First off, go put on your thick skin and get your helmet because you, unfortunately, have to play hardball. It will take assertion and fortitude—no way around it. And you can’t really demand a higher estimate from your insurance, so you have to use mind games and analogies to convince them.

For example:

When your insurance company tells you that they will not pay you the amount it will cost to replace your roof, they are essentially telling you they don’t like the price. You don’t get the luxury of telling your insurance provider that their premium is too high and that you’re not going to pay it—you want a lower price. So, why do they get to tell you your roof costs too much and they’re not going to pay you? (A big contributor with this one is that insurance companies are not factoring in the inflated prices of materials due to shortages from COVID. You can learn about the shortages here.)

Now you obviously can go with a cheaper insurance provider to pay a lesser premium, but that higher-priced insurance isn’t going to lower their prices. Then why drop yours? They are going to claim that their services demand the premium price you pay. Well… the roof you are replacing ALSO demands a certain price tag to be installed.

You’ll have to reason with this one though. Don’t go barking at your insurance because they won’t give you the money to replace your 15-year-old, 3 tab roof with a luxury architectural full roofing system. Obviously, they are going to pay for what WAS on your roof.

That’s another good point to discuss. Depreciation is a factor in all of this. If your roof was 5 years old before the accident happened and you filed a claim, then your insurance is going to adjust for that 5-year depreciation. But we were seeing some insurance quotes that were just an insult to what it should cost to replace a roof. So be aware of being short-changed, vs. legitimate depreciation.