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Comment by toddmorey | Hacker News Reader

At that point, wouldn't a standing seam metal roof be the best investment? The cost is about 3x, but beats an annual roof replacement.

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That would be option 1 - I could easily see insurance companies saying that insuring a shingle roof costs 2-3x what insuring a metal roof costs, but then it's a question of who pays to replace an existing shingle roof with a much more expensive metal roof? The existing structure is insured for its replacement costs, not an expensive upgrade in the case it's damaged, but clearly current prices don't actually accurately reflect current risks.

Should be "easy" for the insurer to say "you get one more shingle replacement, then we dump you." At that point, the customer either buys a metal roof or moves. Market functioning correctly, no?

This is one thing I've never really understood about the market for insurance. Wouldn't the customer's best answer be, "OK, thanks for the new roof, I understand that you're dropping me, so I'll just switch to your competitor"?

And then wouldn't it be in the interest of the insurers to maintain a shared list of "bad" (unprofitable) customers and freeze them out? Which is already a bit of what credit scores are for?

Insurance companies handle this today by either refusing polices on uninsured homes, or pricing those policies much higher.

"Your previous insurer dropped you, there must have been a reason."

And, yeah, when applying for a policy, the questionnaire should include "have you filed a claim for X, Y, Z in the last 2 years?" Auto insurance does this already.

They already do. If you think that Google’s data collection practices are intrusive, you have no idea how much these folks know about you.

Insurance companies have a privileged legal position to do all sorts of stuff.

Yes, in fact I have that as part of my roof, mostly for looks, I guess. It obviously doesn't ever leak, but it did get banged up pretty good and insurance ended up replacing it because of that. Personally, I could get used to just having a dented-up but sound metal roof for 50 years, and some people here do that. I'm not sure what the effect is on their insurance rates.

I've wondered the same about storm damage in Florida. There has to be a better option than shingles, even really high quality shingles.

+1 for metal roofs -- I run an insurance company that specializes in high risk areas. Metal roofs are a superior technology to shingles and tiles.

Metal roofs last 3x longer but cost 7x more.

Depending on climate there’s some other options too.

Metal roofs last 3x longer but cost 7x more.

... in a non-hurricane zone, right?

Sounds like some of these coastal areas are on a ~5 year roof replacement cycle. Up here in DC, shingles last for 30+.

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