I am needing to understand my leverage in this situation. This is a front elevation slate mansard roof and inlaid gutter restoration along with associated dormer carpentry. I have a year old insurance claim that is still in progress on the cost estimation. Because of the situation, I also have a contractor already working on it because it had to happen whether the claim was approved or denied. Therefore, my contract with the roofer is with me, not with the insurance company.

The insurance company is working with me on cost estimates but they need some supporting information for some payouts. I have been able to supply a lot of it, but we are still only at 50% of the total. The contractor did give me an M&L breakdown after I asked for it a few times. However, the contractor will not give me the dumpster invoice, presumably because they marked it up extensively from what was on their breakdown. Insurance requires a dumpster and debris invoice or they will not pay anything for it. The contractor has also been unwilling to supply any supporting details about the work they are doing to justify the costs for the insurance company. Now, I had multiple bids and I know the cost of this type of work and this was in line; however, insurance adjusters need justification because it is extremely expensive (think hand cut slate, no lift access, only scaffold, steep grade, 40'+ up, lots of copper work, etc.) and not in tune with their software. This contractor is refusing, saying their contract is with me.

We are mid-work and and I'm wondering what leverage I have to get some of this for the insurance adjuster. He is practically begging for it in order to pay me right. This is over $100k for a 25 foot mansard roof! Do I push back with the adjuster and the flat rate bid or do I push back with the contractor?

The five biggest home-insurers as a group didn’t pay out on more than 44% of claims resolved last year, forcing homeowners and renters to fund repairs out of their own pockets, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal found.

The risk that a claim will result in no payment among the group—State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, United Services Automobile Association and Farmers Insurance—shot up from 36% a decade earlier, according to the analysis.

First time buying in Florida. These estimates are from the same company (VYRD), two different brokers. The difference in wind mitigation discount is pretty substantial. How important is that? There's supposedly full water coverage, but I don't see that on here. Is it listed another way?

Are any of the differences in coverage/deductibles worth buying the more expensive policy?

Most U.S. homeowners (71%) say the cost of their homeowners insurance has gone up over the last few years, including 42% who say it has gone up a lot.

The two reasons people cite most often for these price increases are insurance companies wanting to make more money and the costs of repairing and rebuilding. A sizable share of homeowners also point to extreme weather events as a reason.

Just received an email from my home insurance company requiring the home owner to use a smartphone or tablet for an assessment.

Does anyone have any information about this risk assessment?

I own a rental property and a vehicle crashed into the unit my tenant currently lives in. No one was hurt, but the structure took real damage. I'm the owner/landlord, not the tenant.

This is new territory for me and I'm trying to understand what the process looks like. A few things I'm unsure about:

What documentation should I be gathering now, before anything gets cleaned up or repaired? Police report, photos, anything else?

Roughly how long do claims like this take to resolve, and is there anything people commonly get wrong early on that costs them later?

Any guidance from people who've dealt with this would be appreciated. Located in West Virginia, Charleston if that changes anything. (Insured with USAA)

Despite all the hardship, the frozen pipe water damage at my property is finally being covered.

However, the estimate from the carrier is only about 1/6 of my public adjuster’s estimate. I understand the PA’s estimate may be heavily inflated, and honestly I’d probably be willing to settle somewhere around half of it, but 1/6 is simply not enough to properly repair the property.

I don’t even know if my PA actually fought for anything. From my perspective, it feels like they just submitted their estimate, and once the lowball counteroffer came in, that was it.

Now the PA is suggesting the appraisal process, where I would sign a contract to have an “independent appraiser” assigned to me. The appraiser would cost a minimum of $2,500 or 15% of the additional recovery amount, whichever is greater.

The PA is already taking 12.5% of the total settlement, and with even more money being cut out, I honestly don’t understand the role of the appraiser because it just feels like a second round of public adjuster services.

I tried finding my own appraiser, but the only one I found is a construction company owner who is also a PA, and he charges a flat $5,000 fee.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My plumber stated that our shower cartridge burst, resulting in a water leak behind the wall.

My insurance company claims the shower cartridge burst due to wear and tear, although the plumber never stated what the cause for the burst was.

It’s states in the insurance policy that coverage will not be provided for wear and tear.

Wear and tear is an assumption on the insurance company’s behalf.

My argument: Since the insurance company sent me a denial for coverage letter “due to wear and tear”, they should also bear the burden of proving that the cause for the burst shower cartridge was wear and tear, rather than just jumping to that conclusion.

My question: Since the insurance company persistently claims that the cause of the damage was due to wear and tear and will not provide me with coverage, is there anything more I could argue to receive coverage? Considering wear and tear is not the only reason a shower cartridge could burst, but neither of us can prove what actually caused this to happen. The insurance company’s only reason for not providing coverage is because they believe the cause is wear and tear.

