Roofing insurance fraud scams

If you have lived within the Houston southeast metro Texas area for any length of time, you have surely encountered at least a hail storm or two. This post provides some useful information to help you steer clear of the door-knocking, storm chasers so prevalent during these times it is important for homeowners to be aware of roofing scams and insurance fraud issues that can come back to haunt you later.

If your home is ever hit with a hailstorm, you will notice that within hours of the storm, roofing contractors and “storm chasers” will show up in your neighborhood knocking on your door claiming that your roof has hail damage and offering to help. You will also find them also claiming that your roof can be replaced for free with a roofing insurance claim.

These storm chasers will often leave flyers on the doors of the homes with their contact information etc.. if the homeowner is not home. These types of companies are called roofing storm chasers and are often come from out of town as well. Some of these out of town storm chasers roofing contractors will even go so far as to contract with local roofing companies paying them commissions to use their local roofing company name.

Is Covering Your Ductable Illegal?

The storm chasers will often offer to cover your insurance deductible for you. Many homeowners want to make sure this is not illegal or committing insurance fraud. I can assure you it is illegal; however, there are some gray areas to be aware of on this subject. There are two mainly predominant ways these types of roofing fraudulent insurance scams have played out over the years, the first way being by submitting a “Fake Invoice to the Insurance Company“. A roofing company charges the homeowner one amount for roof the replacement, for example, in this case let’s use $9,000, then once the job is finished, the homeowner submits the roofing company’s revised receipt or invoice to his insurance company showing the higher amount of $10,000 which covers the $1,000 deductible (so they are not covering your deductible but the insurance company is!). The insurance company is being told that you paid $10,000 to replace your roof which you paid $9,0000 for. They keep the $1,000 for the deductible and send the $9,000 reimbursement to you or the roofer, you don’t have to pay the $1,000 out of pocket and the roofing company gets the insurance money.

This all seems like a nice winn-winn for both you as the homeowner and the roofing company who installed the new roof, right? WRONG! This roofing company and you as the customer/homeowner could end up in hot water by your insurance company for insurance fraud. if you fell for it and find out later you have been scammed, you might not only could have charges against you but lose your homeowner’s insurance! The truth of the matter is, your roofing company and yourself as the homeowner have participated in deceiving your insurance company for financial gain.

The second way is a “Yard Sign Advertising Reimbursement“. Your roofing company bills you as the homeowner for the full replacement value of the roof at the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay for replacement.  A “change order” is then used to reduce the final price to the consumer/homeowner in an amount that is now equal to the deductible.  The homeowner in return now agrees to advertise for the roofing company by displaying a yard sign for their services in the front yard of their home. In short, the insurance company is paying the deductible costs by being are misled with yet another roofing scam and insurance fraud situation that the homeowner fell for and is the one who will ultimately pay if caught.

Helpful Links About Roofing Insurance Scams and Licensing Requirements By State

The BBB Texas – BBB Roof Deductible Storm Chasers Could Be A Bad Idea

The Dallas Morning News – Beware Local Roofing Scams

Insurance Journal – Roofing Contractor Fraud

Roof Help – State Licensing Requirements

So, there you have it. The best thing that you can do to protect yourself from getting a fraud count against you and/or losing your homeowner’s insurance is to stay clear of any roofing storm chasers and their insurance claim scams by remembering that honesty is the best policy. This way you or your insurance company will not ultimately have to pay in the end. Pay your deductible, be grateful the insurance company is covering the major portion of your roof replacement and find a local Texas roofing company with references that are honest. As you can see that there is a lot of gray areas on this subject.

The Differences Between Asphalt VS Metal Roofing

As you can imagine, we get a lot of Texas homeowners that would like to replace their older asphalt roofing shingles as replacement becomes a necessity. When folks just like you and I are considering a new roof, often a metal roof choice becomes an option to consider. Having said that, we have put together some ideas and considerations when choosing between a Asphalt or Metal Roof including the following considerations: Rust, Cost and the dreaded least favorite of all, complete loss or interference of your Cell Phone reception. This is something that most homeowners never will think about.

Cost of Asphalt VS. Metal Roofing

Metal roofing vs asphalt roofing shingles comparisons photo

This is the biggest factor for most homeowners to consider between the two roofing choices. Let’s say the asphalt shingle roof replacement cost is $10,000 and the metal roof cost double (or more) at $25,000 +, this is most often the case that homeowners are often experiencing. Some will not mind paying the extra money that it takes to install a metal roof because that is what they have been desiring for some time.

The labor to install the two roofs is very different from one to another due to the skill level and experience in working with the two products. For instance, an asphalt roofing shingle is flexible and can be made to fit in many applications where as a metal roof panel is totally rigid and requires a much different set of skills and tools to fit in the same area of application. It is often common that roofers that have installed asphalt shingles in the past, will attempt to install a metal roof resulting many mistakes in installation resulting in an voided warranty. There is also a big difference in the cost of materials between the two products as well as the many options between the two roofing products as well.

$10,000 Asphalt vs. a $25,000 + Metal Re-Roofing Job Long Run Cost Comparisons

GAF Timberline HD Lifetime Asphalt Roofing Shingles (weatherwood color)

This is where asphalt roofing shingles wins in my opinion. If a metal roof is going to cost you double or more, are you going to recoup this money in the long run? The short answer is yes and no and here is why: In the past, the asphalt roof will last anywhere from 12 – 25 years on average. That was in the past, today, GAF is offering a lifetime warranty on their asphalt composition roofing shingles replacement . This means, a longer replacement life if you install their lifetime asphalt roofing shingle warranty product.

