Your insurance carrier may talk about cancelling your policy for filing a claim, but this is not legally allowed.

While some homeowners have abused the system by filing spurious claims, if you have only ever filed legitimate claims, or have never filed a claim at all, your insurance carrier has no legal basis for cancelling your policy.

When your policy comes up for renewal, besides inflation driving it up, your new premium is calculated based on the claims made in your zip code in the last year, so when there are more storms, even 10-15 homes in your zip code making claims can move your premium up.

You are not saving yourself from a higher premium by not filing a claim.

Paying out of pocket for repairs to your home on damage covered by your policy just means you're paying for the repairs twice.

The roofing manufacturers standardized on metric units in 2011 and all shingles made before then are no longer available.

This means older roofs cannot be repaired.

If you have an older roof with covered damage from hail or high winds, Guideline Roofing can often help you get your entire roof replaced simply by proving your shingles are no longer in circulation and that your roof cannot be repaired and must be completely replaced.

If you have signed a contingency agreement, you have effectively hired a roofing company to help negotiate a claim with your insurance company, with payment contingent on your claim being approved. If the claim is denied, the agreement is null and void.

Unless the claim is approved with a final estimate and you signed a contract to install a new roof, you are free to fire your roofer and hire another one once your claim is denied.

If you are not happy with the responsiveness, follow-through, or attentiveness to detail of your roofer, including us, you are not trapped.

Many roofing companies are trying to modernize by using drones to inspect your roof for damage.

Unfortunately, shingles cannot be thoroughly inspected by sight alone.

Granule loss and adhesion, brittleness, adhesion between layers, hail strikes, are just some of the things that an experienced inspector verifies by feel as much as by sight, if not more.

A drone inspection will fail to provide sufficient evidence to warrant approval of your claim in all but the most extreme damage scenarios. A drone can successfully document severe hail and very high winds because large enough hail or strong enough wind will leave highly visible impact points or completely rip shingles off your roof.

However, lesser damage that still meets the threshold for a valid claim is not necessarily clear from drone footage, and can end up leaving you with a denied claim.

Every time someone gets on your roof, damage and wear and tear can occur.

Professional inspectors wear boots designed to protect your roof from damage and will not get on your roof without first inspecting every slope from the ground to see if there is damage visible from the ground that warrants getting on the roof for a complete inspection.

They will also document all damage from the top of the ladder to prove they did not add any damage while on your roof.

Without photographic evidence, your insurance company can claim that the roofers caused the damage during their (unprofessional) inspection, and deny your claim.

Asphalt shingles are the most common roofing material damaged by hail. Ceramic granules are embedded in shingles to protect them from the sun's rays. Granule loss is common as shingles age, but when affected by hail it is dramatically accelerated with damage, leading to breakdown and leaks.

The damage hail causes to your shingles deteriorates the fibers and lead to water starting to make its way to the roof deck, and start rotting the boards. With more severe hail, or, over time, water works further in and begins to show up on your ceiling, in your walls, and ultimately in your living space, leaving damage in its wake.

The purpose of your homeowner's policy is to protect the condition and security of your home, and proactively getting your roof repaired or replaced once there is sufficient damage actually saves money over having to do more extensive repairs later.

It may take minutes to hours to file, and has hidden pitfalls. Much like a court case, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove. The wrong hail date, a lack of understanding of what legally qualifies as covered damage, the threshold for damage, it is easy to have what you don't know keep you from getting your claim approved.

Allow Guideline Roofing to guide you through the process to success.