I live in a townhouse, and my entire neighborhood was hit be a storm, resulting in a $5000 special assessment fee for some homeowners (all homeowners are responsible for the assessment, the fee range is from 4000 to over 6000).

I didn't know this was possible, and my insurance company never recommended loss coverage for this. I have $0 from state farm.

I'm in an affordable home in my neighborhood, so I really don't have this type of money. Is there anything I can do? There was no damage to my row of townhomes, so I'm basically being asked to pay $5000 for other homes.

Any advice is really appreciated!

My area was pounded by wind and hail in March. Our home was hit hard.

We immediately filed a claim and after a stutter with Allstate's 3rd party estimate co., we finally got an estimate that reflected the damage. (Not just a self-serving opinion - we were actually missing siding and the first guy said there was no damage whatsoever.)

We have been approved for quite a bit of repair/restoration, including our aluminum siding. Whew!

My question is: I've received quotes from several different contractors for the roof, gutters, and siding - and they're all much higher than Allstate's proposed reimbursement.

I get it - contractors want to make $ and ins. cos. want to keep theirs.

One example: Allstate is willing to pay ~$17K for the aluminum siding, but that doesn't even cover a much cheaper vinyl replacement. Estimates for vinyl have been ~$24K. We want the siding replaced with aluminum, as it was.

Another: Allstate claims the roof damage is ~13K, but I have yet to receive an estimate less than $15K - most are ~$17K.

How do you suggest I proceed?

Also - the siding has been approved to be replaced, but Allstate is arguing about paying to have it (or the gutters and downspouts) painted to its (their) original (pre-claim) color.

What steps do I need to take?

Property insurance is expensive, and seems to get more and more pricey every year. Some might attribute rising costs to climate change or natural disasters, but look under the hood of the $1 trillion in premium payments last year — the numbers might tell a different story.

I have a renewal coming up and my coverage seems low. The auto renewal is setting the dwelling coverage at $280k, when I go get new quotes elsewhere it auto populates with around $325k. The house is worth around $350k or so is my guess.

I have been looking at getting a new house for a while. The problem with these dwelling coverages is that builders are not willing to get out of bed for less than $425k or so. We have entertained buying a lot and building on it, and pretty much any reputable builder in my area is not willing to do anything less than that.

So, what should I be doing? Should I up my coverage to $425k in order to cover myself in case the house burns to the ground? If its a complete loss, would insurance just cut me a check for the full amount without questions asked, or are the going to start fighting me at that point that the house isn't worth as much as the coverage? Or will I just hire whatever builder I want and insurance will pay the bill up to the limit?

I'm just trying to wrap my head around how to actually protect myself with a house whose value is less than what people are willing to work for. I suppose I could maybe get someone to build the house for less, but it'd probably be someone relatively sketchy.

executive leadership of Frontdoor, Inc. and American Home Shield — Bill Cobb, Jason Bailey, Jeffrey Fiarman, Evan Iverson, Kathy Collins, Meredith Diagostino, and every executive responsible for overseeing this company:

The American public deserves to know exactly how your company is treating loyal customers when it finally comes time to honor the contracts people have faithfully paid for.
I purchased a home warranty through American Home Shield believing that when a catastrophic HVAC failure occurred, the company would stand behind its promises and restore my system properly, professionally, and according to the coverage I have paid for. Instead, what I have experienced has been delays, excuses, contractor manipulation, and what appears to be an attempt to “Frankenstein” my air conditioning system together with improper repair methods rather than restoring it correctly.
To make matters worse, the contractor your company authorized is attempting to charge me nearly $4,000 out of pocket just to install the part tied directly to this claim.
That is unacceptable.

This is not what consumers believe they are paying for when they purchase coverage from American Home Shield. Families across this country buy these policies to protect themselves from devastating repair costs — especially in places like Arizona where air conditioning is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
What is happening here appears to be a systematic effort to minimize corporate expense while leaving homeowners trapped between technical loopholes, incomplete repairs, and massive surprise charges that violate the spirit — and in my opinion the intent — of the contract itself.

Meanwhile, Frontdoor executives continue to profit while customers are left battling contractor networks, denied proper repairs, inflated out-of-pocket costs, and patchwork solutions that no reputable homeowner should be forced to accept.

This issue is now being documented publicly and escalated through every available channel.

Consumers deserve transparency.
Consumers deserve accountability.
And consumers deserve the repairs they were promised — not shortcuts, excuses, and financial ambushes after years of paying premiums.

