# Homeowners Insurance - Roof Replacement Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowners-insurance-roof-replacement-help/750036 "2016-03-24T17:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Becauseican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@Becauseican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becauseican)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowners-insurance-roof-replacement-help/750036/1 "2016-03-24T17:46:08Z")
Our home received some damage from recent storms and we have filed a claim with our insurance company, USAA. The contractor they sent out did the inspection with neither my husband or I at home (they said we didn’t need to be there) which we were not thrilled with to start with. They only want to replace half the roof. This is only part of the problem, that there is clear damage on the parts of the roof that they insist doesn’t need to be fixed. The second part of the problem is the shingles will not match and it’s a drastic difference in color from the selections available to us. USAA, is telling us that the policy does not cover shingles matching in color. That doesn’t really make sense as that seems to be “close enough.” The contractor USAA sent us then admitted that they sent their roofing vendor out to do the inspection and won’t tell us who did the actual inspection. USAA is telling us we can obtain our own quotes, which we are doing. How do we go about handling the mis-matched patch job? Can insurance companies replace something with “close enough” Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowners-insurance-roof-replacement-help/750036/2 "2016-03-24T20:20:58Z")
There is a concept called “diminished value” that may help you. It says that even after repairs the property may not be worth as much as it was before and that the insurance company should cover that difference as part of the loss claim. While commonly used in car insurance claims, diminished value, at least in some states, has been found [by courts to apply to homeowner claims.](http://www.bakerlaw.com/alerts/diminished-value-claims-under-homeowners-coverage-certified-in-georgia-class-action) > [@](#): > > In deciding the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, the court substantially agreed with the plaintiffs’ reliance on two Georgia Supreme Court cases, finding that State Farm could not get around Mabry’s holding that “insurance companies have a duty to assess for diminished value and that when they fail to perform that assessment, their insureds have a remedy.” State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Mabry, 556 S.E.2d 114 (2001). The Thompson court also pointed toward Royal Capital Dev., LLC v. Md. Cas. Co., 728 S.E.2d 234 (2012), as **extending Mabry’s holding to homeowners insurance.** (bolding mine) I would get a Realtor to provide a written estimate of how much value, if any, your house would lose if it had mismatched roofing shingles. Armed with that info you may be able to go back to the insurance company and negotiate further. ---
**Author:** ![zwede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ac91a4/32.png) [@zwede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwede)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeowners-insurance-roof-replacement-help/750036/3 "2016-03-24T21:12:50Z")
In 2014 I had roof damage (hail). I got a quote from a roofing company first, then filed the insurance claim and made sure the roofer was there when the insurance adjustor came. The adjustor initially only wanted to do parts of the roof, but the roofer pointed out damage to other parts until the adjustor agreed to a full replacement.