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— Property Management Quarterly — October 2016
L
ess is more for insurance
companies when it comes to
covering commercial roofs
damaged by hail or storms.
The less money they can
negotiate with property managers
to fix commercial roofs, the more
money they can keep. If one of the
buildings you manage was caught
in one of the increasingly extreme
hailstorms the state has seen over
the last few years, it’s important to
prepare for your visit with the insur-
ance company’s adjuster. Since all
policies state that burden of proof of
a loss lies with the policyholder, not
the insurance company, you’ll want
to prepare comprehensive documen-
tation to ensure your proof of dam-
age is strong.
• Don’t wait.
The Gazette reported
that this year’s July hailstorm in
Colorado Springs was the city’s
sixth-most damaging in state his-
tory. Denver was hit hard as well.
While you have a two-year window
to file a claim on a client’s commer-
cial roof in Colorado, don’t wait. The
longer you wait, the more leeway
the insurance company will have to
label a weather-related damage as
simple wear and tear on the roof. For
example, not only is the roof dam-
aged during a hailstorm, but also the
siding, gutters, fascia, downspouts,
eves and windows can be damaged
from that same hail event. If you
wait months before filing a claim, it
will be significantly more difficult
to get things like eves and windows
included in a claim.
When a weather event occurs,
it’s recommended that you imme-
diately contact a professional roof-
ing company to
review the damage.
Most reputable
companies will go
on the roof and
review it for free.
Be sure you choose
a company with
a claims adjuster
background, which
knows when to
bring in additional
experts to prop-
erly document the
claim. Even if you
don’t move on the
claim right away,
property manag-
ers will have fresh
photography of
the damage that
occurred and an
expert’s opinion on
the level of dam-
age. The roofing
company should
tell you where
other damage
occurred – such as
around chimneys
or A/C units – that
an untrained eye may not be able to
see.
If you call the insurance company
first, the adjuster may come out and
offer you a settlement on the spot
or tell you there is no damage. It is
the responsibility of the policyholder
to prove damage, so make sure you
have documentation and know how
much you will need to fix it prop-
erly. You’ll want that documenta-
tion when you meet the insurance
adjuster the first time.
If the building owner takes what
is offered and attempts to work a
quick fix on the roof, he most likely
will have to fix the roof again in a
shorter period of time. Roofs are
expensive, so the best for the long
term is to fix the roof completely
when the damage occurs.
Once the initial insurance claim is
made by the property manager and
the building has a claim number
associated with it, the roofing com-
pany can take over and schedule all
necessary appointments and coordi-
nation with the insurance company.
• The roof has damage, now what?
If the roof has damage, ensure that
the roofing company also has ready
access to additional experts you
may need to document your claim.
At the highest levels, proper docu-
mentation of a claim is conducted
by independent experts who are
not party to the claim. A network of
public insurance adjusters, construc-
tion partners, forensic engineers and
meteorologists all may be needed
to prove the damage, so be sure to
Vince Jordan
Property damage
consultant, K1
Roofing LLC,
Denver
John Josetti
Co-owner, K1
Roofing LLC,
Denver
Insurance
Barbara Reddoch
Don’t wait to file your claim, even though there is a two-year window, because the lon-
ger you wait, the more leeway the insurance company will have to argue damages are
simple wear-and-tear issues.