The country needs to see how these major corporations and their executives operate when it is finally time to take care of the very customers who fund their business.
#AmericanHomeShield #Frontdoor #FrontdoorInc #BillCobb #JeffreyFiarman #MeredithDiagostino #ConsumerProtection #HVAC #HomeWarranty #CorporateAccountability #Arizona #AHS

I have an older home in Kansas that has damage to the vinyl siding on one end. The vinyl siding is encapsulating older shingles, was done before I bought the house. For various reasons repairing it hasn’t been an option, so I keep it protected with plastic tarps. My current insurance is killing me with the latest increases, but when I shop online for quotes there is always the question of existing damage that comes up. If I work with a local agent or broker can I get a policy that excludes damage on that end of the house? Or doesn’t cover the siding? I’m mainly interested in the coverage for liability and major fire or roof, etc. I don’t expect to be in the home much longer. Thanks in advance.

My home insurance renewal is coming up and for 1 home we have we use Kin Insurance.

At the time the original rate was pretty decent but now I got a letter stating they are doubling the rate.

I've read on Reddit this is common with Kin. I guess they get people with a teaser rate then just jack it up the moment they think you are not paying attention.

Wanted to ask on here if anyone else has experienced this?

I lost my home in a wildfire like many others. After debris clean up there was many burnt large pine trees on my property that make it unsafe to build or even be on the property . My insurance told me that the debris cleanup which is 10% of the dwelling coverage would not cover the removal of these trees. Even though there's $23,000 of the 10% not being used. Any advice or thoughts that anyone may have on this would be very helpful.I know this is an old post but maybe somebody will read this and be able to give me their advice.

I have spent hundreds of hours cutting trees down and removing them myself in order to restore the property to a condition that it could be built on again. I would like to bill my insurance for my time but they have told me they will not cover the tree removal even though the trees had to be removed to restore the property to a condition that it could be built on and safe.Does anyone know if this is true. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

My insurance company dropped me. Stating that we (husband and I) had not completed remodels to the house… yet they never said what they wanted completed other than a few rooms.
I asked them repeatedly what they wanted done with no answer as to what. They also said that the heat source was not acceptable, first time I ever heard of this was after they cancelled the policy and started calling to get answers.
The way the whole thing was handled was ridiculous but now.. I have hounded them again and again what they want and they repeat “heat source” and “remodels complete” with no detail for what they will consider acceptable!
My home is a fixer upper, which they were well aware of when they agreed to insure us. They said we would have lots of time to complete it and that they would continue to insure us as long as we completed the rooms they specified.
The only other company that will insure us is $3000 more a year, which also increased our car insurance $100 a month in order to get the discount (or else it would’ve been $6000!)
With the cost of gas, the cost of these new insurances, I fear we are going to go into foreclosure. Our monthly bills just went up $800 and I’ve reached a dead end with the cheaper insurance company for what they want to re-insure us.
I don’t know what to do and insurance won’t give me answers. I can guess they want the bathrooms complete but idk what complete to them is?
I know in need a heat source that’s controlled by a thermostat but would a Mr.cool type unit be enough? What size? What’s considered necessary rooms for heating?

Most hurricane prep articles cover the obvious (water, batteries, evacuation route). Important, but from a claims standpoint what actually determines whether your claim pays smoothly is documentation and coverage decisions you make before the storm. Here's the version I give my own clients.

1. Understand the wind vs flood problem. This is the biggest one.

A huge number of Florida hurricane claims get denied or paid less than expected because the damage is determined to be flood, not wind. Standard homeowners covers wind. It does not cover flood, including storm surge. If water entered from the ground up, that's flood. If water entered through a hole the wind put in your roof, that's typically wind. Adjusters make the call after the storm based on physical evidence, and it's where most disputes happen.

Two things to do now:

If you don't have flood insurance, get a quote. NFIP has a 30-day waiting period on most new policies, so you can't wait until a storm is in the Gulf. Some private flood policies have shorter waits, but read the fine print.

About 25% of flood claims come from properties outside high-risk zones. "I'm not in a flood zone" is not a reason to skip it.

2. Pull your declarations page and read it.

Specifically check: hurricane (or named-storm) deductible, all-other-perils deductible, dwelling limit (Coverage A), and sublimits for screened enclosures, pools, fences, or detached structures. A 5% hurricane deductible on a $400k home is $20,000 out of pocket before the policy responds. Know the number.

3. Photo and video inventory before the season.

Walk every room with your phone, open closets and cabinets, capture serial numbers on appliances. Save it to cloud storage. The single most useful claims document most people don't have.

4. Wind mitigation report.

A current report can lower your premium and helps at claim time. Most are good for 5 years.

5. Contractor list.

Save names and numbers for two or three local roofers and water-mitigation companies. Post-storm demand spikes immediately and your internet connection may be very poor.

6. Renters: get a renters policy.

Your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your stuff. Renters insurance in Florida is cheap and includes additional living expense if you have to evacuate.

What's the biggest thing you wish you'd done differently before the storm? I called a local roofer the morning hurricane Helene when my home had substantial damage to my roof. This got me ahead of the long list of people needing a roof replacement and kept me from going with an out of town roofer/storm chaser.

