Hail??s

[fishin58]

We recently got hail on our steel siding and shingles..we were already looking at remodeling a portion of our house. So can we set aside the insurance money for the future remodel?

[Wanderer]

You should ask your Agent that question. Policies vary.

I've heard from a friend who sells exterior materials the insurance companies have been paying settlements based on their valuation of the loss MINUS depreciation. You can recover the depreciated amount by submitting receipts for the work being done.

So in your case you could get money and sit on it but if you don't make the covered repairs in a pre-determined time frame, you may not get all of the costs covered.

I have a couple commercial claims open right now and that's exactly how it's working for those.

[fishin58]

The rep is coming tomorrow to look at it, I guess I just wanted all the info I could gather before I see him. Thanks for the response. We have never filed a claim.

[ozzie]

Wanderer is spot on with his information...you will also want to contact your mortgage company and ask them how you go about working with them on your claim as they have a big say in how the money is distributed.

[BoxMN]

When we had similar thing happen in the past, the insurance company didn't care "how" we spent the money, as long as the damage they are covering got fixed - those were the claims guy's exact words.

For example, my home siding was damaged, but we had brick on part of house (old house) - I removed the old brick, installed vinyl siding instead of the alum siding I had, and wrapped old window trim in alum. The insurance company just wanted to know the problem was "fixed" and the mortgage company also had to approve - that was Wells and it was pretty simple.

I didn't make any money off of it, but had my house "fixed" in a better way for me and the house, so it was a win-win for everybody.

Also if you were planning on doing anything about windows (if old house) now would be the perfect time to do so, even though it would be more $$ out of your pocket, it will be cheaper and you could do it all at once and possibly with better material. Good luck.

[hartner62]

Most likely they will give you a check for actual cash value (acv) of the damaged siding etc..and if you submit receipts or a signed contract to have the work completed they will give you another check for the replacement cost value (rcv). Most companies require you to complete the work in 2 years to recover the rcv.

[dougger222]

When we had similar thing happen in the past, the insurance company didn't care "how" we spent the money, as long as the damage they are covering got fixed - those were the claims guy's exact words.

For example, my home siding was damaged, but we had brick on part of house (old house) - I removed the old brick, installed vinyl siding instead of the alum siding I had, and wrapped old window trim in alum. The insurance company just wanted to know the problem was "fixed" and the mortgage company also had to approve - that was Wells and it was pretty simple.

I didn't make any money off of it, but had my house "fixed" in a better way for me and the house, so it was a win-win for everybody.

Also if you were planning on doing anything about windows (if old house) now would be the perfect time to do so, even though it would be more $$ out of your pocket, it will be cheaper and you could do it all at once and possibly with better material. Good luck.

There have been a few storm chasing companies in MN who have gotten in huge trouble in the past for removing aluminum siding and putting on vinyl.

On the jobs we sell with aluminum siding we upgrade to steel siding which IMO is the only way to go. We do have a customer now with 1995 aluminum siding who's getting the whole house wrapped who wants to go with polar wall. Before we pull the trigger going to ask the carrier if that's ok. The product costs more and the insured is planning to pay out of pocket for the upgrade.

[chad austin]

There have been a few storm chasing companies in MN who have gotten in huge trouble in the past for removing aluminum siding and putting on vinyl.

There is nothing wrong with going from aluminum to vinyl. I assume the restoration company didn't figure out what the price difference was between the two and kept all the money for the aluminum even though they put vinyl on.

[BoxMN]

There is nothing wrong with going from aluminum to vinyl. I assume the restoration company didn't figure out what the price difference was between the two and kept all the money for the aluminum even though they put vinyl on.

In my case, I wanted to do that, so that I could changed the color AND get my garage (which was not damaged) resided as well. I asked the insurance if that was okay, and that is what they told me - as long as the problem is fixed and comes in under their price, or that I pay the difference they don't care. Wasn't a storm chaser, was a trap-shooting buddy of mine that did it