American’s spend a lot of money on insurance. We may never know exactly how much, but no matter what this number is, we expect our insurance company to cover our losses whenever they occur. Because Iron River Construction is in the MN roofing and home improvement business, we need to deal with insurance companies fairly often. Depending on who you have, collecting a claim can be very frustrating to say the least.
There are basically two types of insurance claims offices;
- The independent insurance operator, and
- The regional representative of a national chain.
The difference between these two is like night and day. The region representative is usually on a salary, and is paid to keep his claims low, in order to save the company money. The independent insurance representative is paid on commission, and is motivated to make claims high. In the end, it is the independent insurance representative that will serve you better if you should ever have any serious damage.
The next thing to consider about your property insurance is what your deductibles are. This is the amount of money that you need to pay out of pocket first, before the insurance pays a claim. Usually between $100 and $1,000, this is the amount that you need to pay for yourself, before any extensive repairs begin.
Lastly, another important feature to consider is the extent of work that the insurance company will cover. Some policies will require that you clean up after a bad storm, and agree to only repair the actual storm damage. In reality, this means that if a tree falls on your home, you will need to remove the tree before they will agree to repair it. Many homeowners will agree to this line item thinking they are saving some money in the long run, but if you ever need this service, you will be so glad you have it. Just take a look around your property, and see if there are any large trees or something that might fall on your property, if you can’t move it yourself than don’t agree to these terms.
The best thing you can do when dealing with your insurance company is to use a roofing contractor that will deal with them for you. At Iron River, we have lots of experience at this, and will be able to streamline your repairs so that you won’t have to. Give us a call to find out more. 952-442-1762
