California

What You Should Know About Roof Exclusions

People that own their own homes often assume that everything is protected under their homeowner’s insurance policy. This is not always the case, however. There are cases in which people are dismayed to find out that exclusions in their policy prevented their homes being entirely insured. One such exclusion is known as a roof exclusion. It excludes roofs from coverage and is present in many homeowners’ policies. Go over your own contract carefully when you buy a home to see what its policy on roofing is, and talk to your insurance agent about it.

Roofs are an integral part of the homes we inhabit, of course. What would life be like without one? In most policies roofs are covered partially, and the agreements exclude certain things. These commonly include things like service charges for normal maintenance. Leaks are usually taken care of, but the cost of replacing the whole roof isn’t. Since you’re more than likely to have to replace your roof at some point, check your homeowner’s policy carefully. If you conduct repairs on it because of defects like leaks, remember that they will probably only receive coverage if they are done with materials and parts of the same value as the roof you currently have. You won’t be able to cover any expensive upgrades, in other words.

Something else to keep in mind when looking through your policy is that there might be exclusions for particular kinds of roofing materials. For instance, some companies won’t offer coverage for slate, or cedar shake roofs. If you’re intending to have your roof’s maintenance and repairs covered under your homeowner’s policy, make sure to check what kinds might be excluded. This is especially important if you have a roof constructed out of a novel or hard to get material.

The age of your roof and the way it is layered can also be a factor in determining whether or not it is covered under your policy or excluded. For instance, it’s fairly common for roofs that are older than 10 to 20 years not to be eligible for insurance. Usually, older roofs get replaced at some point. The problem is, it might be extremely costly to replace your entire roof by removing and re-shingling the entire thing. It’s for this reason that people sometimes add an additional layer of shingles to their roofs when it comes time to re-do them. It’s certainly cheaper than tearing off the whole roof. Under many insurance policies, however, roofs with more than a single layer are excluded. In other cases, the company insuring the house will set the limit at two layers.

Finally, something else you should have in mind when going through all the details of your homeowner’s insurance: the coverage amount. Typically, this is determined on a per-square basis. This can place limits on the amount of money that can be spent, and the amount that will be covered. If you get a good rate, you’ll be able to maintain your roof properly and keep it looking great.