No more asphalt roofing shingles in Florida?

well I live almost exactly in the dead center of the State. My problem was my insurance carrier was leaving the State and my roof was 10 years old and my new carrier would not cover me unless I replaced the roof-

 

Last time I replaced roof here in TX I had them put in high impact shingles. Seems like they were a couple of thousand more. They don’t look materially different. I’m not sure how much more hail resistant they actually are. I get tired of having to replace our roof every 7 years or so due to hail.

 

My HOA just approved 3 types of metal roof design and colors. It started with the threat of a law suit due to insurance issues. There are metal roofs that look like shingles.

Then there’s this

Florida HOAs Can No Longer Deny Metal Roofs!.

 

Concrete tile roofs aren’t lasting much longer and the majority in Florida are being replaced within 25 years while the average dimensional shingle roof will last 18-20 years. The difference is a shingle reroof is currently about $350-$400 per square while a tile reroof can be up to $1000.00 per square.

A couple of issues regarding insurance companies. First, they are requiring too many homeowners (especially with shingles) to replace their roof despite having several more years of good life left. Second, the “free roof” scam is still alive and well in Florida. Roofers are still giving roof inspections after wind episodes of 65 mph and above, and regardless of any actual damage, are falsifying reports to show homeowner needs a new roof. The insurance company may question it initially but don’t want to deal with lawsuits and many eventually authorize the replacement without any pro-rating of the original roof.

Finally, during hurricane conditions, metal roofs hold up better than any others with tile and then shingle trailing way behind. Metal is comparable in price with tile roofs but the advantage is they will last a whole lot longer.

 

While I agree in principle one of my rental properties had 3 tab that were put on in 1993, didn’t lose a one with Charley. Admittedly we’re on the opposite side of land fall but still had 100mph gusts. I replaced the roof in 2017 as I was considering on selling the property. Never had a leak.

Architectural are way better but if done right a shingle roof can last a long time.

When I was doing my new build I went with Metal. It was 2.5 times the price. But i’ll make it up with better HO rates, energy savings and not having to replace because and insurance says to in 10 years.

Lots more required to reroof metal than shingle. Obviously not everyone can afford it and the way insurance companies are forcing new roofs I don’t see it being wide spread.

 

Meh anyone build new near the coast is up to current codes. Those houses aren’t being blown away. Big storm surge yes maybe, but as you note WS isn’t covering that.
My new house is 1 mile from the beach and is built to withstand 160-170 mph winds. Granted I did build it with storm in mind.

 

Don't neglect the fact that the loading for tile roof requires a stronger truss system. You cannot just replace asphalt shingles with tiles without checking the bearing capacity of the truss design.

 

Well, I'm sure it's "an" issue. It prevents a 20k roof replacement from becoming a 150k water damage claim.

 

The roofers and ambulance chasers got into bed together several years ago and basically created this monster. Time to turn on the lights and get them out of bed. A hail storm reduces shingle life, but doesn’t destroy the protective layer. The shingle can still do its job with some top granules damaged. As long as the shingle can prevent damage to the underlayment it’s good to go

 

True and it is code, but it is not the issue that is causing the big payouts and the reason they are talking about doing away with asphalt shingles. The reason for the thread.

 

Time to get current. The legislature amended the law, FS 627.48, in 2023 to no longer allow policy holders to recover their attorney's fees if they had to sue their insurance companies. Now the insurance companies are denying thousands of valid claims, likely calculating that many homeowners can't afford the legal expense. Lady Justice's scales have tipped WAY in the other direction with, of course, no reduction in premiums.

 

No way they will ever lower homeowner premiums. The rates have stayed about the same the past two years. Insurance values have added to the higher premiums also as the replacement cost of homes has doubled over the last few years. A house that was being insured for 100k just 10 years ago is probably well over 200k now. Florida has let the home insurance get beyond fixing I am afraid. All the major insurance companies stopped writing home insurance years ago and they are not coming back. The companies now writing in Florida are mainly take out companies that were started here in Florida and of course Citizens Ins. Co.

What they should have done with roofs is gone to ACV with depreciation on roofs in place of replacement cost. That would have solved a lot of the fake claims and new roof claims that they were having a few years ago.

In general the claims process these days leaves a lot to be desired. These companies do not handle claims like the ones did 20 years ago. These days they use appraisers to look at damage and then a inside adjuster to handle the payment process. It seems many are not very well trained and are overworked to me. Many times when people get attorneys involved it is the fault of the insurance company not taking care of claims like they should.

 

It used to piss me off to see roofing companies come in from all over the state after a small hailstorm and tell all the homeowners in a subdivision they could get them a new roof. I paid homeowners insurance for over 50 years and collected 1 claim. I think after the deductible I got like $300 for a burglary back in the 80s.

 

That explains the some issues of the recent past but doesn’t change the basis of what I said. This problem didn’t just start when the law was passed. The roofing issue has been building for around 15 years, and not differenting between 50 feet and 50 miles from the water should have been better addressed as far back as Hurricane Andrew. The fallacy of Andrew was that inadequate codes for coastal areas and widespread lack of code inspection and enforcement led to a significant piece of the damage from Andrew.

 

That seems like the reason for the rise in ambulance chasers and all other forms of getting something for nothing law.
If the insurance companies had always done the right thing and paid people what was needed at the time for houses, cars, medical etc., then the cottage industry of lawyers would have not been needed.
I guess they figured it would be cheaper to deny and low ball everyone's claims and pay the settlements and attorney's fees after the fact. Unintended consequence is people filing frivolous claims for their roof in this example. Also goes for worker's comp claims and hurt necks in a car wreck.

 

Actually, it does change that basis. You were blaming greedy homeowners and shady lawyers for roofing scams. Other than the flurry of existing cases that were filed prior to the effective date of the statute, the roofing hustle is over.

I wish prices had been stable. Two years ago I paid $3500, last year $6700 and this year I would have been paying $13,700. Zero claims, not even remotely close to an area that could flood or experience storm surge. My subdivision is 48 feet above sea level and my house is worth $460-$500K, it's not like I'm in a million dollar home. I refused to pay that new premium and am now self-insured. Other than Milton causing a long night of extreme stress, no regrets.

I do like your proposal regarding ACV (depreciated value) for roof replacements. That would have been a better solution than the elimination of the attorney's fees provision.

 

I disagree. I’m sure that all claims are not being rejected. Probably the ridiculous ones but no where near all or even most.

Regardless, the main solution to this is prorating hail and hurricane roof replacement based on depleted time.

It is ridiculous that a 12 year old roof gets replaced when hail knocks off the last two years of its expected life. Roofing also seems to be a low capital/ high profit business. Definitely need more roofing companies to improve competition.

 

You don’t have a fire or liability policy? I think you can get those at a reasonable price?

 

I guess I should have said in the North Central Florida area where we write most of our business. Things have been much more stable in our area and with the companies we write for. The 6k premium does not surprise me but the 13k does. A house in Gainesville insured for 400k and built in the last 20 years with a roof less than 10 years old would probably be 4k a year. I looked and have one insured in Gainesville for 900k built in 1993 and the annual premium is $7,700. a year.

 

While homeowners does not cover flood many homes in the path of the storm surge are still attempting to collect under wind. That is one thing that is driving up the stats on the number of claim denials. Many times to get anything from FEMA they have to have a letter from the insurance company denying coverage. Every person I know that had storm surge or flooding filed a claim with the homeowners insurance as well as the flood insurance company. Many will get some money from both the homeowner and the flood company depending on what damage they have.