wrote in
:

On 03 May 2011 12:06:16 GMT, Han wrote:

(ms960) wrote in
groups.com:

responding to
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...surance-Claim-
us e-it-to-repair-roof-632743-.htm ms960 wrote:
A little more details, for those who asked:



I had a "storm-chaser" company come out and do an assessment of the
roof, and claimed there was all kinds of hail damage to the roof.
They then met with the insurance adjuster. After which, the
adjuster denied there was hail damage anywhere to the house and flat
out denied my claim.

I then hired a respected company come out and perform their own
assessment, along with photos, estimates, and sketch-ups. I pressed
the issue with the insurance company, so they hired a structural
engineer to do a reassessment. The structural engineer meet with
this second company and found hail damage to the siding, but not the
roof. The insurance company paid the claim for the siding to be
repaired, but obviously nothing for the roof.

I really could care less about my siding. As I said, it's mostly
cosmetic, and my house has a brick front, so it's not very visible.
The roof, on the other hand, from everyone's assessments, is shot.
It's a 30- yr old roof and desperately in need of replacement, but
without any help from the insurance company, it's going to be
expensive.

So that's the impetus for my first question -- can I use the money
from the insurance company that was for the siding instead for the
roof? I've heard from a lot of people, here included, and there
doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer either way.

Thanks again!

As has been said here before, the money is yours now to be used as you
see fit. For the next claim on damage to your home, the insurance
company will look at what you did with the proceeds of this claim.

If your car gets rear-ended, and the insurance company pays for the
damage to the rear end of the car, you can use the money to buy a new
motorcycle. But if you get another accident with the car, say a
sidewswipe, the insurance company will see what you did with the
previous claim, and it will be a corrupt or stupid adjuster who says
that the sideswipe caused the damage to the rear of the car.

I think the insurance company is saying that you have a roof that's at
the end of its life. Normal maintenance requires replacement. There
is no hail damage of any consequence since the roof was shot before
the hail. Unless you make new dormers or otherwise remodel (when the
new roof would be an "improvement", taxwise), the new roof is an out
of pocket expense.
That may be the way it works in the USA, but here in Canada they pay
for the authourized repairs unless they give you a "cash settlement".

In the case of a car, the car is not insurable untill the repairs are
done (third party liability, possibly, but collision or comprehensive,
no way) A car that gets "paid out" is generally branded as a "total"
and requires an extensive inspection to put it back on the road and
have it insured.

You COULD be opening yourself up to charges having the insurance
company pay for one thing while getting another - consult with a legal
professional or insurance professional in your state.

Personally I have gone the opposite route. Damage (self-inflicted) on
the car went unrepaired and a new insurnce company now knows the
condition of the car. No money changed hands at any point. But I think
your comments were directed more at the OP.

--
Best regards
Han
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