When your home is damaged by a storm with strong winds, hail, and driving rain, many times you will need to make an insurance claim for the damages. When you make such a claim, it is your insurance company’s responsibility to pay for your homes damages, less your deductible, for items such as your roof, siding or gutters. This type of claim is normally considered a natural disaster and should not count against you or future rate increases.

Metropolitan Design/Build has over 26 years experience when it comes to dealing with storm-related house damage repairs and restoration. We have dealt with weather-related damage repairs and replacements for roofing, siding, gutters, windows, drywall, painting, and flooring services to name just a few.

We have provided the below information as a guide to how normally the insurance process works when your house has been damaged by a storm and need to make an insurance claim for the repairs.

The first thing you should do is call Metropolitan Design/Build to schedule an inspection of your damages by one of our expert storm inspectors.  We provide emergency storm services and can help minimize further damage if your roof is leaking or has been partially or completely lost in a storm. Once our inspectors have evaluated your home, we can work directly with you and your insurance company too and help in the insurance claim process. Contact your insurance company and provide them with your information and Metropolitan Design/Build as your contractor contact. We have relationships with all the big insurance companies and will help guide you through the entire process.

Your insurance company will most likely schedule a time for an adjuster to visit the property and inspect the areas that have been damaged. We normally work directly with the insurance adjuster to ensure the fastest least path of resistance for making repairs quickly and as painless for homeowners. It is very important that when the insurance adjuster comes to your property that you and a representative from Metropolitan Design/Build present. Don’t allow your insurance adjuster to inspect your roof alone even if they say they don’t need us. Remember, insurance companies are in business to make money and many times they may not approve some repairs if a licensed contractor is not on site to point out damaged areas that are should be included in your claim.

Metropolitan Design/Build’s expert roofing inspector will discuss with you the areas that are in need of repair or that need to be replaced. He will clearly explain what work will need to be performed to your home. Normally, following the inspection with us, your insurance adjuster will send you paperwork with detailed information of exactly what damages will be covered by your insurance company. It is important that you share or forward this information with Metropolitan Design/Build before signing anything so that we as the contractor can verify that the damages have been fairly evaluated and reported correctly and accurately. Once again, insurance companies have been known to not approve or completely leave off some items that need to be repaired or replaced. Metropolitan Design/Build has working relationships with most of the larger insurance companies and can and will fight for you to ensure that you are approved for a fair insurance claim.

Once the damages have been verified and you’re satisfied with the information, you will sign the contracts with the insurance company and Metropolitan Design/Build and a date and time will be discussed for your repairs or replacement. It is key to remember that sometimes weather may play an important factor in scheduling your repairs. Metropolitan Design/Build won’t start major repairs if the weather forecast is for bad weather.

Once all the work is completed and you are completely satisfied with the repairs we will work with you to notify the insurance company that the repairs have been made and copies of the work completed work order will be submitted to the insurance company. Once they receive it they may send an insurance representative out to the property to inspect that all the items on the submitted work order have been completed. Depending on the damage and the insurance company this may or may not occur. The last step will be the final funds will be paid out by the insurance company for the completed repairs.

It is in our best interest to help you with your repairs and watch over everything the insurance companies do. Remember insurance companies are in business to make money and many times will do everything in their power to not pay anything out. You pay for insurance and as experienced contractors, we deal with this day in and day out. We understand the process and have years of experience in storm-related claims. Attempting to work with unlicensed contractors is not recommended and most of the time the work performed is not up to code or not completed properly.

We hope this information has been helpful and if your home has been damaged because of a storm, contact us. We are here to help you and will answer any questions you may have. Remember, you’re not alone. Metropolitan Design/Build is on your side and ready to tackle any job you may have. We strive to make the process as simple and painless and return your home to normal quickly.