This is an Advertisement

Articles Posted in insurance policy

Mehr Fairbanks wins at the Kentucky Supreme Court! The Kentucky Supreme Court has affirmed the Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of Mehr Fairbanks’ client, the Greenville Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In 2019, the roof of the church collapsed. The church hired an engineer and attempted to brace the ceiling and roof structure as it slid down the walls of the church, bowing the walls outwards. Ultimately, the damage was too severe to save the church, and the church had to be demolished. When the church submitted an insurance claim to its insurance company, State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Company, State Auto denied the claim, arguing that the roof had not actually collapsed. State Auto prevailed at the trial court, but the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed and ruled in favor of the church, finding that a collapse had indeed occurred. Kentucky’s highest court then granted discretionary review and has now affirmed the Court of Appeals’ ruling, finding that the church sustained a collapse which was covered by the State Auto insurance policy. You can read the full opinion here!

 

Mehr Fairbanks Trial Lawyers logo

We receive a lot of questions from homeowners and commercial property owners about roof claims. One of the most common questions is whether the insurance company is required to pay for a full roof replacement or whether the insurance company can pay for only portions of the roof when shingles or other roofing materials are damaged.

Very rarely is your entire roof blown off during a storm. If the whole roof were damaged, then clearly the insurer would owe for the entirety of the roof. Still, most roof claims involve portions of the roof being damaged or sections of shingles being blown off. In those instances, with partial damage, what is a policyholder entitled to?

Fortunately, in Kentucky, we have an insurance regulation, 806 KAR 12:095, that addresses this question. It says:

Your insurance company may not be paying all the recoverable depreciation you are owed on your homeowners insurance claim.

If you have had property damage at your home and received an insurance claim payment from your insurance company, you may be wondering why this payment is significantly less than the cost to repair your property.

Insurers will often refer to the initial payment to you as “actual cash value” or a payment that has “depreciation” deducted. The term “actual cash value” simply means the cost to replace your roof minus the depreciation of your roof. This is often calculated by the insurance company using a computer estimating software called Xactimate.

Contact Information