Metal roofing products such as galvalume, offer a 25 year metal roofing warranty and other metal roofing products can range from 25 – 50 + years. We have even seen some lifetime warranties offered by metal roofing manufacturers as well. The reason for this range in warranty span, is RUST. These roofing panels are coated with paint or coated with a galvanized coating called, Galvalume. If they were aluminum or copper, they would never rust, however the cost would be 3 -5 times + the cost of an asphalt roof that can offer a lifetime warranty.

Having said all of that, here is some quick math thoughts for comparisons:

Should I go with a Lifetime Asphalt Roof @ $10,000 vs. a 25 – 50 Year Metal Roof @ $20,000 +? A quick math comparison quickly reveals that an Asphalt roof at half or less of the price offers the longer warranty of a metal roof, what are your thoughts? Form a cost effective perspective, the asphalt roof is less expensive in the long run if you go with the Lifetime Warranty that GAF is offering.

Rusting VS. Weathering Longevity Issues

Before and after metal roofing applied coating

This is where metal roofing wins big time in my opinion. When an asphalt roofing shingle gets weathered and old, it will experience granule loss and lose its structural integrity and start to fail and come apart.

Those ceramic granules are adhered to the shingle with asphalt petroleum based adhesive. As these shingles age they lose this protective coating leaving the underlying asphalt and fiberglass base to crack and become quite brittle.

No matter what one might put on top of this asphalt shingle, the base has become so deteriorated that it can no longer support anything that is coated on the surface of it. This is why roofing contractors  will re-coating metal roof over asphalt shingles.

Both of these buildings were built at the some time. Notice the roof on the left how it is faded as opposed to the roof on the right. Click to enlarge photo.

Fading Issues With Metal Standing Seam Roof Panels at Hwy 6 & 290 in Houston TX

On the other hand is the metal roof. When it starts to age the most common issue is loss of the painted or coated surface such as galvalume or Kynar 500 paint coating. When these factory applied coatings start to fade, they leave and expose the metal surface underneath to the elements. The most common response to this exposure of most metal products is surface rust.

This metal roofing panel often still holds its structural integrity and only exhibits unsightly surface rust as long as it has not been exposed for a lengthy span of time.

With this metal roofing panel still intact with only surface rust, it is the perfect candidate to be sprayed with a new fluid applied metal roof coating. This coating is completed sprayed on and has a warranty for 10 -25 years. So another words, for a “fee” you can extend the life of your roof for 10 – 25 years. Please note that I said… “for a fee”.

The Myth Of The Forever Metal Roof

Galvalume Standing Seam Metal Roofing

When I get a call from a Texas homeowner seeking a price on a metal roof, there seems an instant connection that by installing a metal roof that it will be the last they will ever install. This is clearly not the case as the manufacturer warranties range anywhere from 25 years to lifetime. Even with a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer, you will eventually have to replace that roof after your warranty is claimed with the manufacturer due to the coating failure.

The metal roofing manufacturer typically will prorate the warranty claim that you have against them and either offer a small portion of the original price back to you or offer a discount on the replacement materials. The metal roofing manufacturer will not offer any labor money to replace the rusting and or falling metal roofing panels.

The same goes for asphalt roofing shingles should you ever need to file a warranty claim against them as well. After you have contacted them, they will come out and assess (look at) your asphalt roofing shingles and take an assessment on the service life that is left. The asphalt roofing manufacturer will make a settlement offer that is either a partial credit (rebate) towards new replacement roof shingles, or a possible cash value settlement. Either way with metal or asphalt roofing, you are going to be out of pocket some time down the road when either the warranty period ends or a claim needs to be filled due to failure.

Cell Phone Reception Interference

cell phone reception issues associated with a metal roof

This is an area where most Texas completely forget to consider and is one of the most frustrating to find out onee the new metal roof is installed. Oh my and no fun.

Something to think about, when you have a metal roof installed on your home, you now have installed a shield that stops some of your cell phone signal from coming into your home. What you have now created is what is called the Faraday cage effect.

One of the ways around this is to install a signal booster that has an outside antenna to receive better reception. Sometimes this works and sometimes this will not depending on your existing reception situation. If your signal is already poor or marginal, you will probably have none with an addition of a metal roof replacing your non interfering asphalt roof.

Asphalt Roofing VS Metal Quick Points

• Cost differences
• Warranty differences
• Cell phone reception issues
• Rusting issues
• HOA approvals
• Installation cost

Final Thoughts on Asphalt VS Metal Roofing

You have to choose between which roof is better for your home when you consider the cos, rust and possible cell phone reception issues associated with a metal roof. If you are liking that standing seam ribbed metal roofing look, then by all means go with that type of roof. Keep in mind that you are going to pay 2-3+ times more without really getting much longer of a warranty out of a metal roof. Should you decide on the Asphalt roofing shingle, you be saving money up front and in the long run if you get the lifetime warranty shingle that is offered by GAF.

Thank you from all of us at Texas Home Exteriors as we have you have enjoyed this Asphalt VS Metal Roofing blog post. Please feel free to make your welcomed comments below.