Does Your Roof Have Discontinued Tile?

If you have never dealt with an insurance claim for property damage, then you are likely not familiar with the term "matching rule" or "matching statute". However, if you are the victim of roof or other property damage, this rule is very relevant to you and your ability to properly repair your home.

Shield Construction offers detailed storm damage inspections for residential properties, complex commercial buildings, and multifamily complexes. Tile roofing provides a reliable, long-lasting, and aesthetically pleasing roofing system that can last for decades (unless there is a major hurricane or another weather event). In order to repair roof damage on a tile roof, you need to have roofing tiles that exactly match the tiles on your property.

Unfortunately too many property owners take the initial offer from their insurance company and may accept an inadequate estimate to repair their existing tile roof incorrectly when it should have been covered for replacement.

We have seen too many property owners use a roofing contractor who does not understand:

• The insurance claim process
• How to determine if a roofing tile is discontinued
• The current Florida laws & building code regulations relating to an acceptable tile repair vs the need for full replacement

The roofing contractor may do his best to find the closest match available, but if the existing tiles on the property are now obsolete or discontinued, the replacement tiles for the repair will not properly interlock with the existing tiles on the roof. This will cause the repair to not only look mismatched and ununiform, but also to most likely fail.

About The Matching Rule For Tile Roofs In Florida

Florida's matching statute provides that if an insured property is damaged, then the items used to make repairs must reasonably match the items used on adjoining areas. Unless otherwise provided by the policy, when a homeowner's insurance policy provides for the adjustment and settlement of first-party losses based on repair or replacement cost, the following requirements apply:

(2) When a loss requires replacement of items and the replaced items do not match in quality, color, or size, the insurer shall make reasonable repairs or replacement of items in adjoining areas.

Why Does The State Have A Matching Statute?

For years, the insurance industry would short change policyholders by only repairing items directly damaged by a covered loss. The legislature passed the matching statute to protect Florida homeowners from these deceptive and unfair practices by the insurance companies.

For example, without the matching statute, an insurer would be able to use any tiles they want to repair a damaged home. Think about how a home would look if a patch of roof tiles were one color and the rest were a different shade. It would not look good. The homeowner would suffer a decrease in value of the home because of the no longer uniform appearance. Homeowners both expect and deserve that their home be restored to the same condition it was in before the damage occurred, and the matching statute compels insurers to make sure the property is restored to its pre-damaged state.

Why Insurers Argue Against The Matching Statute

Insurance companies are for profit businesses with the single goal of making money for their stakeholders. When they can offer a patch or partial repair or the use of cheaper materials to make repairs instead of the use of proper repair methodology and material, they will save money at the expense of the homeowner.

While property owners and policyholders love Florida's matching statute, the insurance companies definitely do not. Matching issues with a lightly-damaged section of roof can lead to a domino effect of tear out and replacement costs of many items that are not directly damaged. The problem of partial replacement is especially troubling where the damaged tiles have been discontinued, making it virtually impossible to properly match.

The ability for insurance companies and contractors to find matching materials is compounded because material standards have changed over time. This, combined with various companies going out of business or being bought out, has led to the discontinuation of the majority of roofing materials which were used in the past. For roofing tiles, it is almost impossible to find matching roof tiles for all but the newest installed roofs. Virtually any roof tiles installed before 2004 are now discontinued. Should any of these roofs be damaged and require replacement, the entire roof will most likely need to be replaced, even if a relatively small number of tiles were damaged.