On this Money Saving Monday, we’re talking about the rising trend of insurance companies dropping roof coverage and how it’s affecting Arizona homeowners.
PHOENIX — Right now, a lot of people in the roofing industry are being seen in a negative light, and home insurance companies are starting to not cover roofs that are older than 15 to 20 years, forcing homeowners to replace them.
Millions of Americans have been seeing this happen as their homeowner’s insurance premiums go up and their coverage shrinks.
Thankfully, one Tempe homeowner who ended up in a bind found a way to save without spending tens of thousands of dollars.
“My water softener overflowed, and so I ended up having to make a claim against my insurance,” said Kelsey MacLennan.
When MacLennan’s policy came up for renewal, she was told that she would be dropped.
“…and the reason was because of this water damage claim, as well as the fact that my roof was older than 20 years old,” she said.
Those are just a couple of the challenges she was up against early on in homeownership.
“I shopped around for many other insurance companies… and only a few of them would take me, and my premium doubled,” said MacLennan.
She ended up with a higher deductible and was told they would have to cover the roof separately.
Turns out MacLennan is not alone.
According to an S&P Global report, premiums rose 34% over seven years.
One of the common denominators is climate change. As it continues to trigger more severe weather, insurance companies are responding to more damage claims.
To make matters worse, when homeowners make a claim, those insurance rates often go even higher.
According to ValuePenguin data, you can get as much as 25% if you claim a total loss of your home.
Phoenix entrepreneur and roofing expert Tim Orscheln has been seeing this more and more while doing repairs and replacements for homeowners in Arizona, including in his neighborhood.
“We hear about it all day long… getting dropped is a huge issue,” he said. “Also, the cost of their insurance is going up.”
Orscheln recalls that many people who live in Florida saw their insurance go up 400% after the hurricanes.
“…and we’re starting to see that here as well,” he said. “It’s becoming an ongoing problem.”
Orscheln said that right now, the roofing industry is getting a bad rap.
“There’s over 1,000 licensed roofers in the state of Arizona,” he said. “They do a lot of door-knocking… they come up to your door, they ask if they can redo the roof. If they come in up with a $20,000 or $25,000 roof proposal and the answer is no, it’s very simple, they walk out with a big goose egg and they go to the next door.”
Orscheln is now the CEO of a home equity and service company called HomeLyfe, striving to help homeowners with the necessary maintenance needed to keep their current roofs without having to fork out thousands of dollars on replacing them.
“We save roofs,” he said. “GoNano is a nano technology. It uses what they call nanoparticles, and those nanoparticles are 30,000 times smaller than a hair follicle.”
Orscheln said that when they apply GoNano to a roof in the first 24 hours, those nanoparticles reach the center of the tile, and they work similar to a microwave.
“They work from the inside out,” he said. “It stops the aging process immediately… it stops granule loss… it offers UV protection… and probably one of the most important features of it – it makes your roof 100% hydrophobic, so you no longer get any water absorption into your roof.”
And that’s especially important to keep in mind before the Arizona monsoon storms roll in during the summer months.
“It’s a fraction of the cost of a roof replacement,” he said. “It will extend the life of your roof 10-15 years.”
By going this route, people like MacLennan have been able to avoid spending tens of thousands of dollars on an entire roof replacement by ensuring their roof is in the best condition.
“It will buy you some time and save what you already have,” she said. “Why wouldn’t you want to protect your most valuable asset?”
Approximately 80-90% of asphalt shingle roofs do not need to be replaced, which means all of those homes qualify for the technology they provide, saving homeowners up to 80%.
As always, if you have any money-saving topics you would like us to cover, email 12News at money@12news.com.
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Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.