How to Choose the Right Roof Insurance Coverage
When it comes to roof insurance coverage, it’s important to understand that roof insurance is typically part of your homeowners insurance policy under dwelling coverage. Here are some key points to consider:
What Types of Damages are Covered
Most homeowners insurance policies cover roof damage caused by specific perils such as fire, windstorms, hail, and the weight of ice or snow. However, damage due to wear and tear or lack of maintenance is usually not covered, such as granule loss on your roof.
Typically, all structures on the property like detached garage, barns and sheds will also be covered.
Types of Policies
There are different types of policies that can affect your coverage:
Replacement Cost Value (RCV): This policy covers the cost of repairing or replacing your roof without deducting for depreciation.
Actual Cash Value (ACV): This policy covers the cost of your roof minus depreciation, which means you might get less money for an older roof.
Policy Exclusions
Insurance companies are increasingly excluding things from coverage to avoid paying more money out on claims to control cost. Some of these types of exclusions will be listed in your policy. Major exclusions to look out for with home exteriors are:
Metal Exclusions: Soft metals on the roof, such as box vents or exposed flashings. Any damages to these materials will not be covered.
Matching Exclusions: Some polices will only pay for damaged materials and not allow any extra allowance for undamaged materials. For example, they might only replace 1/2 of a roof, making the roof look not uniform in appearance after the repairs.
Endorsements
Endorsements are extra coverages that raise your premium, but can provide additional peace of mind by covering specific risks that might otherwise leave you vulnerable. A few examples are:
Flood Coverage: Flood damage is typically not covered by standard homeowners insurance. A flood endorsement or a separate flood insurance policy can cover this risk.
Sewer Backup Coverage: This endorsement covers damage caused by the backup of sewers or drains, which can be a significant risk for home exteriors.
Matching Endorsement: This endorsement allows for replacement of undamaged materials to keep the home in a reasonable uniform appearance. Sometimes the amount allowed under this endorsement is capped. For example there could be a limit of $10,000 or $20,000 of undamaged materials paid out.
Ordinance or Law Coverage: This endorsement covers the increased costs of rebuilding your home to current building codes and ordinances, which can be higher than when your home was originally built.
Deductibles
Deductibles have very weighted impact on your annual premium. Higher deductible policies might seem relatively cheap until you need to file a claim, then find out you the coverage was not too good and get paid very little in the repair or replacement. Likewise, one might feel like monthly costs are high with a low deductible, but could save a lot in the end when that claim is paid out.
Hail and Wind Deductibles are usually a separate deducible in your policy.
Low Deductible: $1000-$2500 is considered a low deductible.
High Deductible: Insurance companies are increasingly switching to 1% to 2% of the home value for deducible amount. These are generally higher deductibles as the average home value rises in the metro. These are usually $5,000-$10,000 on average.
We typically recommend getting a policy will good roof coverage in MN due to the high cost of roof replacement and high frequency of hail and other storm damage we receive.
An ideal policy to have a roof replaced with the lowest cost to you in the event of a disaster will be RCV, have many endorsements and how a low deductible. Make sure to educate yourself and read the fine print in your policy!