Hail Damage on Aluminum Siding, The Most Overlooked Part of the Home

Most homeowners do not realize they have sustained hail and wind damage to their siding and other soft metals like gutters, downspouts, fascia, and box vents.

Because aluminum siding is like a soda pop can, it's easy to dent and cause its curbside value to go down. Unlike your roofing, large hail damage is not needed to damage aluminum siding. Roof shingles are thicker and there's other layers that help resist impact from hail but at the end of the day, even smaller hail on the roof can cause damage if it's dense enough. With aluminum siding, however, even pee size hail can cause damage.

The trick here is spotting the damage, and not confusing it with other types of damage. A restoration professional, typically a siding/roofing contractor in Illinois that has assisted homeowners with storm damage claims can see the difference between hail/wind damage on aluminum siding.

Generally, homeowners are not familiar with spotting this type of damage on their property and over time, multiple storms can pass through damaging the siding without the homeowner having any idea on what just happened. This is where homeowner's insurance can help and finally serve its purpose. Homeowners insurance is there to make sure this type of damage is covered. Most of the time homeowners will pay out of pocket for new siding not realizing that they're homeowners’ insurance would have covered the replacement cost. Aluminum siding is one of the most overlooked part of the home and that's because there's more urgency and worry about the roof. Aluminum siding damage is considered cosmetic but when your curbapeal goes down this can effect your properties monetary worth.

Homeowners don’t realize the effects of storm damage until it is time to sell the home and upon inspection during the selling process, they are told there is storm damage on the exterior of the home. At this point, negotiations begin on who will fix the exterior and can easily complicate a real estate deal. This usually ends with a homeowner giving credits to the buyer because they will have to update the damaged exterior. This is why it's important to have a professional inspect the exterior of the home. They will know what can be covered by a homeowners insurance claim.

TomKat Restoration Inc. has helped homeowners get storm damage claims approved for homeowners. Our expertise can help with the following:

• Determine storm damage

• Provide estimate on roof, siding, gutters and more

• Complete entire claim process with insurance company

• Schedule repair or replacement

• Oversee the entire project from beginning to end

Homeowners in Illinois have one year from the time a storm occurred to file a claim. Anything over one year will not be accepted and there will be no payout for any storm damage. Allstate is the only insurance carrier I'm aware of that allows you to go over the one-year period. This means you need to catch it early enough in order to do something about it and for Mount Prospect Illinois and Des Plaines Illinois as well as Arlington Heights Illinois if there is no new hailstorm, we will not be able to file a claim after June of 2023.

Time is limited, so get a free inspection as soon as you can.  

Another concern when it comes to filing claims is some people automatically think that when you file a claim your premiums will go up. This isn't exactly how it would work. When it comes to storm damage it's not handled per case but it's by the general area. This mean insurance carriers will decide depending on how much they're paying out. If they will raise the premiums in that whole area or not. And this means that if you live in that area or have any property in that area, whether you filed a claim or not, and whether you have damage or not, premiums can go up. Again, this is by area, so either it's being raised on all or no one.  

This means that if you're seeing a lot of work being done in your area there is a chance your carrier is going to raise the premium, so why not get an inspection to see if you qualify because if the Premium is going to go up anyway why not get your roof and siding approved and paid for (except for the deductible) while you have the chance. After all, this is why you've been paying your premiums all this time.