Roof Insurance Claims & Hail Damage Guide

Chris Kane talks hail damage, insurance & roofing scams

 We're getting to the action right now, the destruction that hail has. And if you've been a victim of it, we have a team that can help you make some repairs or even replace your whole roof. It's 303 Roofers, and in today's sponsored segment, we're joined by Chris Cain, the owner. Chris, welcome to GDC, and thanks for sitting through all that soccer talk. Well, we love soccer, right? That's right. Go USA. USA. That's right. USA. Well, let's get to you now. What are the three Ds that you were telling me about a little bit earlier? Yeah so really, I just encourage everyone, whether you have hail damage or not, um, if you own a home, just know what your deductible is. Mm-hmm. Um, it changes. It can change. So you might think you have a $500 deductible or $1,000 deductible, but you might find out maybe they switched it on you and you, you didn't even know. Really? Yeah, and they'll, they'll notify you, but it's usually by mail. People tend to not read those. They think it's junk mail, throw it away. Mm-hmm. But it might be a 1% or 2% or even 5% of the value of your home, which is, you know, basically self-insuring- Significant, yeah ... you know, depending on the val- value of your home. So just know your deductible. That's the first thing. I just encourage everyone to do that. And then really you have to determine if you have hail damage. That's the second D, determine if you have hail damage. Right. And you can either figure that out yourself or have someone come out and inspect. You know, free inspections, all good roof companies will do free inspections for you. And then from there you have to determine, third D, if you want to actually file an insurance claim. Okay. Um, and so you have to just take those steps and see, um... You know, I- I recommend, um, if, if, if you wanna handle it yourself, go for it. If you want to have a roofer involved, um, you know, get one, but then I can throw in a fourth D, do your due diligence. Make sure that- Right ... you hire someone that's reputable. Do not get caught up with a bad roofer. It, it will be a nightmare for you. Wow, I wanna get back to that. Yeah. But first, I don't know if you've noticed this even on your own phone or people knocking on your door, I get text messages all the time- Yes ... "Can we come out and inspect your roof?" Oh, yes. Ooh, I do too. People coming knocking on your door. Yes. Do you... What's the deal with all that? Could you trust people like that? Well, again, you know, I, I just say do your due diligence. Right. And, and you make the decision. You hire who you want to hire. Don't feel like you're forced into something. Um, you know, uh, you can just do Google searches. You can check, uh, Angie's List. You can check... There's, there's plenty of places to go to, the, the Better Business Bureau. Um, check with your friends and neighbors. Someone else that's been through the process that's worked with, um, an, a company and they had a good experience with. Those, those are great ways to start. Yeah, so due diligence I think is the key word here. Absolutely. 'Cause there's plenty of bad companies out there, right? Unfortunately, yes. And whether it's roofing, mechanics, whatever it is, right? Yeah, no, in, in every industry, unfortunately. Right. Mm-hmm. So you wanna do your due diligence. Yes. Like you said, check those reviews, and then hopefully you get an honest one. How do roof warranties work? That's what I wanted to get back to about the insurance part, because I don't know what's going on. I'd rather you handle that for me. Yeah, and, and we can handle everything from start to finish. Um, and, and, and again, all good roofing companies can do that. Um, i- if you want to handle it yourself, you can certainly do that as well. But warranties are, are great, but they're only as good as the company that you hire. Mm-hmm. So if someone gives you a lifetime warranty, but they're out of business next year- You, you don't have a warranty. Right. So do you always pull permits? Absolutely, yes. Yeah, um, again, you have to be licensed and insured- Okay to be able to pull a permit. Okay. So it's super important to make sure that your contractor pulls a permit, and then it gets, you know, it has a final inspection, and then you can show that it's passed final inspection. Okay, so when should a homeowner, I get my roofing done, right? When should I pay for that? When does it happen, before, during, after? Yeah, in my opinion, never pay anything upfront to anyone. Okay. We never, we don't take a penny un- until the job is done, you're happy, and it passes final inspection. So i- it- it's, I would say never because once, once you pay, first of all, you lose leverage. Secondly, if they never show back up again- Right you're out of that money. So wait until the job is done. It, it, and there's really no reason, so a reputable, good company, you know, we have, uh, contracts with material suppliers. We don't have to pay them for 30 days. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, we pay our labor, of course, when the labor gets done. But, you know, if you can't carry that cost- Right you know, for, you know, however long it might be, and it, and it only takes a day or two to finish a roof depending on how big it is. And then at that point, you know, if you, once it passes inspection, then, then pay the contractor. Um, or if you're going through insurance, you know, we even wait until insurance pays you, and then you pay us. So again, the, it's a process. Oh, that's great. But just don't put the money up front. I, I just highly recommend please don't do that. Do you do more than roofing before we get out of here? Yeah. We're a licensed general contractor, so if you have other damage, you know, to your siding or your windows or your fence or whatever it might be, you know, we can help with that as well, even interior things. So, um, you know, we are a roofing company, but we are a licensed general contractor. Right. And quickly, I just had a personal question. Do you put, what if if you put money down? Someone's asking you to put a, you know- Don't do it ... $1,000 down. Don't do that. I, I, you say no. No, I, your, you're a good company. You don't need that money. Um, you just work with a good company. That's right. Do your due diligence. Ask those questions. You know, ask for a shingle upgrade. You know, just, just, uh, you know, take control. Right. It- it's your money. It's your house. You know, don't feel pressure. You know, if someone's knocking on your door, you know, don't sign anything. That's the other thing I'd like to say before we go. Do not sign anything. Right. You know, it's fine that they're knocking on your door, but don't be pressured to sign something 'cause next thing you know, you're gonna be tied into a contract. All right, my man. Honest engine. Thank you. I like it. Hard to find. Thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you. Good to see you. 303 Roofer is a offering now a great deal for our GDC viewers. You could get $500 off a full roof replacement and a free upgrade to a Class 4 impact-resistant shingle. And remember they always offer free roof inspections and estimates with no pressure. I love that part. And you could get that shingle upgrade at no extra cost. All you gotta do is give them a call today at 303-390-1382, or visit them online at 303roofer.com. Again, thanks to 303 Roofer for sponsoring this segment.