"Bottom line: keep your roof in decent shape or they'll find a reason to dodge paying out."
Yeah, learned that lesson the hard way myself. Few years back, storm tore through and my insurance company pointed straight to some tiny fine print about "maintenance neglect." Ended up footing more of the bill than I expected. Makes me wonder, anyone here actually had success challenging their insurance on these technicalities? Or is it usually a lost cause...
Had a similar thing happen to my folks a while back—insurance tried pulling the "maintenance neglect" card after a hailstorm. They pushed back, documented everything, and eventually got a partial payout. Wasn't easy though, took months of back-and-forth. Seems like persistence and solid documentation can sometimes pay off, but it's definitely not guaranteed. Sorry you had to deal with that hassle... insurance fine print is brutal sometimes.
I've always wondered about that "maintenance neglect" thing—like, how exactly do they even define it? Seems like a pretty convenient loophole for them. I've been trying to keep detailed records of all my home repairs and maintenance just in case something like this happens. But honestly, how detailed do you really have to be? Are we talking receipts and photos for every little thing, or just major repairs? Curious if anyone's figured out a practical system for documenting this stuff without going overboard...
"Are we talking receipts and photos for every little thing, or just major repairs?"
Pretty sure major repairs are the main thing insurers care about. I keep a simple spreadsheet—date, brief description, cost, and a link to scanned receipts or photos if it's something significant (roof repairs, plumbing fixes, etc.). Honestly, documenting every tiny thing seems excessive...but having solid proof for bigger jobs has saved me headaches before. Better safe than sorry, right?
Yeah, major repairs are definitely the biggies insurers care about. But honestly, even smaller stuff can sometimes snowball into bigger issues later...keeping track doesn't hurt, especially if you're detail-oriented anyway. Your spreadsheet idea sounds solid—I might steal that!
