Ice Dams and Your Home Insurance Coverage

If you own a property with a roof on it, please pay attention…or forward this memo to someone you know that does own property.  February is setting up very similar to the winter of 2014/2015 when we experienced record snowfall in the month of February 2015.  One obvious difference was that February 2015 was one of the coldest Februarys on record thanks to the Polar Vortex from Canada…thanks Canada!  But this February 2017 is a bit more mild which means the snow on your roof will melt during the day and freeze at night speeding up the process of ice dam formation and the resulting damage.  We’re not experts with ice dams, but we know this much; if there is no snow on your roof, you won’t have an ice dam.

We care about you and your property.  A little effort right now will go a long way in preventing damage to your home.  We want you to remove snow from your roof when possible and when it’s safe.  Preventing ice dams will save you considerable time and effort by foregoing a costly claim.  Yes, we don’t want you to have a claim it’s true.  We see the cost of home claims and it’s not just the cost of your deductible…it’s the stress of your home being damaged, it’s your time, finding a contractor, the stress of having work done at your house, finding a painter, etc.  We’re hugely familiar with the process and nobody enjoys it…we’ve checked!

We are asking you to do what you can to remove the snow-load from your roofs.  How?  If your roof has a low-pitch, you can gently use a shovel or you can use a roof rake.  If you are not capable of doing it yourself, please hire someone to do the work for you.  Yes, we understand it may cost $400 to $1,000 to have an insured contractor remove snow from your roof, but again, it’s less than your deductible and the “costs” that go along with damage to your property.  Taking care of your roof is just one of the things that we do in New England to safeguard our properties…it’s just another part of home maintenance.

Please understand our motivation is purely from the past experience of seeing our clients heartbroken over the expense and damage that’s occurred from ice dams in past winters.

Keith Beausoleil, CPCU & the Fortified Staff

Here is a little video from earlier this week and ice dam removal:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfaf5f4rp10