How to Get Cheaper Home Insurance with a New Roof

Posted on Roof Hail Damage

Home insurance can be expensive, but your local Salem roofer can help decrease that bill by providing you with a new roof that’s up to your insurance company’s standards.

Your home’s roof is its first line of defense against rain, hail, sleet, snow, and the beating sun. As such, insurance companies care a lot about the age, type, and condition of your home or business’ roof. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, 90% or more of hail and high-wind insurance claims result in a payout relative to roof cover. That being said, insurance companies are incentivized to charge their customers more for older, less secure or stable roofing systems. Here are some of the things home insurance companies can, and often will, charge you extra for due to added risk:

  • Shingle Overs or Covering
    This is when you have a roofing contractor install another layer of roofing material over your existing roof to help save in tear-off costs. This adds weight to and can take away from the structural integrity of your roof.
  • Trees Near Roof
    For obvious reasons, insurance companies do not like branches touching roofs or having trees close enough to fall onto roofs. Trim close branches and consider chopping down trees that could fall on your home during a heavy wind storm.
  • Having an Old Roof
    Older roofs with wear are less resistant to the elements. There’s really no getting around this. The best option if your roof is over 15-20 years old is to seek out a licensed and bonded roofing contractor to get an estimate.
  • Not Having Hail Resistant Roofing
    If the roofing material on your roof is not resistant to hail, expect higher premiums. Salem roofing contractors do see a fair bit of estimate requests from hail damage at times, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Insurance companies are actively seeking out ways to reduce risk exposure from hail claims, so using a hail resistant roofing material might be able to get you a discount on your home insurance.

If you have any other questions on how a qualified Salem roofing company could save you money by making your roof safer and more energy efficient, give us a call today and we would love to answer any questions you might have. We also offer free roofing estimates in Salem and surrounding areas. Our office phone number is (503) 585-2338.

Written by
Terry Slate
Terry is the Vice President of Slate & Slate Roofing and has over 28 years of experience with both residential and commercial roofing. He specializes in metal roofing, composition roofing, and PVC membrane roofing.