We own an apartment building that is insured thru Allstate Insurance. This building was hit by a storm. All the immediate neighbors were given new roofs by their insurance companies. Our home is also nearby and we were given a settlement for a new roof. Allstate's adjuster claims that the damages are $800 and that we don't need to reroof. We disagreed and hired a roofing company to give us an estimate. Their estimate exceeded $6000, and we were told that we needed a whole new roof due to the storm. Allstate reviewed the policy and denied the claim.

Allstate gets low marks on our consumer survey, and was rated by the American Association of Justice among the 10 worst insurance companies. In fairness to Allstate, insurance companies are skeptical about any estimates from roofers -- they are paid for putting on new roofs, and there is a high markup on that. One step would be to get a second roofing expert who does not install roofs to provide an opinion. A second and more useful would be to hire a public adjuster.