A realtor sent me this. Insurance companies are at it again.
"Prepare your SELLERS and BUYERS - they may be forced to put on a roof whether they need one or not!! Not many people are wealthy enough to self-insure their homes so in order to get homeowners insurance, you may be forced to get a new roof at YOUR expense.
Many Florida homeowners are finding it difficult to get private market insurance coverage. Companies are increasingly unwilling to write new policies with asphalt shingle roofs over 10-12 years old, regardless of condition!! Don’t shoot your home inspector, its the insurance company! Have a metal roof? You may be able to squeeze out 20 years, but there’s no guarantee.
The new law passed July 1, 2021 is already in the courts with no relief in sight. Stay tuned to this extremely important issue and know that your RPAC dollars are working hard to bring a solution through legislation in Tallahassee…"
I didn’t read the article, however, I was told by A Fairly reliable source, that not only will you be mandated to replace your roofs, in the event that your roof is destroyed from a hurricane or other catastrophic event, you won’t be getting your roof for free.
You only receive a prorated portion of what the value of the roof is. If you have a 19 year old shingle roof and it gets torn off during the hurricane, you’ll be putting the roof on yourself.
I think the State Insurance Division should make them come up with a pro-rated coverage based on your roofs age and the manufacturer’s claimed life expectancy of your roofing material (e.g. shingles 25yr, metal 40yr, tile 50yr etc).
Shingle Coverage Example:
Up to 10 = 75%
10-12 = 60%
12-14 = 45%
14-16 = 30%
16-18 = 15%
18-20 = 10%
20 + = End of life expectancy - Rep/Repl at your cost
No plan will satisfy everyone but this is better than what’s happening now!
This will not be an issue until a few state representatives get the notices for their clay tiled roofs that are only 20yo and have another 10+ left in 'em!
That sounds good on paper, however, insurance policies costs are based on replacement costs. At least mine is. Therefore, if the roof was damaged to the extent that it needs replacing, replace it and reimburse me for it.
One of the issues that is causing this is that the building code changed where it states you cannot repair more than 25% of your roof in a calendar year. All the public adjusters came out after Irma and used that to justify replacement of the roofs.
The method you are describing is a rental program, for a roof I already own.
Rental program? LOL How is a depreciation scale a rental program? Yes, most policies are written for replacement costs but times are changing so this scale would be applied to that replacement cost. This ensures coverage for the life of the roof. Although it does diminish, it’s coverage.
You replaced a roof and paid someone to cover you in a loss. That loss happens and you got, lets say 16yrs of use out of it. You used up 85% of the roof’s life. The insurer was covering you for the typical life and agrees to pay you 15% of the replacement cost.
If an owner wants replacement cost coverage it’s a different policy, they pay a higher premium and this scale isn’t used. Then at 10yr + 1 day they get the notice to replace the roof out of their pocket or get cancelled. I’d take the depreciation policy any day!
Using that logic, the house in question is 50 years old. Replace it…or no coverage.
Replacement cost means just that.
Prior to the hurricane, I had a leak free roof. Now that half of my roof is gone, according to the local building code, it has to be replaced. Age has nothing to do with it.
Odd…I didn’t get a discount on my insurance when I paid 45K for a new roof…Guess it is a one way street…
