Property damage guides for policyholders
Plain-English guides on storm, roof, wind and water damage — and how to protect the full value of your property insurance claim. Open any guide to read it.
Guides for policyholders
How asphalt shingles really perform in high wind
Asphalt shingles carry wind ratings from lab tests (ASTM D3161 or D7158) — you’ll see classes rated to roughly 90, 110, 120, or 150 mph. Those numbers come from new shingles installed perfectly under controlled conditions. In the real world, age, heat cycling, foot traffic, and especially nailing and sealing quality all lower what a roof can actually take. A roof rated to 130 mph on paper may fail well below that after ten Florida summers.
After a windstorm, the damage an adjuster documents isn’t just missing shingles. Creased or lifted tabs, broken sealant strips, torn ridge caps, exposed nail heads, and heavy granule loss all count — and a shingle that has had its seal broken will leak and blow off in the next storm even if it looks fine today. A few obviously missing shingles often signal a much larger area of compromised seals that isn’t visible from the ground.
If your roof took wind, photograph it the same day (from the ground and, safely, up close), note the date and the storm, and keep any shingles that blew into the yard. That documentation is what separates a covered storm loss from a “wear and tear” denial.
Preparing your property for wildfire — and your claim
Most wildfire losses to homes come from embers, not the wall of flame — embers travel far ahead of a fire and collect in gutters, vents, and against siding. Defensible space is built in zones: keep the first five feet around the house non-combustible (no mulch, no shrubs against the wall), thin vegetation out to 30 feet, and reduce fuel out to 100 feet. Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, and non-combustible siding and decking make a real difference.
From a claims standpoint, the single most valuable thing you can do is document the property before a loss. Photos and video of every room, the exterior, and high-value contents — with makes, models, and receipts where you have them — are hard to recreate after a total loss. Smoke damage is a covered peril in its own right and is frequently underpaid, so keep that documentation even if the structure survives.
Roof age, depreciation, and your claim
How your roof is paid after a loss depends on your policy. Replacement cost value (RCV) pays to replace it with like kind and quality; actual cash value (ACV) subtracts depreciation for age and wear, which on an older roof can be a large cut. Many carriers now add a roof-surfacing payment schedule or endorsement that pays only a percentage of a roof’s cost based on its age — sometimes a steep reduction once a roof is past ten or fifteen years.
Because of this, carriers have a strong incentive to attribute damage to age rather than a storm. The defense is documentation: establishing the date and cause of the damage, scoping the full extent (including code-required upgrades and matching issues where only part of a slope is damaged), and tying it to a specific weather event. A roof that is genuinely storm-damaged shouldn’t be written off as wear and tear — but that case has to be made and supported.
Before a loss, check whether your policy is RCV or ACV on the roof, and whether a roof payment schedule applies. It’s far easier to address at renewal than after the damage is done.
Sudden vs. gradual water damage: the distinction that decides claims
Standard property policies generally cover water damage that is “sudden and accidental” — a pipe that bursts, a supply line that fails — but exclude damage that happens gradually over time, such as long-term seepage or damage tied to lack of maintenance. That single distinction decides a great many water claims, and it’s why carriers frequently deny by labeling a loss “gradual.”
Establishing the cause and date of loss is what moves a claim. A plumber’s report on what failed and when, moisture mapping, photos taken immediately, and a clear timeline all support a sudden-and-accidental finding. Acting quickly also matters: most policies require prompt notice and reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and delay itself can be used to argue the loss was gradual.
Two things to know: flooding from outside (storm surge, rising water) is excluded from standard policies and needs separate flood coverage, and mold is often capped by a sublimit even when the underlying water loss is covered.
When your dwelling limit no longer covers the rebuild
Construction labor and material costs have risen sharply, and many policies haven’t kept pace. The result is underinsurance: a dwelling limit (Coverage A) that was adequate a few years ago may fall well short of what it now costs to rebuild. Homeowners usually discover the gap at the worst possible moment — after a total loss, when the policy limit simply runs out before the home is finished.
There are also coinsurance provisions in some policies that penalize a settlement if the home was insured below a required percentage of its replacement cost, which can reduce even a partial-loss payment. Endorsements like extended replacement cost (which pays a set percentage above the limit) and inflation guard (which raises the limit automatically each year) are designed to cushion this.
Get ahead of it before a loss: compare your Coverage A limit to a current rebuild estimate for your home (not its market value), ask your agent about extended replacement cost, and update your coverage after any renovation that adds value.
Have property damage? Make sure your claim reflects the full cost.
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