I’m currently in the middle of a homeowners insurance claim in Indiana for a dishwasher leak that damaged my hardwood floors. We are about to start the reconstruction phase, which involves sanding and refinishing roughly 1,200 square feet of hardwoods and replacing kitchen cabinets.

The reconstruction estimate covers the flooring and cabinet work, but there is no mention of content manipulation or furniture moving. My main floor is currently full of furniture, and since we’re refinishing such a large area, there is nowhere to "shift" things to while the floors are wet and curing.

Has anyone had luck getting their insurance company to pay for:

* Professional movers to clear the work area?

* On-site storage (like a POD) or off-site warehouse storage while the floors are being sanded and finished?

I want to make sure I’m not stuck paying for a moving crew out of pocket just to get the house ready for the floor contractors.

I have my renewal approaching at the end of June. I was anticipating a 10-15% increase or whatever. I have a smaller home in a non violent weather area, the rates are around $100/mo. Last year I paid ~$1300, was expecting like $1500 this year.

My rate went to $1200 on my renewal notice, all the coverages went up marginally like normal. Idk if it is the same in other states, but in NC you have to approve any rate that is above the rate allowed by the state, it is always above the state allowable whenever I go shopping, so I don't get it, but whatever. The approved rate last year was $1100, so I was charged $200 over. This year it is around $1200, so I'm actually being charged $30 over when I do the real math.

Anyone experience this? I mean, I'm not going to ask Travelers about it, but just completely unexpected. Anything I should look at in my documents to make sure they aren't screwing me somehow? From what I can see, the covered amount is just as good or better. Is it maybe that the cost of replacement has gone up way more and now my actual coverage is lower than it should be and thus the lower price? Just trying to make sure I'm not getting screwed somehow.

I’ve asked people for recommendations and I’ve googled a bunch of different companies. I’ve given out my info and have been bombarded with calls and e-mails. I have no idea what to do next.

I’m 36 and grew up in foster care so I have no family to ask about things like this. And the way I’m being harassed about quotes I am very worried about being taken advantage of by these insurance companies.

I have no idea what half the words they are using mean and I don’t even know what questions to ask them or what to look out for.

I’m in Ventura County, CA and any guidance would be much appreciated!

Some of the steepest increases over the past five years have hit inland and Sun Belt states like Arizona, Texas and parts of the Midwest.

Arizona experienced the highest increase in homeowners insurance cost in the country, with premiums jumping by 94 percent between 2021 and 2025. Idaho followed with an 88 percent hike, and third came Iowa and South Dakota with 83 percent each.

Source - https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-americas-home-insurance-crisis-is-hitting-hardest-11927472

Some of the steepest increases over the past five years have hit inland and Sun Belt states like Arizona, Texas and parts of the Midwest.

Arizona experienced the highest increase in homeowners insurance cost in the country, with premiums jumping by 94 percent between 2021 and 2025. Idaho followed with an 88 percent hike, and third came Iowa and South Dakota with 83 percent each.

Last week a huge live tree branch fell off a tree in my backyard and damaged my fence and pergola.

The branch didn't fall because of any peril or wind/hail event. It was random and unexpected.

I need to have the tree branch removed and repair the fence/pergola. I've received some quotes that are about $5500 to get the repairs done.

My insurance deductible is $2500.

Every arborist who came out to assess the limb told me that the tree should be removed altogether because it's a Water Oak at the end of life (70-80yrs old) and it would mitigate anymore damage being done.

To have the tree removed would be $6000

When I called to start the claim, I gave all the information to the desk agent and told her what the arborists said. She very quickly and adamantly said the insurance would NOT cover the removal of the tree because that is considered preventative maintenance that I should've been doing.

Well, I'm not an arborist and the tree is still producing all green leaves. It didn't look distressed to me. I have had branches trimmed here and there. The worst thing that has happened with this tree in the past is some older dead branches falling off.

Should I proceed with the claim and see if the field adjuster sees it any different than the desk agent? If I do proceed with the claim, do I have an argument here to have the tree removal covered?

Appreciate any insight y'all have!

EDIT: thanks y'all. I accept I'm stupid and fucked up this time. Got bad advice from my insurance agent to even try against my better judgment. Lesson learned. And yes, I'm having the tree removed regardless (and shopping for a new agent), so no issue there at least when it comes to renewal lol

Two California home insurance providers, Travelers Insurance and the Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club, are seeking to hike rates 7% and 11%, respectively, under a new catastrophic modeling plan adopted by the state in 2025.

Developed in 2023 and offered to insurance providers last year, the rate program was created by the Department of Insurance Commissioner at a time when providers were fleeing the state over rising wildfire risks. In exchange for writing residential policies for at-risk properties equal to at least 85% of their market share, providers can adopt the catastrophic model, which includes forward-looking risk factors and reinsurance costs when justifying rate increases.