Good Morning Neighbor! (By the way, is that a tree on your roof?)
When a Tree Falls in Your Driveway, Does Anyone Hear You Scream?
Is Your Home’s Roof 100% Covered by Your House Insurance?
One of the many charms of the Brookside area are the massive Oaks that tower sometimes 50-100ft above many rooflines. Long time residents have learned to fear the limbs – especially when heavy snow, high wind, or rainstorm are in the forecast.
Imagine waking up in the morning after a storm and finding that not a branch, but a full-size tree has crashed across your driveway? Or worse yet, you find that a tree has fallen across your roof, your car, your air conditioning unit and, for good measure, knocked off your gutters, taken out a window and has come to rest on the hood of your car.
After further investigation, you notice that the massive tree limb broke off of your neighbor’s tree leaving their property with almost no damage. In contrast your own property is in shambles. In both cases a simple question comes to mind: What do I do next? In both cases, a call to Ellen might just save you both time – and money
The tree across the driveway scenario is exactly what Ellen woke up to after a massive thunderstorm the prior night. Thankfully, the tree caused no damage to Ellen’s home but the tree was still was a problem, one that prevented Ellen from getting her car from the driveway to the street. Removing the tree could be a big expense.
Then Ellen noticed the tree had fallen from within the city easement, the ribbon of grass between the city street and the sidewalk. Ellen knew just what to do. She called the KC Public Works Department and described the issue. After the quick call, the City had a crew out to remove the tree the very next day!
Tile Roof is No Match for a Tall Tree Limb
Other Brookside residents have not been so lucky with trees and gravity. An associate of Ellen’s recently suffered significant damage from a fallen tree limb. In this case high winds sheered a 2′ diameter branch from a neighbor’s tree.
The massive branch crashed into the third story tile roof, knocked several feet of gutter from the house, crashed through a second story window and then proceeded down to the ground – landing on a 2-week old air conditioning unit and an SUV parked in the driveway. The neighbor who owned the tree came out a better on damages, losing a few sections of wooden fence.
New Air Conditioner Takes a Direct Hit
What does one do when eating dinner and a sudden earthquake of noise and vibration shakes the house to its core and, when venturing outside, it’s clear that a massive tree branch has caused severe damage to your property?
First, call Ellen! Ellen knows who to call to get the roof secured from the weather and has a short list of personally recommended contractors – well-equipped to assess the damage and, when the time comes, get the repairs done with quality, care and fair pricing.
Large, Yet Hollow
The next question on the homeowner’s mind is likely: Who is going to be responsible for paying for the repairs? The neighbor who owns the property with the offending tree? Or, the homeowner who sustained the damage? And how much will be allocated for repairs? More on that, but first, a few words about insurance!
Home Insurance and Roofing
According to Bankrate.com, one of the biggest factors that affects the cost of your home insurance policy is the condition and type of roof on your house. Because roofs often sustain damage from a weather-related incidents (wind, hail, heavy rain, etc.) and since the type and age of a roof serve as a predictor of the likely severity of weather-related damage, the price of a home insurance policy can be dramatically influenced by a homes roof.
A worn, 20-year old asphalt shingle roof on top of an older, original layer of older asphalt shingles would be more susceptible to storm damage than a new roof and more costly to replace – therefore, expensive to insure. The homeowner with the tile roof described above had a similar but different situation. His home had a 90-year old concrete tile roof; but although it was quite old, it had proven very weather-resistant over the decades.
The tile roof homeowner made a decision a few years back to lower his insurance rates by changing home insurance providers. In making the shift his insurance rates did drop significantly – but there was a reason for this: he changed the insurance coverage from Replacement Cost Coverage to Actual Cash Value Coverage. Understanding the difference between these two types of coverage may help you make the best choice about your home insurance needs.
Replacement Cost Coverage
If your roof is covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy on a replacement cost basis, then the insurance company has agreed to pay you what it would cost to replace your roof with a similar new roof. The claims adjuster will research new roofing materials that closely match what currently sits on your house and will offer you an amount based on what it would cost to replace your roof with a comparable new roof using those materials.
This kind of coverage often costs more than actual cash value coverage, but it does mean that if your roof is severely damaged, your only out-of-pocket expense is likely your deductible.
Actual Cash Value Coverage
Actual Cash Value Coverage means your insurance company agrees to pay you the amount of your roof’s current value if damaged. When you are covered by actual cash value, depreciation is factored into your claim settlement. The claims adjuster who inspects the roof and its damage will review the general condition of the roof, determine when the roof was installed and the average length of time a roof constructed with those materials would remain usable, then determine what it would cost to replace the specific part of the roof that has been damaged and, finally, depreciate the insurance payment depending on the usable-roof lifespan that had elapsed.
Bankrate.com provides this example: “A comparable brand new roof might cost $20,000 and have a lifespan of 20 years. This would mean that it loses 5% of its value each year. If your roof is 10 years old, it has lost 50% of its value, meaning the actual cash value of your roof is now $10,000. Additional depreciation may be taken out based on the condition of your roof. Some 10-year-old roofs may still be in great condition, while others could be impacted by un-repaired wind or hail damage.”
The same Bankrate.com article advises homeowners on choosing which policy is right for them:
“If you do have a choice between actual cash value and replacement cost coverage, you will need to consider several aspects of your financial situation to determine coverage.
You may want to choose ACV coverage if you do not have the funds to pay for replacement cost, which is likely to be a more expensive choice. However, if you do choose ACV coverage, be aware that you will likely pay more out of pocket after a claim, since your insurance company will not cover the depreciation on your roof. You may want to consider if you have the finances to comfortably pay for a larger portion of a roof claim.
If you have the option and the budget, replacement cost coverage could be a good choice, since it provides you with a greater level of protection against the costs of replacing or repairing your roof after wind damage.”
Back to the Brookside story. Although the neighbor’s tree was hollow and weakened the tree was still bearing leaves and showed no outward signs of its weakened limbs. So the tile roof homeowner’s insurance company paid for the damages from the owner’s ACV policy – meaning replacing the entire roof to match was not an option.
However, there is still a happy ending. Lloyd Lantz from 435 Roofing (see video below), was able to find identical replacement tiles from the same era – saving the customer money, and keeping the architectural integrity off the home intact!
Want to learn more abut roofing? Ellen’s got a guy for that! In her “I’ve Got a Guy” video series, Episode Two features Lloyd Lantz from 435 Roofing talking about what he knows best. Watch the video below learn more about roofing!
