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Although we don’t like to admit it, most Minnesota homeowners depend on their insurance policy to cover the cost of a new roof. However, if you’re not paying attention to the details of your policy, roofing could cost you more than you thought, with or without hail damage. The 2017 storm season has started early in the Twin Cities with hail first hitting the ground in early March, so who knows what will happen this year as far as weather is concerned!

A good place to start on your policy is reminding yourself if it’s ACV or RCV. In an ACV (actual cash value) policy, your insurance company will only pay the Replacement Cost minus Depreciation. This means if your roof is 20 years old, it’s depreciated considerably and you probably won’t get the coverage you were expecting. You, the insured, may have to pay out of your own pocket for this huge gap in coverage.  In fact, if you have a mortgage payment, the bank will require you to fix the damage.

You may want to look at having an RCV policy, (Full Replacement Cost Value) policy, which covers the full amount of replacing your damaged roof with the same kind or quality of shingles, without deducting the depreciation value of your old roof. This could save you thousands of dollars in the end.

Also take a look at your deductible. Many policies now have two deductibles: a large one for wind/hail and smaller one for other claims, such as fire, vandalism and theft. In fact, sometimes these wind/hail deductibles for weather claims are thousands of dollars.  You’ll want to read your policy carefully and talk with your agent.

James Schugel is a licensed insurance agent based in Chanhassen, MN, serving the Twin Cities. He can be reached at 952/1-952-234-8784 or [email protected].