Guide
Roof insurance claims, step by step
The outcome of a claim is usually decided in the first forty-eight hours, before an adjuster has been anywhere near the property.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Long Beach contractors. Free either way.
Your request is in.
We are matching it now against roofing contractors working in Long Beach and the surrounding area.
- Today, usually within the hour. The first contractor calls or texts the number you gave us. ASAP requests go out first.
- Up to three of them, no more. We cap it at three so you can compare without your phone melting.
- They come and look. Estimates are given after somebody has been on the roof, not over the phone.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
If you do not hear anything today, check your voicemail and spam folder — contractors often call from a mobile number.
Mind the deadline
Report promptly even if you have not decided what to do. The clock in the policy runs from the date of the event, not the date you noticed.
Stop further damage, and keep the receipts
Emergency mitigation is normally recoverable and routinely forgotten. Save the paperwork for the tarp as carefully as the paperwork for the repair.
Get an independent assessment first
Filing a claim that turns out to be under your deductible costs you nothing but is on your record anyway. Find out the scale of the damage before you pick up the phone.
Photograph everything, immediately
Take far more pictures than feel necessary, including undamaged areas for comparison. Do it before the tarp goes on, not after.
Read anything before you sign it
An assignment of benefits hands control of your claim to a contractor. There are legitimate uses for it and it is also the single most common way homeowners lose control of a claim. Never sign one on the doorstep.
Know what your policy actually pays
Replacement cost pays what it costs to replace the roof today. Actual cash value pays that minus depreciation, which on a fifteen-year-old roof can be most of it. Find out which you have before you file, along with your deductible.
In short
The homeowners who do well out of claims are not the ones with the worst damage. They are the ones with the best photographs.
Related questions
What does a new roof cost in Long Beach?
Most quotes here for a standard asphalt replacement come in around $13,500 to $30,000. That assumes one layer to remove and sound decking. Every quote you get should say in writing what happens if the decking is not sound.
It is leaking right now. What do I do?
Move what you can out of the way, put a bucket under it, and if there is a bulge in the ceiling put a small hole at its lowest point to let the water out in one place rather than bringing the whole panel down. Then mark your request as an emergency — those go out first.
What time of year is best to re-roof in Long Beach?
Here, the long dry run from May to October is the easy window. November through March is when the phone rings hardest, which means less flexibility on dates and less room on price.