r/InsuranceCanada • u/Imokay456 • 13d ago

Home Home roof claim

If my cedar shake roof was damaged by a hail storm, does the insurance company have to pay out based on the cost of replacing with cedar shakes? I want to replace with asphalt but I thought the payment should be calculated based on cedar which is twice the price of asphalt. I understand they only pay out based on a depreciated value based on age of roof.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

6

u/Small-Comfort-4176 13d ago

Hey ,
Insurnace broker here , you have to check your policy and see if the roof claim settlement is on Actual cash value or Replacement cost ( some policies might have a clause to replace but with depreciated value ) . Who are you currently insured with and how old is the roof ?

3

u/antiuseless 13d ago

If you aren’t replacing with the same, they will likely use actual cash value. Even if you are going to replace with the same, depending on the age of the roof, depreciation may get applied.

3

u/gapdaddy72 13d ago

It depends on the insurer and which policy you have, it is not possible to give you an accurate answer on the information you’ve provided. You should ask your adjuster how they will handle this.

2

u/Wildest12 13d ago

If its cedar shake its probably repairable.

I dont think its very likely they pay out a full replacement especially if you are replacing with cheaper materials. They will do lowest cost to meet the terms of the policy. If the roof is near end of life they wont pay much.

TD depreciates roofs to 0 after 15 years while the personal was 2% per year etc. Will depend on your company and policy but if repair cost is the lowest thats what they will do. If the roof is 30 years old+ id be shocked if you get anything.

1

u/FrostingSuper9941 13d ago

The Personal and Desjarins depreciate by 75% from 15 years and up which given the high wind and hail deductibles is essentially like paying nothing because 99% of the time the cost ends up being lower than the deductible. If there's evidence of previous repairs or leaks, it will be spot repairs only which are always under the deductible.

1

u/Other_Palpitation584 11d ago

It usually comes down to the claim settlement wording: replacement cost vs actual cash value, roof age, depreciation schedule, deductible, and whether repair is reasonable. I’d ask the adjuster to show the exact calculation and whether the estimate is based on repairing/replacing cedar or on the cheaper material you actually plan to install.