Evolution of the Roof Risk Part 1: the Roof Problem

By HOLLY TACHOVSKY, CEO and JOSEPH MASTERS EMISON, CTO/BuildFax | April 22, 2013

  • April 25, 2013 at 8:40 pm
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    Thank you Holly and Joe. Your white paper may answer all the questions, and tie up the lose ends nicely, but only time (as in more decades likely) will tell if insurers are able to adapt.

    From my forty-four year view of it close up, I’ve seen the industry
    go from overly conservative, inflexible, and unresponsive to consumer demands, to conservative, far more flexible, and still pretty much unresponsive to consumer demands exclusive of fluff, frills, and pricing.

    When I began my career in 1970, the norm was ACV settlement, replacement cost – the new thing hadn’t taken over yet. It made perfect sense that a used up roof should be compensated for based on the remaining useful life when it was blown off. It also made sense to path an old roof. When replacement cost became dominant
    it seemed like consumers figured why should we buy a new roof if we can just wait for a claim on the old roof? Like most insurer created problems, it’s about marketing, not accuarial rate making.

    Storm chasing crooks? CA has a CSLB so anyone can go online to confirm a contractor’s license and bond info. Why not take that national? Is getting everyone coordinated un-American?

    Looking at the loss ratio, and time to recover on paid claim amounts is the wrong focus. I’d say customers need to be treated with respect, and compassion while protecting the insurer’s rights to inspect, and do forensic work needed for successful subrogation where appropriate. Keeping customer happy will tend to pay off, where chasing them away, gains us nothing.

  • September 9, 2016 at 12:12 pm
    sheri lin lamoureux says:
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    Hello: During the application process, if the homeowner doesn’t know the age of their roof, what is the protocol for an insurance agent to determine if the roof is over 20 years of age (ACV) or under 20 years of age (Replacement value) Is the agent responsible for making sure that there is a roof age determination or if the homeowner doesn’t know, do they leave this information blank on the application, therefore, defaulting to an ACV policy?
    Thank you



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