Author Topic: Big home insurance claim, what to do with it, how to figure into NW?  (Read 894 times)

TheAnonOne

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We ended up getting a $87,000 claim on our house. $50k or so, they gave us right away.

MOST of that goes for windows from hail. (approx, 65k of it)


Question 1: I see online windows are valued at something like 75%-85% of what you spend on them. Should my house value go up by $65,000 * .75(ish). Anyone with experience here?

The other money is for gutters/some lights/ and a small portion of the roof, so I assume none of that will change the home value that much.


Question 2
: We have a captive contractor to do the work, but they got the claim from $5k to $87k so I think they did a great job overall. My main question is the roof, we only got about 5-10% of the roof covered. It is not damaged from a structural standpoint. So it would be a partial repair. Would you even bother? What if I don't do this repair? It's about 10k of the 87k

It's a lot of money, so I want to be a bit cautious before just signing over the whole thing and walking away.

affordablehousing

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Re: Big home insurance claim, what to do with it, how to figure into NW?
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2020, 11:15:44 AM »
Question 1. I'm not sure I get your logic. Your house had windows, they got damaged, and now the money will replace them with new better windows? If you went from a vinyl window to an aluminum clad wood window, you'd probably increase the home value $200 per window, as compared to the cost difference of $200 for a vinyl window and $800 for a nice window. Your house value was X, then after the hail, X - $$$$, and now it could be X-$$$$ + $$$$, with the difference being probably 20% of the difference in value of the earlier windows and the new windows.

Question 2. If the roof is functional, just pocket the money, and replace the whole thing when it needs a reroof.

TheAnonOne

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Re: Big home insurance claim, what to do with it, how to figure into NW?
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2020, 11:41:35 AM »
Question 1. I'm not sure I get your logic. Your house had windows, they got damaged, and now the money will replace them with new better windows? If you went from a vinyl window to an aluminum clad wood window, you'd probably increase the home value $200 per window, as compared to the cost difference of $200 for a vinyl window and $800 for a nice window. Your house value was X, then after the hail, X - $$$$, and now it could be X-$$$$ + $$$$, with the difference being probably 20% of the difference in value of the earlier windows and the new windows.

Question 2. If the roof is functional, just pocket the money, and replace the whole thing when it needs a reroof.

1. This makes a lot of sense. Really my house value is DOWN right now, thus this cash just brings it back to par.

2. After calling around today, I am not sure I really have this option now. My mortgage company will be dispersing the funds. So I think I have a lot less say in it than I had before.


Fishindude

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Re: Big home insurance claim, what to do with it, how to figure into NW?
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2020, 01:16:03 PM »
You are just repairing / replacing what was damaged, so I wouldn't look for much of a jump in the house value, however it should save you some future replacement and maintenance.
Regarding the roof repairs, it makes little sense to repair a small percentage of the roof.   If the insurance company recognizes that you have hail damage to your shingles, the entire shingle roof needs to be stripped off and replaced.   Replacing a few shingles here and there will do more damage than good and will likely not look very nice.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!