Homeowners insurance dropping coverage due to old roof
Insurance companies are threatening to drop or deny coverage for homes with aging roofs, even when the roof is still structurally sound and has years of life left. This forces homeowners into the stressful dilemma of paying for an expensive preemptive replacement just to keep their policy active.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 25.9× more often in r/Roofing than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Homeowners insurance dropping coverage due to old roof
- 1Waiting for an official insurance cancellation letter before taking actionDid this help you?
- 2Inspecting specific high-wear areas like ridges, valleys, and sun-exposed sections to gauge remaining lifeDid this help you?
- 3Finding another insurance carrierDid this help you?
- 4Cutting coverage on the roofDid this help you?
- 5Replacing the roof prematurely to satisfy insurance requirementsDid this help you?
- 6Switching to a different insurance companyDid this help you?
- 7Working with an insurance broker to shop for lenient carriersDid this help you?
- 8Obtaining a written roof inspection from a licensed roofer showing remaining serviceable lifeDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My insurance company (Erie) is threatening to drop my insurance because the roof is too old for them to insure it.”source ↗
“The roofing company yesterday said the roof looks in good shape. It easily should last another 5 years.”source ↗
“Another reason is the letter they’ll eventually get from their homeowners insurance company saying they will no longer cover the house until it’s replaced.”source ↗
“When you factor risk, piece of mind, increased premiums, and insurance renewal issues, it makes perfect sense for me to think about the eventual replacement of this roof.”source ↗
“I have had multiple companies say my roof was done and I needed a new one, I just switch insurance.”source ↗
“Mine threatened to drop me.”source ↗
“The existing roof is 15 years old but still serviceable, am doing other work they request but unwilling and unable to do an unecessary roof replacement.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to get insurance to pay for fully adhered rubber roofs