Important info Re your Insurance...

[Storm Contractor]

Hi Everyone,

As a storm contractor, I have been reading all of the info here for a couple of years now to get some advance recon on were I would be deploying my teams and it occurred to me as we look down the nose of yet another storm that there are some important changes in the building code that you need to be informed of. I will try to keep this easy to follow.

Insurance policies are very specific when it comes to what you are covered for and more importantly NOT covered for. There is a "rider" coverage that is an option on your homeowners policy that covers "the cost of repairs associated with changes in building codes” For example the building code statewide now requires extra waterproofing measures when you replace your roof, this is NOT optional, if you put a new roof on you will be required to install it with these new measures to pass inspection.

This is the important part...If you do not have the code compliance rider (that is a general term, your agent may call it something other than code compliance rider) anyway, if you do not have that option coverage you will have to pay for the EXTRA charges from the roofing contractor out of your pocket. This is one of several changes that are required by the new code. If you are in an area that may be impacted you need to make sure of this coverage. It might be too late to add depending on where you are but take it from the guy you would pay to do the repairs YOU WANT THAT COVERAGE. It will save you 2000 to 3000 on just the roof repairs.

The other important coverage is National Flood Insurance... I know it seems silly, but if your home takes a direct hit from a hurricane and the damage is caused by flood not wind, your "wind" coverage company will tell you "sorry" call FEMA. YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT!! Get the flood, I know it is tough to think about spending more money on insurance than we already do but I have dealt with dozens of customers this year alone, in the southeast US that got peanuts from FEMA and could not rebuild or renovate there home. I don't know who felt worse them or me. Your homeowners insurance is YOUR responsibility not your mortgage company or your insurance agent. If the time ever comes that you need it and the coverage is not there NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE CARE! If you do not understand the terminology in your policy, do not feel bad, I am in the business of reading those policies and they are still very perplexing sometimes (I think they like it that way. Go see your agent, ask that agent these questions:

1 If my home gets damaged and requires code compliance upgrades am I covered?
2 If I get flooded due to tidal surge am I covered?

Those 2 questions can save you more grief than I could explain in 2 threads. If you have questions you can post them here and I will try to answer them for you. I hope this is not out of line, I felt compelled to try and give all of you some of my knowledge since I have been secretly using yours for all this time.

Hope that is helpful!
Rich

[karenfromheaven]

Hey Rich, thank you for an informative post. Could you elaborate on the extra waterproofing requirement? Does that mean like double layers of roofing felt under the shingles? In your experience, how helpful will the requirement be for homeowners in a storm?

Karen

[Storm Contractor]

Karen,

Funny you asked the question, I just moved my entire operation to Panama City on August 1st to be more centrally located in the southeastern US and my wife's name is Karen! Hi neighbor! Here are the answers....

There are two areas of major code change that are new requirements:

The first is the most confusing for everyone as it is only required if your home has an insured value of $300,000 or more AND was built prior to 2001 AND is in a wind born debris zone as categorized by the building code. If you have no insurance or cannot provide proof of insurance for whatever reason then your contractor is required to use the Ad Valorum valuation as the value of the structure. (I do not know how they arrived at that value but they did). Here is where it gets really sticky...If you have a home value above the $300k then you must have an inspection of the roof to wall connections (strapping that connects the roof to the walls of your house). This is done by removing enough of you eave and/or roof decking to access 6 feet of in either direction of the corners of your home. A license builder or engineer must inspect the straps to see that they meet the current code requirements. If they do not you must have them brought up to code. TO CONFUSE THEY SITUATION MORE...the state has decided that they will only require repairs of the straps UP TO 15% of the value of your roof replacement. (EX: your roof replacement cost is $10000; you are only required to replace $1500 of the strapping) This is completely ridiculous since most roofers are not builders or engineers AND ESPECIALLY NOT GOOD CARPENTERS. Therefore they are going to have to pay for someone to perform the inspection and pay someone to perform the repairs (if they want to have done properly) and all of this is supposed to equal $1500! The estimates for this process MIGHT depending on the size and complexity of your house it MIGHT allow you to bring 2 or three of the required areas up to the new code. IF you have the law and ordinance or code compliance coverage you should be able to get the $1500 covered by your Homeowners wind insurance, however if you choose to bring the entire house up to code you will have to pay the balance.

