Can I sue my homeowner’s insurance company regarding a claim?
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Can I sue my homeowner’s insurance company regarding a claim?
My insurance company approved some repairs on my roof which included removing shingles. My roof is so old there are is no existing match. They sent a check and I cashed it but now they are expecting me to put shingles that do not match on my roof. The stated that the damages were not enough to warrant
replacing the entire roof and that an adjuster came out and their determination is final. They are lying. At the time of my incident there was at least 12 inches on snow and their adjuster could not get on the roof. So when it finally melted my contractor sent in pictures because they declined having someone come out a second time. Can I sue them to have my entire roof replaced since there is no matching shingles?
Asked on September 25, 2019 under Insurance Law, Minnesota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
If the damage was to only a comparatively small part of the roof and if the roof is less than 10 years old, if there are no matching shingles, they do not have to pay to replace your whole roof: the law only requires them to pay for a reasonable repair, and it it is not reasonable to replace a whole roof for damage to a small part of a roof that still have years of life left. This doesn't mean you can't add your own personal money to the mix to buy a new roof (i.e. pay personally for the surplus over what they paid for) but you can't make them pay.
If the damage was to a majority of the roof or the roof is near the end of its projected lifespan, then they should pay to either replace it or at least put down another new layer of shingles over the whole thing, because a spot a replacement of more than half the roof, or putting new shingles on a roof that needs to be replaced shortly anyway, is not reasonable.
It therefore depends on the facts of this case.
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