Lawsuit claim denied

I was recently contacted by a gentleman in Ft. Worth, Texas who made the following Hardishake lawsuit claim report:

[Paraphrased]
"I filled out the paperwork for the Hardishake claim. The inspector came out to look at my roof in December 2003. Although my roof has lost its original color, looks dirty, and is breaking apart my claim was denied."

You have to meet the "terms" of the settlement if you want to be paid through the lawsuit. Those terms are extremely hard to meet. Even though the roof had a 50 year warranty that covered algae, the "terms" do not cover algae. There are (3) major hurdles to overcome if you are going to be paid in the lawsuit.

The 3 Hurdles:

1. The roof is no longer "servicable". Note: Servicable as a word can be defined much too broadly. Does that mean that as long as your roof is shedding water it is still servicable? If you wreck your car but it still drives, is it servicable?

2. "Damage" to 10% - 25% of the entire roof. Note: Damage is defined as a crack in the Hardishake that covers 25% or more of what you can see on each shingle. However, you cannot start measuring the damage until you get at least 1" away from the bottom (butt). Unfortunately, many (if not most) damage to the shingle will be visable within that 1" restricted area (i.e. broken corner or delaminating at the bottom edge). I have seen hailstorms in Texas rip apart an old, fragile, worn-out wood roof but the "damage" would never meet this degree of difficulty.

3. Damage by "Severe Hail". Note: What is the chance of hail in Texas? According to the latest statistics I've heard, you can count on damaging hail at least every seven years. The city of Grapevine itself was hit with 3 hailstorms inside a two year period not so long ago. So, if you've had hail, forget about the lawsuit!

There are several other hurdles for you to cross before getting paid. I've only made mention of the (3) because that disqualifies everyone I have ever worked with. If you would like to read the report yourself, here's the link.