Roofing Professionals of Texas

Former Allstate executive turned whistleblower,  was in charge of a computer program called "Colossus" that calculates money people are paid in claims. He "tuned" the program to increase profits, which he says was unfair to customers. Mark Romano gripped the steering wheel and tried to keep his car from swerving into another commuter on the busy Illinois tollway. Stress?  It was December 2007, and Romano was a senior manager at Allstate and its top expert in Colossus, a program that calculates how much a person might be paid for an injury claim. He was in charge of two projects to “tune” and “recalibrate” Colossus, work he knew could affect payments to thousands of people. Colossus was part of a quiet revolution in the insurance industry.  Before the early 1990s, insurance was a decidedly human endeavor, especially when it came to setting rates and paying claims. To set premiums, insurers relied on computations from their actuaries — mathematical wizards armed with ...

July 6, 2015      (Insurance Journal) The number of insurance claims from lightning strikes in the United States continued its steady decline, as severe thunderstorm activity eased from near-record levels and dry weather prevailed throughout much of the western half of the country. Despite fewer storms, insurers still paid $739 million in lightning claims to nearly 100,000 policyholders in 2014, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Florida led the way with the number of lighting claims in 2014, followed by Georgia, Texas and Louisiana. The Lone Star State had the highest average cost per lightning damage claim: $10,671. Across the United States, total insured losses from lightning were up 9.7 percent from 2013, though overall incurred losses between 2010 and 2014 are still down 28.5 percent. An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE and State Farm found there were 99,871 insurer-paid lightning claims in 2014, down 13 per...

Often I get asked if filing a claim will raise my premium or annual amount.  I like to be as frank and truthful with clients as possible. Most adjusters would just say, “That’s not my area of expertise. ” The answer is that filing a claim will NOT cause your homeowner’s premium to increase. Contrary to what many people believe, they associate having one claim filed with their rates going up. The fact is that claims don’t dictate the premium with regards to homeowner’s insurance . Homeowner’s insurance does not perform like auto insurance. Auto insurance has dozens, sometimes hundreds of tiers for premium rates. Your claim history, citation record, points on your license, and various other things contribute to the tier that you are placed in and the premium you pay. Homeowner’s insurance focuses more on the region that you live in. The number of catastrophes your area has suffered in the past few years, the potential risk in your area, the type of residential home, and the amount o...

When hail strikes, it can be devastating for homeowners. Many homeowners call our office in a panic after a hailstorm because their roof systems are damaged and they wonder whether they have adequate insurance coverage. We understand this concern and consider it our mission to help homeowners through the insurance claim process. Shortly after a hailstorm, many people claiming to be roofing contractors will swarm your neighborhood. These high-pressure salespeople will try to intimidate you into buying a roof system using fear tactics—your roof is going to leak, the ceiling could cave in, etc. First, call Roofing Professionals of Texas and we will contact your insurance company. If your roof is leaking, Roofing Professionals of Texas will begin immediate protective measures for free. A professional roofing contractor should provide temporary repairs to your property until they are able to fully repair the damage. For the record, not all roofing companies are created equal, so be sure to ...

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced that his office has filed lawsuits against five roofing contractors for violating the Kansas Roofing Registration Act by failing to registerwith his office. Schmidt said the following companies have been served with lawsuits: Gregory E. Wright, Wichita, dba Extreme Home Solutions; Shawnee County Mike’s General Contracting LLC, Derby; Mitchell County District Court Roof PRS LLC, Holdrege, Neb., and Chanse Beinke, Smithfield, Neb.; Shawnee County Super Siding LLC and Daniel Roberts, Hutchinson; Reno County Taylor Made Exteriors LLC, Wichita; Sedgwick County The defendants engaged in advertising, soliciting or performing roofing contractor services without with attorney general's office. Schmidt is seeking restitution to consumers who did business with these unregistered companies as well as penalties for doing business without registering

May 1, 2015 A bill that would make it more difficult for property owners to sue insurers for unpaid claims and limit the amount they can collect has passed the Texas Senate, and collision repairers should be concerned with the implications should it pass and later be extended to auto insurance. Senate Bill 1628  was inspired by a boom in property damage lawsuits over insurance claims following hailstorms in Texas, and collision repairers having their own battles with comprehensive insurers over hail might be able to relate to homeowner’s frustrations. The rationale for supporters was similar to a  Florida bill that would have blocked homeowners from assigning benefits — “ambulance-chasing” contractors and attorneys were swooping in after water damage incidents and inflating claims, according to media reports there. Opponents agreed according to sources that litigation was getting a little out of hand in Texas, and the bill states that insurers have stopped offer...

Monday, April 20, 2015 -- The hail pounded a wide swath of our area. Now homeowners are cleaning up what's left. Kathy, a homeowner, only has a few more scoops of debris to collect from her yard, but she's worried enough about her roof to get an inspector out to look for damage . "I think we will call them and have them come out and it would ease my mind just to have it looked at," Kathy said. Insurance agents say it's wise to have your roof checked even if you do not see any obvious damage from hail. We're looking for damage to the shingles, the vents, (and) the matting of the shingles. Agents say if there is damage, homeowners may only have a few months to file a claim depending on their insurance company, but it could be a year or more before a problem develops. Another tip is be sure to research any company offering to do the work.  One of the Presidents at Better Business Bureau, says homeowners should see someone who has been around and has a decent hist...

AUSTIN — Several weeks after signing a contract to get her roof replaced for $25,000 last summer, Mary Jane Pierson of Fort Worth started to worry she was getting scammed. Her repeated phone calls to the roofing contractor weren’t returned or she was offered a litany of excuses about why the job wasn’t getting done: the company’s office flooded, the owner’s wife was in the hospital, shipment of the shingles had been delayed. “I knew there was a serious problem,” she said, recalling the change in behavior of the roofer, whose initial friendly demeanor before he secured the contract — and a check for $14,000 — was gone. Pierson, whose $200,000 brick home is still waiting for a new roof, said the contractor originally came knocking on her door — as did several others — last spring after a massive hailstorm in North Texas. He was very helpful and offered to get her insurance claim moving — so she agreed to sign a contract. “Everything looked on the up and up. So I gave him the first check ...