Hit the link below and go to page 59 to see Figure 1609 for the wind born debris map.
http://contractorsinstitute.com/downloads/2004%20Florida%20Code%20Revisions%20and%20Supplements/Florida%20Building%20Code%20Supplements,%20Eratta,%20and%20Significant%20Changes/Final_2006_Supplements2004_code.pdf

To answer the question do I think this is worth it ....yes and no, with regards to strapping MORE is always better. While renovating the 2007 tornado damage in the Villages we saw the benefits of Florida's Building codes with regards to pressure and lifting. The houses, while several had to be torn down and rebuilt, remained intact protecting the owners inside from unimaginable forces of pressure and shear, conversely this year while renovating the tornado damage in Jackson, TN we saw the catastrophic damage caused to houses with little or no strapping by a similar size tornado. It was a miracle that there was not more fatalities based on there construction practices. The homes we rebuilt were built similar to our construction here in Florida (since that is where I learned to build) and the building officials were amazed by what they considered overkill. It was almost like they thought we where out of our mind building a house that sound! That being said, if you are replacing the roof of a house that was damaged by PEAK winds of say a cat2 or higher your house is already pretty sound to have survived the storm intact. So the extra is exactly that extra. Keep in mind that even though I consider it extra, it IS REQUIRED, so it must be done at least to the 15% rule.

Now #2 is a little easier and I do think it is beneficial though I caution everyone about the "appearance effects" to the aesthetics of your home. This is the waterproofing requirement. All roofs will be required to have a 4" minimum strip of modified bitumen tape across the seams of the plywood, attached directly to the deck of the roof. That sounds pretty easy but the price of the tape is not cheap. It will however provide you with a substantial increase in protection from water intrusion should you lose shingles in a hurricane or storm event. The problem I see with it, especially for those that have the flat, 3 tab style shingle, it may show through as a checkerboard style pattern as the shingles mold to the roof surface. The solution is to lay the bitumen across the entire deck, but, this is a cost that the insurance coverage will probably not pay. I do suggest homeowners think hard about this as it will not be the contractors’ responsibility to fix this once the roof is installed.

I hope that answers your questions please ask if you have any others. I will be off and on as we are preparing to deploy our emergency service crews to perform tarping and board up for homeowners post storm. With regards to that, keep in mind if you are in an impact area that your insurance carrier will pay for you to have a contractor install your emergency repairs. MANY INJURIES OCCUR FROM THE HOMEOWNERS PERFORMING REPAIRS RIGHT AFTER A STORM. Have a licensed contractor perform the work but make sure he is licensed, ASK TO SEE IT. If he is legit he should have no problem showing you! Our service people all carry a copy of MY state roofing and state residential contractor licenses to show upon request. **PHOTO DOCUMENT THE DAMAGE PRIOR TO COVERING IT** no adjuster is going to lift your tarps for pictures....GET GOOD PHOTO's. DO NOT LET THE CONTRACTOR OVER DO WITH THE TARPS! That can come back to bite you if you have less than 25% damage to your roof the Insurance carrier COULD make you Pay for the rest!! It is best to find a service contractor that is familiar with the procedure to avoid complications!
Be captious of contractors asking for deposits and up front payments!! If they truly are familiar with this type of work they will know ER service is paid on completion.
We do not charge the homeowner at all for those services provided they:
1 Have valid insurance
2 Have filed a claim and provide us the claim number to verify the insurance coverage
3 Will sign a work authorization with a direct pay agreement so that the carrier pays us direct

Be careful storms bring out the opportunistic predators!

Here is a long but interesting read about the effects and potential loopholes of Law and Ordinance coverage.
http://www.unitedpolicyholders.org/pdfs/BC_LawOrdCov.pdf

Be Safe!
Rich

[mitchell]

quote:
1 If my home gets damaged and requires code compliance upgrades am I covered?
2 If I get flooded due to tidal surge am I covered?

Good questions - the NFIP covers mandated code upgrades with a coverage called Increased Cost of Compliance coverage. It even covers raising the house up onto a code compliant floodplain foundation, if the damage is enough to trigger that requirement.

Yes, tidal (storm) surge is a flood peril which the NFIP covers.