Travelers Insurance review: Home coverage

At the end of May around the 24-26th we had severe windstorms in the area, and my house got significant siding damage. I talked to the AAA Insurance Broker who advised me to get three quotes for the replacement of the siding and to take pictures of the damaged siding before contacting Travelers Insurance Co. I contacted Travelers and I was sent an elevation form that I had to fill out with specific pictures at different angles of the house for a computer-generated image of my house, the agent would not be sent out until the form was completed. All the images were sent, and everything was reviewed. When the agent arrived, she walked around the house and took some pictures of her own, measured the thickness and width of the siding, held a color swatch up to the siding in the shade and took a picture with her cell phone for their program to come up with a close color match to the siding.

I informed the agent that according to my HOA all siding must be of matching color, and contractors had stated they may not be able to match my sidings size or color. The agent informed me that Travelers goes by an Idaho State ruling that not all siding has to be replaced and that the color did not have to match exactly. She did not provide any ruling codes or proof of where it is in the homeowners insurance policy.

At first the agent said that only walls with damaged siding would be fixed. After disagreeing with the agent, she said that she would only approve the siding in the damaged areas and across the front of the house for replacement. The amount that she approved for the siding repair is $6,963.66. I was sent three checks, but I have not cashed them because I am in disagreement with the approved amount from the agent. The Contractor that I choose to use said the amount of the work and materials approved would not cover the labor that would be involved in the repairs. My policy states that I have $275.000.00 in coverage for damage to the house and the siding is covered under the policy.

After recently speaking with Harrington & Co. using their color matching system Itel, they found that the closest match of savannah blue is in the process of being discontinued. And the size profile we need of D4.5DL is not in stock in Idaho due to that siding being phased out. After receiving the sample and comparing it to the current siding, it is obvious it does not match the current color shade of our siding.