contact Us as soon as possible. We will advocate aggressively on your behalf and ensure that you receive the money that you deserve.

Wind Storm Damage

Windstorms could be pricey. Effective storms that hit across a large physical area may cause a huge amount of money in wind-related insured deficits. They might also spawn other kinds of maximum weather, including hail, tornadoes, and flooding rains. Many homeowners’ insurance providers are reticent to pay for the entire costs connected with severe wind damage.

In the desert areas in West Texas towards the eastern Piney Forest, windstorms really are a common occurrence across Texas. Sustained periods of high straight-line winds can happen along with effective cold fronts, thunderstorms, severe weather, tornadoes, tropical storms, snowstorms, and other weather occasions. High winds also occur individually from other kinds of weather.

Based on potency and efficacy and duration, windstorms may cause roof, siding, and window damage. By knocking lower trees near houses or outbuildings, they are able to cause serious structural harm to houses, garages, and verandas. Trees destabilized by successive windstorms can topple in relatively mild weather leading to unforeseen damage too.

Insurance providers confronted with wind damage claims may employ in-house or independent adjusters who could misrepresent the harm incurred to prevent responsibility for giving a payout. Should you file claims, your insurer may reason that your home’s roof, siding, gutters, or porch had already sustained previous damage prior to the storm.

If your home has experienced damage in a recent windstorm, Contact Us today. We will fight aggressively on your behalf to secure appropriate compensation for your losses.

Hail Damage

A lot of our advocacy involves fighting for the financial and legal privileges of Texas homeowners who’ve sustained pricey hail-related harm to their houses, property, and other possessions. Among the most typical types of extreme weather in Texas, hail accounts for leading to many huge amounts of money in annual insured deficits over the condition.

Hail formation is usually connected with severe thunderstorms in Texas. Hailstones are variably sized balls of ice that form around the dust and dirt within violent thunderclouds. When hailstones are extremely heavy to become based on the winds within these clouds, they fall down and damage anything within their way.

Hailstones may range in dimensions from small pea-sized pellets to massive grapefruit-sized or bigger tanks. Even hailstones no more than one-fourth-inch across may cause serious damage to your house, automobiles, and other outside products of worth.

Valuable products that generally sustain hail damage include:

  • Automobiles parked outdoors
  • Roofs
  • Gutters
  • Siding
  • Home windows
  • Outbuildings
  • Decks, verandas, and patios

Since homeowners insurance providers frequently avoid meeting their obligations to pay for the price of hail-related damages, you might need a skilled legal ally that will help you increase your claim.

If your property, home, or possessions sustain damage in a destructive hailstorm or another extreme weather event, Contact Us right away. We will stand up to your insurance company and fight for your rights to get them to pay for the full extent of the damages.

 

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