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Revealing the holes in roof age data and how to repair them

Inaccurate estimates of roof age are costing insurers over $1 billion annually in premiums.

By Jason Janofsky | February 14, 2023 at 12:13 AM
Armed with accurate roof age data, insurers can help homeowners take proactive risk mitigation measures, such as repairing or replacing a damaged roof before hurricane season begins. Insurers may also use roof age to inform crucial policy decisions, such as whether to deliver actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cash value (RCV) following a claim. Armed with accurate roof age data, insurers can help homeowners take proactive risk mitigation measures, such as repairing or replacing a damaged roof before hurricane season begins. Insurers may also use roof age to inform crucial policy decisions, such as whether to deliver actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cash value (RCV) following a claim. (Photo: Arenacreative/iStockphoto.com)

For P&C insurers, knowledge is power. The more you know about a property’s current and historical condition, the better equipped you are to make decisions at every stage of the policy lifecycle. One current significant gap in this knowledge is roof age.

Roof age is difficult to determine with precise accuracy. This is a problem for insurers, as it is a critical factor to consider when evaluating and pricing property risk. A report by Verisk found that inaccurate roof age data costs insurers up to $1.31 billion in premiums annually. In truth, unless you have direct knowledge of the date a roof was replaced, any estimation you make will be imprecise. Insurers have historically made this estimation by directly asking policyholders or by consulting permit data, but these methods return unreliable data.

 

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