To the last two posts above, saw a guy on CNN or Weather Channel, cannot recall which, but he was saying one of the biggest issues in Florida is how insurance no longer insures roofs that are older than ten years. He was wading through knee deep waters and pointing out all these houses with damaged roofs and flooded houses how most could not get insurance based on age of home and will now be homeless and having lost everything. I think the state should be on the hook for this.
Long read and slightly off topic.
On this point I unfortunately have some experience. There are 2 main issues from my perspective, first is that roof replacements are the new windshield replacement. Unscrupulous roofers are going around submitting fake evidence to insurers to get houses new roofs, and they are over quoting and leading to 2nd issue, the work quality is abysmal. So not only are insurers paying out for new roofs that aren't needed, they are paying again for roofs that were repairs and won't hold up.
After Irma we had both roofs done (my house and daughter house). Both had issues but I'll stick with mine. I had damage and it actually did need replaced and company in Brandon called Shinglemasters came out. They did the usual quote and sent it to me and I sent it back saying instead of estimate plus overages I wanted an all in quote which included overages. We agreed on verbiage and I signed. This company had a lot of "good reviews".
- This was the worst roofing job I ever saw, wrong shingles, incorrect install, wrong nails, wrong nail pattern, didn't do moisture barrier, wood repairs with untreated wood, flashing not installed, gutters not replaced and chimney bracing not replaced
- They had the city in their back pocket and it was "approved". If I hadn't checked, I'd have been left with a looming disaster next hurricane.
- When I called them back and said it was BS they immediately handed me off to their lawyer and threatened to sue me if I complained or made any public statements
- I got the head of code standards for Tampa to come, he walked the roof himself and came up with a 5 page report on the disaster. The city went back on certification and forced them to redo it
- They they sued me for the redo and put a lien on my house
- I retained a lawyer and this because a nightmare of a year of back and forth. The city wouldnt stand behind the redo report because the person that wrote it was thretened with legal action directly, not the city. This is important, they do this to get people to not support you.
- After we fought and won the on redo cost fee they then sued me for "overages" on labor and material on the first install. My contract specifically stated it was an all in fee. The case dragged on and the city didn't want to be involved and in the end I had to settle by paying some dumb fee like $500 to get them to walk away. At no point was the city or the judge assigned even interested in helping me.
- They tried to get me to sign an nda and I refused.
- My insurer actually thanked me for the effort I put into the contract initially because it saved them a lot of money. When they also sent me the quote they received it was far more expensive that the one they sent me, so they tried to make money off me, the insurer by inflating the price, and saving money by doing a poor job
- When they finished the redo they sprinkled nails all over my drive ending up in 3 flats between our 2 cars.
If I had not fought it, I'd have ended up with a bad roof. When I did complain they tried to bully us into submission. How many roofs out there are in a shocking state with these roofers that are taking advantage of a lack of statewide control and folks who don't realise a certificate is worthless?. And so here we are, a desperate insurance crisis driven by fake roof claims and poor work. There is literally no consumer protection worth talking about. I haven't even gotten to the lawsuit on the other house shoddy instal that turned out didn't have a permit issued to get it done.
It was after this experience I ended up taking the state home inspection license. I don't work as home inspector (though I am licensed and insured as one) since I work IT and a wanna be airline pilot, but the knowledge really helps me in fights after the roof one. I do check for friends on quality of work as a favor. Really useful.