bill<\/a> that would regulate this practice is currently moving through the California Legislature.<\/p>\nAmy Bach, executive director of the consumer advocacy group United Policyholders, said the availability of this technology is probably part of the reason homeowners may feel like insurers are paying more attention to their roofs. At the same time, severe storms and hail have caused an increase\u00a0in the number of roof-related claims across the country, she said, causing insurers to exercise more caution over factors that can make your roof more likely to become damaged\u00a0\u2014 such as its age.<\/p>\n
Many of the clients who seek out Moriarty due to insurance issues come to get a letter vouching for the age of their roof, he said.<\/p>\n
When you install a new roof, or buy a new home and get a roofer\u2019s report, you should always ask about the expected lifespan of the roof, said Janet Ruiz, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group. These ranges vary widely, anywhere from 10 years to more than 150 years, depending on the durability of the material.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They may also vary by insurer. Both Mercury Insurance and Wawanesa Insurance, for example, note they will not insure homes with roofs older than 25 years, with exceptions for more-durable tile and slate roofs. At Farmers Insurance Group, asphalt roofs older than 15 years are eligible for \u00a0only\u00a0actual cash value coverage\u00a0\u2014 a type of coverage that will pay the depreciated value of the roof if damaged, rather than the full cost of replacing it.<\/p>\n
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Homeowners should generally be aware of when their roof is expected to reach the end of its expected lifespan, Moriarty said. They should also keep a lookout\u00a0\u2014 especially when shopping for a new home\u00a0\u2014 for any damaged shingles or tiles, mold, algae or water damage, Ruiz added.<\/p>\n
Several insurers ban roofs with more than two layers of shingles, which can reduce a roof\u2019s lifespan and make it harder to identify water leaks. Others place restrictions on roofs made of particular material, such as tin, or simply note they will not insure roofs made of unique or unconventional materials.<\/p>\n
But by far, the most problematic roof material is wood. The high risk of wood shake or wood shingle roofs catching fire makes them ineligible for the majority of major insurers. For some, it is a blanket requirement; for others it is unacceptable only if the home is in a high wildfire-risk area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe days of being OK with having a shake roof in a lot of areas are probably numbered,\u201d Bach said.<\/p>\n
Flat roofs, such as Ethersmith\u2019s, are another common callout in underwriting guidelines. While few outright ban flat roofs, many require a minimum slope to ensure water properly drains off the roof. If not, it could pool and lead to damage or leaks.<\/p>\n
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Ruiz said flat roofs are generally insurable as long as they are well maintained and have proper drainage systems. Bach concurred, saying homeowners who get dropped by their insurer due to having a flat roof should seek quotes from at least two other insurers before jumping to costly construction.<\/p>\n
Lemonade\u2019s most recent filings with the Department of Insurance show it writes policies through two subsidiaries, one of which does not cover homes with flat roofs. Lemonade told Ethersmith in its letter that its guidelines \u201ccan evolve so we develop a better understanding of important risks.\u201d The insurer did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Ethersmith is now on the California FAIR Plan for fire coverage and a secondary policy for everything else. It\u2019s more expensive, though not radically so due to the low fire risk in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Still, the experience was a \u201cwake-up call,\u201d he said. Home insurance is generally required to get a mortgage, making it an essential element for homebuyers in areas as expensive as San Francisco. To Ethersmith, it\u2019s also important to have the assurance that even if his home were to one day be destroyed, the money he used to purchase it wouldn\u2019t be completely lost.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHaving home insurance is a critical part of owning a home,\u201d Ethersmith said. \u201cWe can get into such a large financial proposition and know there\u2019s some amount of safety net. \u2026 We pay into that safety net. If that safety net is going away, it\u2019s radically changing the landscape of not just living in San Francisco, but living here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco\u2019s Sunset District has plenty of houses with flat roofs, which can be a problem when getting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[184,7,13766,388,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-318760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-home-insurance","tag-real-estate","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}