Insurance Adjuster Problems Or Certainteed

Mike Fleming

I have a client in Minneapolis that has huge problems with his insurance company. He had roof raked my roof during several bad winter months (fearing ice damming) and his shingles curled. The insurance company will cover the problem, but the adjusters are saying that they are bad shingles. The only spot they are curling is where he roof raked, all others are laying flat (how can that happen??). His claim is for curling shingles, but the adjuster is saying they were produced by certainteed and would not cover the problem. Any advise!!!!!

jproffer

WOW...you go from first to third person in the blink of an eye... ...no but really...I'm not making fun but:

Who did the raking on who's roof? (HE had roof raked MY roof and HIS shingles curled)...??? what's went on?

What kind of insurance? Homeowners, General Liab. of the contractor, what?

Remember, an insurance adjusters job is to make it so his company does NOT have to pay. He'll play hardball as long as you let him.

BTW, welcome to the forum and I hope you didn't take the beginning of this post seriously at all. We like to have a little fun once in a while, that's all

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noreast05

What did certainteed say? Have one of their reps come out. Who is the adjuster to say they are bad shingles! Like jproffer said: Remember, an insurance adjusters job is to make it so his company does NOT have to pay. He'll play hardball as long as you let him.

Teetorbilt

You may want to consider an independent appraiser. I know of quite a few people who have used them to give the adjuster an attitude adjustment.

I'm still having some claim problems from last years hurricanes and I think that one may be in my near future.

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dougger222

What line of Certainteed are the shingles?

Any shingles made with some asphalt or all asphalt are known to only 10-15 years. Most of the shingles curl and loose there granuals as a result.

Grumpy

This seems like a recently installed roof. Am I correct?

I am not sure how a roof rake would cause shingles to curl. I hate to say it but... Usually curling shingles are caused by improper ventilation.

Call the cert. rep and get their opinion.

Glasshousebltr

I'm I correct in stating he raked "your" roof so hard "his" shingles curled?

Gota get me one of those rakes.

Bob

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dougger222

I tore of a 3 year old Certainteed roof two years ago due to curling with plenty of ventilation. Certainteed coverd 80% of the bill. On two other occasions in the past five years I've tore off Certainteed shingles that were within the 5 year sure start warranty.

This past summer I was on a roof I roofed four years ago with some early signs of curling mostly were the water runs on the shingles the most. The house is as old as the shingles and has more then enough ventilation. The shingles are Certainteed Sealdon 25's and Certainteed is willing to pay for hand sealing which won't help with the problem! Certainteed will try to do as much as possible to not pay for claims hoping with time you will be out for labor costs after the sure start warranty has expired.

Insurance companies look for defective shingles to save on not having to pay out on claims.

dougger222

Perhaps he raked the roof from the peak pulling up towards the peak???!!!

specwood

His claim as to the cause is one side, your claim is another. To "battle" with an adjuster you simply need to prove (or at least explain very well) your case in writing. An adjuster has a file. That file gets filled with PAPER. You can almost take a scale, and weigh the paper in the file that has stuff written on it that proves your case and weigh the paper that proves his case and whoever has more wins.

The adjuster has three motivations. Keep his supervisor happy, close files, and cover his butt. Your PAPER will cover his BUTT. He can show it to his superior (and it is all about the superior, whether supervisor, claim manager, regional V.P., VP of claims or CEO) and prove to them that he did his job and that the facts warranted a payment. Be the adjuster's friend and do most of his work and he will be more likely to pay your claim.

Trust me on this. I spent 9 years employed as an adjuster.

IHI

I've dealt with many adjusters and have typically had good luck since I am fair and not trying to pad the bill for sake of it being an insurance claim. This latest job I bid however consisted of a big azzed tree falling through the roof deck of a garage taking out about 4 total sq of sheeting and shingles, chain link fence, privacey fence in patio area, soffit and fascia. With the material prices at that time the total repair was $3200. Adjuster came back with $2200 and said only 2 square of material needed to be replaced. We bickered back and forth and was telling me about ALLL these other estimates he got for under his calculations.

Best part was home owner had had enough due to knowbody getting over there to fix it due to insuance not paying and garage leaking rain into garage. They paid me out of pocket, had me take a bunch of pictures, pre, during and post construction to document the work and are currently in small claims court to get reimburshed. Point being, many of the up and coming insurance guys are young, have no clue that even at face value there can be other damages as a result and will fight tooth and nail why not to pay and try to cut your throat.

