Ah, Boulder in June. Sunshine at noon, ice balls bouncing off the Subaru by three. So does your homeowners insurance cover the damage? Almost always, yes. Hail is a covered peril on nearly every Colorado policy.
The real question is how much you’ll get back, and as brokers at Uncle Sheldon Insurance, our team sees the fine print that decides that all the time. Grab your policy and look for these four things.
- Its own wind and hail deductible. Lots of Colorado policies have one now, often figured as a percent of the dwelling limit instead of a flat amount. On a home insured for $900,000, a 2% wind and hail deductible is $18,000, which can be more than the roof itself.
- A cosmetic damage exclusion. Some policies won’t pay for dents that don’t let water in, like dings on a metal roof, gutters or siding. The roof has to be damaged, not just look sad.
- How your roof is valued. Replacement cost pays to replace it. Actual cash value takes depreciation off first, so an older roof might only get a fraction. Roof age matters a lot here, which is why we also wrote about when to replace your roof over in Broomfield.
- Your filing deadline. Policies set their own windows for reporting hail claims, often around a year. Don’t wait until next storm season to call.
If you own a condo, your HOA’s master policy usually handles the roof, but you may owe a share of a big deductible. That’s where condo coverage in Boulder with loss assessment earns its keep.
And the car in the driveway? Hail on a vehicle falls under comprehensive coverage on your auto policy, not your homeowners. Our Colorado car insurance team can make sure you’ve got it.
If any of those four items made you squint, send it our way. Reviewing a policy before the next storm is a lot more fun than reading it after one, and our team does it every day.