Living in Michigan, we run into a lot of storm damage repair issues when it comes to our homes. Do you remember that terrible storm that fell a huge tree just a few months ago? Here a link to see the home damage it caused if you don’t recall.
Hailstorms and high wind damage are the most common damages covered by homeowner’s insurance in Mid-Michigan. An occasional ice dam may also be a potential item covered on your policy and available for storm damage repair.
At the end of the day, who you chose to cover your damage can be day or night results on the outcome of your claim. It is important to find out who you are dealing with. You will want to hire a company that helps customers with hundreds of claims a year. Conversely, you should never go with a town storm chasing company, more on that in a minute. First, let’s talk about local companies.
Hire a Pro for Your Storm Damage Repair
Many local companies do not have consultants that have a lot of experience identifying storm damage repair properly, have the knowledge of looking for siding damage, AC unit damage, gutter damage, or many others. Also, many of their consultants do not know how to properly negotiate on your behalf with the insurance company. Remember one thing, THE NUMBER ONE JOB OF THE ADJUSTER IS TO PROTECT THE FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY.
Most of your local companies will send out a sales guy with very little knowledge of how they operate, and you could easily get absolutely steamrolled by the adjuster. Bottom line, if they do not have a legitimate division within their company dedicated to storm damage, tread very lightly. You truly don’t want storm damage repair from these guys.
Now, let’s discuss the out of town marketing companies, also known as storm chasers. In most cases, you will have never heard of these companies showing up on your door. We have a few here in Michigan that is very crafty figuring out where the damage occurred and are very good at making an attractive package.
The biggest hook they use is, “cover your deductible for you” if you hear this term, run! It sounds great right? Problem number one, if the insurance company finds out, they can and likely will force you to pay this back, believe me, they know the companies that do it and have ways to audit and find this information out, it may not be right away, but it will likely happen, so you’ve gained nothing anyways. Also, and most importantly, IT IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL, if caught, you may be prosecuted! Bottom line, it’s not worth the $1000 shiny object.
Another problem without town marketing companies is service after install. Most of these companies will never step foot in your community ever again unless another storm occurs, even then, they will likely be under the name of a new company. If they do your roof, be prepared to be on your own.
If they messed something up (likely the case) because they used subcontractors they don’t know or have ever worked with, what are the odds they will come out to fix that leak because they didn’t properly flash your chimney, walls, or worse? Most of these companies have little to no equipment of their own, but they will surely promise you the sun, moon, and stars!
We have been in the business for over 30 years and have seen it all. Recently, a hailstorm hit Mason, Holt, and Dimondale, which are all part of our community. When it hit, we made a conscious decision to not go door to door, because of health concerns over Covid 19 ravaging our nation. Being that we have been in business for 30 years with an impeccable reputation, we got hundreds of calls for help anyway, which was great! Our department that handles nothing but storm damage/ insurance claims was on it right away, we happen to have several people within this division, so we got hundreds approved right away.
It gets good, actually not good. Many of our customers called to complain about a company from out of the Metro Detroit area targeting our signs in the yard and offering “cover your deductible.” Red flag to them, as should be. However, this particular company did get into the same neighborhoods with the bait.
Our quality control officers, who go to our jobs, have experienced seeing many of their jobs being hodgepodge together, not changing flashings, not using appropriate amounts of ice and water shield, and many other issues that will literally destroy those homes. Those homeowners will not have recourse if these companies fall to the wayside and likely will.
It saddens us that there are folks who will do this to homeowners in good faith. But my guess is these types of companies will always exist. Please educate yourself on who you are doing business with, take a drive to their company, and look at their barns and equipment to make sure they are legit, so you do not fall prey, but rather have a professional job that will last your lifetime!
If you need someone to come to take a look at your storm damage we can be there in a flash. Our knowledgeable roofing pros can help identify the next step and get your house back in shape in no time. You can call us at (517) 627-7999 or fill out our form here and we’ll call you.
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