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housedocs

Welcome aboard Mike, you being in Minn and this being late Oct., I think if I were you, I'd follow the example of IHI's client as he explained in the previous post. Find your self an honest reliable contractor and have hime do the work the right way to repair the roof and take lots of pics, before, during , & after to document the work done. Then present the bill & if the ins refuses to pay, be prepared to go to small claims & let the judge decide who is liable. At least you know your roof is fixed correctly and you don't have the worry of additional damage to your property from a leaky roof.

That being said, I definitely contact Certainteed and Teetor's suggestion at using an independent appraiser seems like a good idea as well. Good luck!

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dougger222

For two summers my brother in law worked as a salesman for a storm chasing roofing contractor. He dealt with insurance companies and adjusters on a daily basis and learned a lot in two summers. His company charged absolute top dollar and got most insurance companies to pay there prices. He has told me that adjusters get a bonus for jobs they settle on for less than the roofer does it for. He also has said once an adjuster says yes you have hail and we will pay for total replacement get bids, they have to pay no matter what the contract price is for.

I found his second statement not true when I talked with an Allstate adjuster about a clients 2 layer 8/12 one asphalt, one shake, redeck job. The job was 20 squares and my bid was for $8,000 all he said he'd pay was $6,000. After he said the homeowner could find a roofer as good as me who would do it for $6,000 I said good luck to you and your customer and hung up the phone. The homeowner told me she was broke and could not pay any money out of pocket for the roof replacement. I also bid the roof across the street who also had Allstate who's adjuster said there was no hail damage.

I still get jobs from homeowners who saw every neighbor on there street get roofs due to hail and the adjuster said there roof was not effected!

halunen

There have been many complainted around the country regarding CertainTeed shingles disintegrating and curling after 10-15 years. There will be a class action being filed shortly by my office to obtain compensation for consumers for the replacement of defective CertainTeed shingles. As many are aware, CertainTeed is offering insignficant, token payments to customers who will be required to spend thousands in labor and material to replace their defective shingles on their roofs. This is not fair and CertainTeed must be held accountable. People did not pay for a warranty of 25-30 years only to find that it will not be honored as a result of CertainTeed's mistakes.

dougger222

Correct me if I'm wrong here but since Certainteed is paying claims on there defective shingles isn't that warranty? Most all Certainteed shingles come with a five year sure start warranty, in this time period if shingles are found to be defective Certainteed will pay for labor costs.

It sure would be easy for Certainteed to file bankruptcy and have absolutely no warranty whatsoever. They are making an effort to satisfy it's costumers especially ones that have 5-10 years of warranty left on a 25 year shingle.

Here's what I've noticed with Certainteed making claims on defective shingles.

Homeowners with the Horizon Shangle Certainteed has been giving them there choice of colors in the Landmark 30 shingle. Certainteed however is not paying for any labor charges, ice and water, felt, vents, valley, ridge, etc, which Certainteed makes coincidentally.

Homeowners with the Sealdon 20's and 25's Certainteed has been giving them a settlement on a pro-rate basis for what the shingles only were purchased for when new.

In most cases Certainteed will give a rebate for upgrade shingles when you buy Certainteed again. The rebates average $1-10 per square depending on shingle and price.

I've heard of class action law suits against Certainteed for it's Horizon Shangle which is stopped producing back around the mid to late 90's but have heard of no class action law suits against Certainteed for it's Sealdon version of organic shingles.

Willing to bet money that if a class action law suit is settled with Certainteed it will be the end of it's shingle division.

RONNIE8

A public adjuster is an insurance claims adjuster who is an advocate for the policyholder in appraising and negotiating an insurance claim

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BamBamm5144

This may be the oldest post I have seen brought back to life yet. Almost 5 years old in one month.

Jaf

You never know, the original one post wonder may come back after 5 years to reap his earnings.

larryb

The curling probably has nothing to do with the roof raking. The majority of the curling is probably on the south side (sun damage, typical on Certainteeds in MN) and it may also have been damaged by hail - check the storm reports for the area over the last two years.

Their may be two problems and two solutions. The curling may be a warranty claim for which CT may pay (at least partial). The roof may indeed, also be hail damaged and, if that is the case, the insurance company needs to pay.

The insurance adjuster cannot legally deny payment for hail damage even if there is a shingle warranty issue. Add to that the fact that the insurance company cannot deduct any settlement paid by the shingle manufacturer from the insurance settlement. Go get em'.

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jmiller

Larryb you're quite the necroposter. Can't you plug your service when it comes up in current threads? (just my humble opinion, and I do enjoy reading your posts).