To be made WHOLE after a loss - Homeowners insurance.

Property insurance or Homeowners insurance is there to give you peace of mind and to restore a damaged property to its original state. Insurance is a fee paid to move the risk of the cost of repair (to make whole) from the homeowner to the insurance carrier.


‘Whole again’ usually equals repair or replace damaged portion of your home back to the original function.  The decision to repair or replace is usually in the hands of the insurance carrier and back to the original function or use does not usually mean matching the original or existing building material.



What are your thoughts on these repair or replace examples?


If just one shingles is damaged on a roof slope does that mean that just one shingle is replaced or is the entire ‘slope’ or roof section replaced or does the repair of one shingle mean that the entire roof is replaced?

If the wind damaged the vinyl siding on the left side of the home is the repair to replace the damaged pieces of vinyl siding or the entire side or elevation or to replace all the siding on the entire house?

If a tree branch damages an older style aluminum gutter and this style was no longer available should the cost of a custom made matching style gutter be used or should quality aluminum gutter of todays design be used to replace the damaged gutter section or should all the gutter on the house be replaced with the current gutter style because the front gutter was damaged by a tree branch?

If wind blows tree debris against an older painted wood siding and after repainting the siding with the original color paint the newly painted section is noticeably different color because the original paint has weather to a different color. Should the repair include painting the entire house or only the damaged area?

The decision to repair or replace and ultimately the definition of being made whole is made on a case-by-case basis. All of the example scenarios above would require a complete site inspection and much more information to determine which repair or replace technic will make your home ‘whole’ again. Property insurance claims are much more complicated than auto damage claims.